That is it? Sean Combs just walks?
If the allegations filed in civil court by his former protege Cassie last week are to be believed, hip-hop mogul Combs – also known as Puffy, Diddy and, laughably, Love – is a very dangerous man.
And in the wake of this filing — which Combs, through his attorney, said was a shakedown — we are reminded that other prominent figures have said yes, they believe Sean Combs may be capable of violence.
New York Prosecutors: Are You Listening?
Cassie, born Casandra Ventura, filed her civil suit on November 16. A financial settlement was reached a day later.
If even half of what Ventura claims here is true, there is a good chance that more victims exist. And if there has been a faster payout recently, I can’t think of one.
This is dark stuff. It’s reminiscent of the monsters we know now: R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein. And don’t forget, all three were convicted. Only Cosby is free, on a technicality.
Cassie-Puffy’s origin story, as told here, feels familiar. Ventura met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37; she was an aspiring star and he was a hip-hop mogul.
Months later, in February 2006, he had signed her to his record label and began infiltrating every aspect of her life.
If even half of what Ventura (above left) claims here is true, there is a good chance that more victims exist. And if there has been a faster payout recently, I can’t think of one.
Cassie-Puffy’s origin story, as told here, feels familiar. Ventura met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37; she was an aspiring star and he was a hip-hop mogul.
According to the lawsuit, Combs subjected her to violent physical attacks and rape for more than a decade, forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he watched, directed and masturbated – encounters he called “freak offs” – and harassed her with drugs and drugs. alcohol.
Ventura says he forced her to keep his gun in her purse at least twice to remind her how dangerous he was. She recalls that Combs heard that his rap industry rival Suge Knight — currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for manslaughter — was in the area and that Combs then “got multiple guns out of a safe and ran out of his house to where he thought was Mr. Knight. to dine.’
In another vignette reminiscent of Knight at his most terrifying – taking rapper Vanilla Ice to his hotel balcony and, as Ice told ABC News, attempting extortion by “making me look over the edge, reminding me how high I was up there” – Combs is said to have once “picked up one of Ms. Ventura’s friends as a child and dangled the friend over the balcony of a 17th floor hotel suite.”
She was beaten over the years, she claims. Included here is a particularly vicious attack: “In January 2009, Mr. Combs became enraged after learning that Ms. Ventura had spoken to another music manager at a party in Los Angeles. . . In the car leaving the club, Mr. Combs struck Ms. Ventura, pushed her into a corner of the vehicle and stomped on her face.”
His guard Roger Bonds, Ventura says here, tried to stop Combs, but was unsuccessful. When the car stopped at Combs’ house, Ventura ran toward it, “but Mr. Combs followed her and then kicked her in the face…” . . (she) was bleeding profusely and was led into Mr. Combs’ home, where she began vomiting from the violent attack.”
Who wants to hear or see Sean Combs again?
Lest you think this is a hasty statement, consider the deafening silence within the hip-hop community. As of this writing, no significant figure has emerged to say what a good guy Combs is. How he could never be capable of such sadism. How this must all be a setup.
That is it? Sean Combs just walks? If the allegations filed in civil court by his former protege Cassie last week are to be believed, hip-hop mogul Combs – also known as Puffy, Diddy and, laughably, Love – is a very dangerous man. (Above) Combs pictured in Miami on November 18, 2023
Kimora Lee Simmons (above, center right) – ex-wife of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons (above, right), herself accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen women – said in a 2004 New York magazine profile that Combs threatened to hit her.
If anything, it’s the opposite. Check out this part of Ventura’s lawsuit, in which Combs responds to messages between Ventura and rapper Kid Cudi.
“In February 2012, during Paris Fashion Week, Mr. Combs told Ms. Ventura that he was going to blow up Kid Cudi’s car, and that he wanted to make sure Kid Cudi was home with his friends when it happened. About that time, Kid Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway.”
“This is all true,” Cudi told the New York Times through a spokesperson last week, confirming Ventura’s claim that his car had indeed once exploded outside his home.
After that car bomb – seriously, are we in the Middle East? The mafia? – ‘Mrs. Ventura was terrified as she began to fully understand what Mr. Combs was both willing and able to do to those he believed had slighted him.”
Kimora Lee Simmons — ex-wife of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, herself accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen women — said in a 2004 New York magazine profile that Combs threatened to hit her.
‘I was pregnant!’ she said. “The idiot!”
Diddy did not request comment at the time.
His alleged violence is not limited to women.
In 1999, record producer Steve Stoute filed criminal charges alleging that Combs and his bodyguards beat him up over a music video, using a chair, a telephone and a champagne bottle. Combs eventually paid Stoute $500,000, pleaded guilty to harassment and was sentenced to one day of anger management.
That same year, Combs was charged with gun possession and bribery in connection with a shooting at a New York City nightclub that dragged his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez to the police station. Combs was found not guilty.
“This is all true,” Cudi (above) told the New York Times through a spokesperson last week, confirming Ventura’s claim that his car had indeed once exploded outside his home.
In 1999, record producer Steve Stoute (above, right with Rihanna) filed criminal charges alleging that Combs and his bodyguards beat him up over a music video, using a chair, a telephone and a champagne bottle. Combs eventually paid Stoute $500,000, pleaded guilty to harassment and was sentenced to one day of anger management.
In 2015, he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, battery and making terroristic threats in 2015 after an incident with a UCLA coach. Those misdemeanor charges were also dropped by LA County.
You could say there is a pattern here.
Another encouraging and depressing example of women in the industry: Kesha—whose 2014 lawsuit against record producer Dr. Luke for drugging and raping her was supported by Taylor Swift, who donated $250,000 for all her financial needs – dropped Diddy’s name from her. hit ‘TikTok’ during a performance this weekend.
None of this is proof, that’s for sure. But it lends credence to Ventura’s claims. That includes Combs’ 180-degree turnaround: As of Nov. 16, the day Ventura filed the charges, it was a money grab. Within 24 hours, after the gory details became public, Combs clearly offered Ventura enough to make it go away.
So for now he is free. But Sean Combs shouldn’t rest easy.
The man who long ago lost the cultural relevance that made him untouchable finds himself in a new era, on a new precipice: an era that begins with a “drip, drip, drip.” . .’
Only one or two brave prosecutors are needed. After all, look how far, how quickly this self-proclaimed ‘bad boy for life’ has already folded.