How Cassie Ventura’s courage led to the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs indictment

CNN, GETTY IMAGES, WABC, WPLG, SKETCHES BY CHRISTINE CORNELL

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — Cassie Ventura is writing her own song now.

The “Me & U” singer regained control of her story when she first detailed years of disturbing abuse allegations in a lawsuit filed against her ex-boyfriend and former producer Sean “Diddy” Combs last November.

While her complaint was quickly settled, the cloud around Combs only grew.

“Mr. Combs‘ decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims,” Combs’ attorney said at the time.

At least nine other civil lawsuits and a federal investigation followed. Then on Tuesday, Combs was charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking in a federal indictment that alleges he “abused, threatened and coerced victims” from at least 2008 to the present. Combs has pleaded not guilty.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Ventura for comment on Combs’ criminal indictment, which may not have happened had she not had the courage to share her account.

A seeming Cinderella story

Born Casandra Elizabeth Ventura in New London, Connecticut in August 1986, Ventura began her career in entertainment as a model. She linked with producer and songwriter Ryan Leslie and went on to release her debut album in 2006.

Ventura quickly became a sought after star. Her talent and beauty attracted the attention of Combs, who signed Ventura to his Bad Boy Entertainment label.

In a 2006 interview, Ventura talked about how her family was responding to her new-found fame.

“It happened so fast I don’t think anyone could slow it down,” she said at the time. “They always want to make sure that I’m happy and everything is okay. It’s more about if I’m happy and content with what I’m doing.”

The following year, Ventura became a spokesmodel for Combs’s fashion line Sean John. She leaned into acting as well as music, appearing in the dance film “Step Up 2: The Streets” and contributing a song to the movie’s soundtrack.

Ventura released other singles, including “Official Girl,” featuring rapper Lil Wayne in 2008, and “Must Be Love,” featuring Combs performing under one of his professional monikers, Puff Daddy, in 2009.

Ventura and Combs first went public with their romantic relationship in 2012 and were soon regulars at fashion shows and Hollywood parties.

“Just being around him is a completely inspiring experience,” she told Madam Noire about Combs in 2013. “Starting my own empire would be great.”

While she would release more singles, including 2017’s “Don’t Play It Safe” which Pitchfork deemed “her best track in nearly half a decade and arguably her proper comeback,” an expected album produced by Combs – and her own “empire” – never came to pass.

Trouble and a new beginning

Despite engagement speculation in 2014, the pair were never set to wed. Combs explained his dating philosophy to the New York-based radio show “The Breakfast Club.

“If I’m in a relationship with you, like 25 percent of your time, you’re gonna just feel like, ‘Aw man, I hate being here, this guy, aw man, he cheated on me, he lied on me.’ That’s 25 percent,” he said in 2015. “But then there’s 75 percent of I’mma make you the happiest woman in the whole wide world. I’mma be there to support your dreams. I’mma there to hold you, listen to you. I’m going to be there to be your best friend and I promise you’ll smile the most.”

In her lawsuit, Ventura painted a dark picture of a relationship that appeared golden in public. Behind closed doors, she alleged, Combs controlled all aspects of her personal life, forced her to engage in sex acts with other men and “introduced” her to a lifestyle of “excessive alcohol and substance abuse.”

When Ventura tried to end her relationship with Combs in 2018, she alleged that he forced his way into her home and raped her. Combs has denied her allegations.

Ventura, according to her complaint, still suffers from “immense emotional distress” and at one point she checked into an inpatient rehabilitation center after having suicidal thoughts she linked to abuse.

She has gone on to marry trainer Alex Fine, with whom she shares two daughters.

Going public with what ‘broke’ her

When Combs was presented with a lifetime achievement recognition at the BET Awards in 2022, he referenced Ventura in his acceptance speech.

“I’mma keep it a hundred with y’all, I was in a dark place for a few years,” Combs said on stage before thanking “Cassie for holding me down in the dark times. Love.”

Ventura filed her complaint as the New York Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily eliminated the civil statute of limitations for survivors of sexual assault, was expiring.

“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 to CNN last year. “With the expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act fast approaching, it became clear that this was an opportunity to speak up about the trauma I have experienced and that I will be recovering from for the rest of my life.”

Not everyone believed her.

“We can’t just really go off of he-say, she-say… It’s tough to see so many people want to see him [Combs] crash out like this,” rapper Slim Thug said at the time. “I don’t want to see a Black man who came so far, almost to a billion dollars, fall down.”

In May, when CNN published a surveillance video that showed Combs physically abusing Ventura in 2016 in a Los Angeles hotel, public opinion about Ventura’s claims changed.

“I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab,” Combs said in a video shared on social media days after the video was broadcast. “I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”

Ventura thanked her supporters and turned her focus to domestic violence survivors.

“Domestic Violence is THE issue. It broke me down to someone I never thought I would become,” she said. “With a lot of hard work, I am better today, but I will always be recovering from my past.”

“My only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims the first time,” she added. “It takes a lot of heart to tell the truth out of a situation that you were powerless in.”

She is powerless no more.

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