Hip-Hop mogul, Diddy has spoken out after settling a federal lawsuit brought by his ex-girlfriend Cassie.
Cassie sued last Thursday November 16, alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs, and viciously beaten by Diddy during their decade-long relationship.
However, by Friday evening, Diddy and Cassie aka Casandra Ventura — both announced they had reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit.
The claims have been settled ‘to their mutual satisfaction’ a day after they were filed at a New York federal court, her lawyer Douglas Wigdor confirmed on Friday.
‘I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control,’ Cassie said in her own statement. ‘I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.’
Meanwhile, Combs announced: ‘We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.’
Later on, Combs’ lawyer, Ben Brafman, denied any wrongdoing on his behalf in a statement.
He said: ‘Just so we’re clear, a decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing.
In the original lawsuit, Diddy was accused of rape and repeated physical abuse by Cassie, who alleged that he controlled and abused her for over a decade – as well as plying her with drugs, beating her, and forcing her to have sex with multiple male prostitutes while he watched and recorded.
The pair, who met in 2005 when she was aged 19, split in 2018. The lawsuit claimed that just before the end of their relationship, he forced his way into her home and raped her.
Diddy, 54, vehemently denied all of the ‘offensive and outrageous allegations.’
Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, said in a legal document that was filed in Manhattan’s Federal District Court on Thursday: ‘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.’
Her lawyer Douglas Wigdor claimed Diddy offered her ‘eight figures to silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit’ but that she declined to ‘give a voice to all woman who suffer in silence’.
On Friday night Wigdor added: ‘I am very proud of Ms. Ventura for having the strength to go public with her lawsuit. She ought to be commended for doing so.’
Among the serious allegations were that Diddy sex trafficked Cassie, 37, to male prostitutes to fulfil his voyeurism fantasies in hotels and at his home.
The lawsuit claimed she was directed to have sex with multiple men – sometimes in masks and costumes – while the music exec watched, masturbated, and filmed.
Cassie, in the documents, called the ordeals ‘horrific encounters’ and said she had to take drugs to disassociate during the arrangements which Diddy allegedly called ‘freak offs’.
The lawsuit stated that the music executive, who she first met as a teenager, told her it would ‘turn him on’ if he saw her with ‘another d***’.
He allegedly hired a man and brought him to his home in Los Angeles to engage in the sex acts with Cassie.
‘Mr. Combs directed Ms. Ventura to perform sexual acts with this man while Mr. Combs watched them,’ the lawsuit states.
‘He masturbated while he directed Ms. Ventura and the man to do specific sexual acts. The entire encounter lasted multiple days.’
