Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Accused of Rape, Abuse by Singer Cassie in Lawsuit
NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — Sean 'Diddy' Combs, was accused in a lawsuit Thursday of subjecting R&B singer Cassie to a yearslong relationship that included beatings and rape.
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, alleged in the suit filed against the producer and music mogul in New York federal court that Combs brought her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle” not long after she met him and signed to his label when she was 19 and he was 37, in 2005.
In a statement to the New York Times, Combs’ attorney Ben Brafman said Combs denies the allegations.
Ventura, now 37, said Combs, now 54, began the pattern of abuse soon after they met. The suit alleges he subjected her to savage beatings, plied her with drugs, and forced her to have sex with other men while he masturbated and filmed them.
The suit says Combs forced his way into her home and raped her as the relationship was ending in 2018.
“After years in silence and darkness, 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," Ventura said in a statement.
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura has.
Brafman called the allegations “lies.”
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