Cassie is preparing to launch a musical tour after settling her $30 million federal lawsuit with her ex-boyfriend Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
She is apparently placing the drama behind her and embarking on a string of concerts, her ex Ryan Leslie informed TMZ.
The singer sued Diddy last month, alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and viciously beaten by Diddy on many occasions over the course of 10 years.
However one day later, Diddy and Cassie – aka Casandra Ventura – announced they had reached an agreement. No specific details on the terms were revealed.
Diddy’s legal troubles are far from over, as more women have now filed claims against him, including one who sued last week alleging he participated in her gang rape when she was just 17 years old.
Cassie is preparing to launch a musical tour after settling her $30 million lawsuit with her ex-boyfriend Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs; pictured in 2016
She sued last month, alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and viciously beaten by Diddy on many occasions – but one day later, she and Diddy settled; pictured 2018
However Cassie is apparently placing the drama well behind her and embarking on a string of concerts, her ex Ryan Leslie said; Leslie, Diddy and Cassie are pictured in 2006
Leslie, who is himself a songwriter and music producer, has a professional history with Cassie alongside their romantic past and wrote several songs for her.
He revealed that ‘the last conversation we had’ was connected to the fact that evidently ‘she’s planning for a tour.’
The pair dated in the mid-2000s and apparently remain in contact with each other to this day, though they ‘mostly’ spoke to each other in 2017 around the time that ‘our mutual manager Ed Woods passed away.’
During his conversation with TMZ, Leslie was asked whether he ever felt Cassie was under threat from Diddy while they worked together.
‘I think that was much further past after, you know, our working relationship,’ said Leslie, who worked with Cassie on a number of songs for Diddy’s Bad Boy label, including her 2006 debut single Me & U.
In the wake of the settlement with Cassie last month, Diddy’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman defended him to DailyMail.com.
‘Just so we’re clear, a decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing,’ Brafman said.
‘Mr. Combs‘ decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims,’ the attorney continued. ‘He is happy they got to a mutual settlement and wishes Ms. Ventura the best.’
Diddy was defended by his lawyer Benjamin Brafman after settling a federal lawsuit brought by his ex-girlfriend Cassie
‘Just so we’re clear, a decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing,’ said Brafman, pictured in 2018 while representing Harvey Weinstein
‘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.’
On Thursday, November 16, 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.’
The pair, who met in 2005 when she was 19, split in 2018. The lawsuit claims that just before the end of her relationship, Combs forced his way into her home and raped her; seen in 2017
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.’
She claimed Diddy got drunk during a ‘freak off’ around March 2016 and punched her in the face, leaving her with a black eye.
Cassie said she tried to leave the hotel room when he fell asleep but he woke up and began screaming at her.
He allegedly grabbed at her, took the glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her ‘causing glass to crash around them as she ran to the elevator to escape’.
She managed to escape to her apartment but claimed she returned over fears he would be even angrier.
‘When she returned, hotel security staff urged her to get back into a cab and go to her apartment, suggesting that they had seen the security footage showing Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway,’ the lawsuit states.
Cassie claimed that throughout their relationship Diddy ‘was prone to uncontrollable rage’ and frequently beat her’
She alleged that Diddy paid the hotel staff $50,000 for the hallway security footage from that evening.
On another occasion in 2013, Diddy allegedly set up a ‘freak off’ and was charged tens of thousands of dollars in damages by the hotel.
Cassie was expected to facilitate the location and hiring of male sex workers for the ‘freak offs’, according to the lawsuit.
She was allegedly instructed to use websites and escort services to find men with ‘large black penises’.
It alleged that Diddy would insist on the encounters weekly and that he repeatedly told her it was ‘our thing’ and ‘our secret’.
Cassie claimed the ‘freak offs’ would often take place in hotel suites including the Trump International Hotel in Columbus Circle, L’Ermitage Beverly Hills, The London Hotel in Los Angeles and InterContinental Hotels across the country.
His assistants would allegedly help set up the ‘freak offs’ by providing baby oil and lubricant.
The lawsuit states: ‘Mr. Combs always supplied Ms. Ventura (and the sex worker) with copious amounts of drugs before and during the FOs.
‘Ms. Ventura was given ecstasy, cocaine, GHB, ketamine, marijuana, and alcohol in excessive amounts during FOs, which allowed her to disassociate during these horrific encounters.
