Sean “Diddy” Combs and R&B singer Cassie reached a settlement Friday in an incendiary lawsuit she filed the day earlier than accusing the music mogul and entrepreneur of rape and a “cycle of abuse” throughout their decade-plus relationship.
No particulars of the settlement have been launched, although Combs’ lawyer beforehand accused Cassie of searching for an eight-figure payout in current months. Combs had denied the allegations by his lawyer.
Cassie dated the famed hip-hop producer for about 11 years earlier than they cut up in 2018. She filed her intercourse trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit towards him within the U.S. District Court docket for the Southern District of New York simply days earlier than the expiration of a “look-back window” that allowed adults who alleged they have been sexually abused to sue regardless of the statute of limitations having run out.
“I’ve determined to resolve this matter amicably on phrases that I’ve some stage of management,” the singer, who sued below her authorized title Casandra Ventura, mentioned in an announcement issued by her authorized staff. “I wish to thank my household, followers and attorneys for his or her unwavering help.”
Combs issued the same assertion, saying, “We have now determined to resolve this matter amicably. I want Cassie and her household all the very best. Love.”
Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, mentioned he was “very pleased with Ms. Ventura for having the power to go public along with her lawsuit. She must be recommended for doing so.”
Within the lawsuit, the 37-year-old Ventura accused Combs, 54, of raping her in her dwelling after she tried to depart him; bodily attacking and injuring her; forcing her to interact in intercourse acts with male intercourse employees whereas filming the encounters; operating round with a firearm; introducing her to “a way of life of extreme alcohol and substance abuse”; and requiring her “to acquire illicit prescriptions to fulfill his personal addictions.”
Ventura met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37, the lawsuit says. After signing her to his label, Combs, the swimsuit alleges, took management of her skilled and private life and started sexual and bodily abusing her with growing frequency.
“He signed her to his label, Unhealthy Boy Information, and inside a number of years, lured Ms. Ventura into an ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled way of life, and right into a romantic relationship with him — her boss, probably the most highly effective males within the leisure business, and a vicious, merciless, and controlling man almost twenty years her senior,” the lawsuit mentioned.
The lawsuit detailed bruises Ventura mentioned she suffered on account of the alleged abuse, in addition to accounts of drug use, voyeurism, male intercourse employees and extra.
Combs’ lawyer, Ben Brafman, mentioned in an announcement to The Occasions on Thursday that his consumer “vehemently” denied the “offensive and outrageous allegations” and accused Ventura of being “persistent” in demanding greater than $30 million from Diddy for the final six months.
Brafman added that the lawsuit — which additionally named Combs’ companies Unhealthy Boy Leisure and Unhealthy Boy Information among the many defendants, in addition to Epic Information and Combs Enterprises LLC — was “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’ status and searching for a payday.”
The lawsuit was introduced in the course of the one-year window offered by New York’s Grownup Survivors Act, which created a one-year “look-back window” throughout which adults who allege they have been sexually abused might sue regardless of the statute of limitations having run out. Different lawsuits have been filed in that state this month towards Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, music govt Antonio “L.A.” Reid and former Grammys chief Neil Portnow.
That window expires subsequent week.
Occasions employees writers Nardine Saad, Emily St. Martin and Stacy Perman contributed to this report.
Sources for survivors of sexual assault
In the event you or somebody you realize is the sufferer of sexual violence, you could find help utilizing RAINN’s Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline. Name (800) 656-HOPE or go to on-line.rainn.org to talk with a educated help specialist.