WARNING: This text comprises graphic content material and will have an effect on those that have skilled sexual violence or know somebody affected by it.
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 authorized identify is Casandra Ventura, alleged within the lawsuit filed towards the producer and music mogul in New York federal courtroom that Combs introduced her into his “ostentatious, fast-paced and drug-fuelled life-style” not lengthy after she met him and signed to his label when she was 19 and he was 37 in 2005.
Combs’s lawyer Ben Brafman didn’t instantly reply to an e mail looking for remark. In an announcement to the New York Occasions, he stated Combs denies the allegations.
Ventura, now 37 herself, stated Combs, now 54, started the sample of abuse quickly after they met. The swimsuit alleges he subjected her to beatings, gave her medicine, and compelled her to have intercourse with different males whereas he masturbated and filmed them.
The swimsuit says Combs pressured his approach into her dwelling and raped her as the connection was ending in 2018.
“After years in silence and darkness, I’m lastly prepared to inform my story, and to talk up on behalf of myself and for the advantage of different ladies who face violence and abuse of their relationships,” Ventura stated in an announcement.
The Related Press doesn’t sometimes identify individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused until they arrive ahead publicly as Ventura has.
Combs denies allegations by way of lawyer
Brafman known as the allegations “lies.”
“For the previous six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million US, underneath the specter of writing a harmful e-book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail,” his assertion to the Occasions stated.
“Regardless of withdrawing her preliminary risk, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to submitting a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s popularity and looking for a payday.”
Combs is a three-time Grammy winner who’s among the many most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the previous three many years.
Assist is on the market for anybody who has been sexually assaulted. You’ll be able to entry disaster strains and native help providers by means of this Authorities of Canada web site or the Ending Violence Affiliation of Canada database. If you happen to’re in speedy hazard or worry in your security or that of others round you, please name 911.