Sean “Diddy” Combs has released a statement denying allegations made by his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura in a lawsuit filed in a federal court in New York City that she was raped and repeatedly physically abused by him.
Diddy accused Ventura of trying to shake him down.
“Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,” his attorney, Ben Brafman, said in a statement. “For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and seeking a payday.”
In the complaint, it is alleged that Combs “lured Ms. Ventura into an ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle, and into a romantic relationship with him” within two years of the pair meeting in 2005 or 2006.
Ventura was just 19 at the time and signed to his Bad Boy Records label. Combs and Ventura began dating in 2007 until their relationship came to a permanent end in 2019.
The lawsuit also alleged that the music mogul was “prone to uncontrollable rage,” he subjected her to “savage” beatings in which he punched, kicked and stomped her. Ventura says Diddy would ply her with drugs and force her to have sex with male escorts while he filmed them and masturbated.
“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,” Ventura said in a statement.
