Rap artist Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused of rape and abuse by singer and former partner Casandra “Cassie” Ventura.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been accused in a lawsuit on Thursday 16 November of subjecting R&B singer Cassie to a 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.
After years in silence and darkness, I am finally ready to tell my story,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
The lawsuit includes multiple graphic descriptions of the violent abuse that she says occurred beginning after she met the rapper in 2005.
According to the complaint, Combs signed her to his record label, Bad Boy, and “plied the vulnerable Ventura with drugs and alcohol, causing her to fall into dangerous addictions that controlled her life”.
Combs, who has also gone by the stage name Puff Daddy denies the allegations, accusing the singer of trying to extort him.
His lawyer said the claims were “offensive and outrageous”.
In a statement, Combs’ lawyer said Ventura had demanded $30m (£24m) “under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship”.
Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades.
He and Ventura began dating in 2007 and had an on-and-off relationship for more than a decade.
