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.
John Shearer | Getty Images | The Hollywood Reporter | Getty Images
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 and sex trafficking her, and of 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 that day has said she demanded $30 million while threatening to write a book about their romantic relationship.
“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,” an email from Cassie’s legal team said in a statement late Friday.
“The parties will have no further statements beyond what is provided in this email,” the statement said.
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,” she added.
In his own statement that was contained in the email, Combs said, “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably.”
“I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love,” said Combs, who over the years has been known as “Diddy,” “Puff Daddy,” and “P. Diddy.”
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.