Cassie reveals eight-figure fee she was paid by ‘Diddy’ Combs in settlement
During the trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in New York City on May 14th, Cassie Ventura revealed that she received an eight-figure sum as a settlement in 2023, when she previously accused the rapper of rape, abuse and coercion.
Ventura began her testimony on May 13th and is expected to be at the stand for several more days. Combs is charged with five counts of sex trafficking, racketeering, and sexual abuse. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Earlier in the testimony, which is scheduled to last more days, Ventura detailed ‘freak-offs’, her “off-and-on” addiction to opiates, and testified that she sometimes had persistent urinary tract infections when she and Combs were having frequent ‘freak-offs’.
Ventura also said that in 2023, before the allegations against Combs surfaced, she was “spinning out” and says she “didn’t want to be alive anymore” due to “horrible PTSD flashbacks”.
Ventura initially filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in November 2023, which was settled less than 24 hours later for $20 million. Upon her involvement in the federal trial, she told the court, “I’m here to do the right thing. I can’t carry this anymore … the shame, the guilt.”
The amount, which had not been reported until she shared it in court on May 15th, was $20 million. Combs’s lawyers had previously disclosed that the payment was a “substantial eight-figure settlement.”
In reaction to this, the defence suggested that Ventura used her accounts of violence by Combs to extract a payday from him. They also brought into the conversation a book Ventura wrote detailing her experience of the abuse, which she claims to have sent to Combs and his lawyers. However, “it wasn’t taken seriously” by his team, she alleged.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.