Diddy (legal name Sean Combs) and Cassie Ventura dated on and off for years but according to the model/actress, they were some of the worst years of her life. Per the New York Times, Ventura sued the Bad Boy Records mogul for rape and years of abuse on Thursday (November 16) in a Manhattan federal court.
Ventura says shortly after she met Diddy in 2005, when she was a mere 19, he began a pattern of control and abuse that included plying her with drugs, beating her and forcing her to have sex with a succession of male prostitutes while he filmed the encounters. In 2018, right around the time they broke up for good, Ventura claims Diddy forced his way into her home and raped her.
“After years in silence and darkness,” Ventura said in a statement, “I am finally ready to tell my story, and to speak up on behalf of myself and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationships.”
Ben Brafman, an attorney for Diddy, said his client “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.”
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Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said both parties had spoken before the suit was filed. As he noted, “Mr. Combs offered Ms. Ventura eight figures to silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit. She rejected his efforts.”
The suit reportedly describes Diddy as a violent person who once asked Ventura to carry his gun in her purse. It also suggests he was responsible for blowing up the car of a rival suitor. In one incident, Diddy supposedly dangled Ventura’s friend over a 17th-floor hotel balcony.
Cassie, an R&B singer, signed with Bad Boy in 2006 and was quickly swept up in the lifestyles of the rich and famous. She claims, in addition to controlling her career, Diddy paid for her car, apartments and clothing, and had access to her medical records. The results from one particular M.R.I. scan she had for memory loss, which was possibly caused by drug use or a beating she said she suffered from Diddy, went directly to him.
Diddy also allegedly provided Ventura with “copious amounts of drugs,” including ecstasy and ketamine, and urged her to take them. The suit says he often became violent, beating her “multiple times each year.” The suit says Ventura never sought help from the police because she feared it “would merely give Mr. Combs another excuse to hurt her.”
It continues, “Ms. Ventura felt that saying ‘no’ to Mr. Combs would cost her something—her family, her friends, her career, or even her life.”
In one incident described in the court papers, Ventura alleges in early 2012, Diddy grew so angry about her dating Kid Cudi that he said he would blow up his car. “Around that time,” the suit says, “Kid Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway.” Through a spokeswoman, Kid Cudi confirmed Ventura’s account. “This is all true,” he said.
A few years into Ventura’s relationship with Diddy, the suit says, he began coercing her “to engage in a fantasy of his called ‘voyeurism,’” in which she was directed to have sex with several male prostitutes, while Diddy watched, masturbated, took pictures and shot video. He called them “freak-offs.”
As explained in the docs, Ventura believes she was a victim of sex trafficking. The suit also accuses Diddy of sexual battery, sexual assault and violations of New York City’s gender-motivated violence law.
“With the expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act fast approaching,” she said, “it became clear that this was an opportunity to speak up about the trauma I have experienced and that I will be recovering from for the rest of my life.”
Diddy and Ventura officially broke up in October 2018. She has moved on with her husband and father of her children, Alex Fine.