Hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, known professionally as Puff Daddy, has settled a lawsuit filed by former singer Cassie just one day after she accused him of rape and physical abuse. The parties released the settlement Friday evening but did not disclose terms. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. It named Combs and his companies, including Bad Boy Records and Epic Records.
In the lawsuit, Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, says she was subjected to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs, as well as a 2018 rape. She also accuses him of sexual assault and a pattern of controlling behavior that began shortly after she started dating the music executive in 2004.
According to the suit, she said he would use his power and fame to control her, her career, and other aspects of her life. She claims he would often threaten to suppress her music and even have access to her medical records. He allegedly paid for her cars, apartments, and clothing, as well as controlled her finances and made decisions about her professional life. He allegedly threatened her and physically assaulted her, and once broke a glass vase in her face when she tried to leave a hotel room during a “freak off.”
The lawsuit also claims that Combs used his influence to keep her trapped in an abusive relationship with him. It says he used his business connections to keep her working for him and prevented her from leaving the label he founded, Bad Boy Records. It also says he kept her away from family and friends, which made it hard for her to seek help or support. The lawsuit says he once forced her to have sex with male prostitutes and filmed it. Ventura says she has PTSD and other health issues as a result of her time with Combs and is now a stay-at-home mother who cares for her two children.
In a statement, Ventura says she’s “happy to have this chapter of my life behind me and look forward to beginning a new one.” A lawyer for Combs, Ben Brafman, did not immediately return messages for comment Thursday. The suit states that he offered to pay her eight figures to silence and prevent her from filing the lawsuit, but she rejected those offers. She says she wanted to file the suit to give a voice to women who suffer in silence.