Sean “Diddy” Combs could have settled singer Cassie Ventura’s claims of rape and abuse before she went public—but he refused, according to a new report.
The accusations were the beginning of the end for the entertainer, who was hit with federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges after Ventura accused him of raping and repeatedly abusing her over the course of their more than decade-long relationship.
In a new Law & Crime podcast, The Rise and Fall of Diddy, set to premiere Wednesday, it was revealed that Ventura, 38, gave Combs, 55, the heads up that she was going to file her lawsuit against him.
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“She came to him before she filed [any] lawsuit and said, ‘I believed I was wronged by you,’” the attorney and legal commentator Donte Mills says on the show, according to The Guardian.
“And she gave him an opportunity to settle the case before she brought [a] lawsuit.”
Mills also claimed that he knew that the lawyers of both parties were in talks to find a resolution, but ultimately failed.
In her lawsuit, Ventura alleged that she “was held down by Mr. Combs and endured over a decade of his violent behavior and disturbed demands.” She allegedly survived a “cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking,” that included “violent and unlawful acts” such as being forced to have sex with male prostitutes while Combs watched and filmed the acts.
She said she refused to go to the police out of fear of Combs having “another excuse to hurt her.”
A day after Ventura filed her suit, both agreed to settle for an undisclosed amount.
Since the case came to light, a video surfaced of Combs physically attacking Ventura, federal charges have been pressed against him, and others came forward with more allegations of sexual assault, harassment, and other wrongdoing against Diddy.
Combs has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Now, Combs sits in jail and awaits trial for his federal charges.
His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, has said that Combs was “strong, healthy, confident and focused on his defense.”
