Cassie Ventura and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City.
- Sean Combs, the hip hop mogul, and his former romantic partner Cassie said they have settled claims she made in a bombshell lawsuit she filed a day before in New York federal court.
- Cassie, who is an R&B singer, in that suit accused Combs of assaulting, raping and sex trafficking her during their personal relationship.
The R&B singer Cassie and hip hop mogul Sean Combs on Friday agreed to resolve claims in a bombshell lawsuit she filed just a day earlier accusing him of raping, sex trafficking and brutally beating her during their personal relationship, her attorney said.
Terms of the settlement between Combs and his former romantic partner Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, were not disclosed.
But on Thursday afternoon, Cassie's lawyer had said Combs offered her "eight figures" — or between $10 million and $99.9 million — to keep her from filing her lawsuit.
Combs' lawyer Ben Brafman, who had strongly denied what he called the suit's "baseless and outrageous lies" that same day said Cassie demanded $30 million while threatening to write a book about their relationship.
Cassie's legal team in a statement late Friday, said, "This evening, Ms. Ventura and Mr. Combs resolved the claims that she filed against him yesterday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to their mutual satisfaction."
"The parties will have no further statements beyond what is provided in this email," the statement said.
Money Report
Cassie, in a prepared statement included in the email, said, "I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control."
"I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support," the 37-year-old singer added.
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In his own statement in the same email, Combs said, "We have decided to resolve this matter amicably."
"I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love," said Combs, 54, who over the years has been known as "Diddy," "Puff Daddy," and "P. Diddy," and "Love."
Brafman, Combs' lawyer, said in a statement Saturday, ''Just so we're clear, a decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing. Mr. Combs' decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims.''
''He is happy they got to a mutual settlement and wishes Ms. Ventura the best,'' Brafman said.
Combs' net worth last year was estimated by Forbes to be $1 billion.
Cassie's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, said, "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."
The settlement was a remarkably quick and stunning end to a shocking civil suit Cassie filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court against Combs, his Bad Boy Records music label, Bad Boy Entertainment, Epic Records and Combs Enterprises.
The suit said that several years after signing the then-19-year-old Cassie to a contract with Bad Boy Records in 2005, Combs induced her into a sexual relationship that spanned nearly a decade.
The suit alleged Combs introduced Cassie "to a lifestyle of excessive alcohol and substance abuse and required her to procure illicit prescriptions to satisfy his own addictions."
The complaint describes in graphic detail the "savage" beatings Combs allegedly administered to the singer over the years, and his blowing up of another man's car after learning the other man was interested in her.
And Cassie in her suit said Combs forced her to have sex with "male sex workers while masturbating and filming the encounters."
"As a result of the immense trauma Ms. Ventura endured for over a decade with Mr. Combs, she has suffered and continues to suffer from immense emotional distress," the suit said.
