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In 2022, Sean Combs<\/strong> received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards. As a new lawsuit filed by Casandra Ventura<\/strong> recounts, he thanked his former girlfriend and Bad Boy Records signee in his acceptance speech. \u201cI have to give a special shoutout, thank you, love, to the people that was really there for me.\u201d He named several people, including Ventura, better known as the R&B singer Cassie, \u201cfor holding me down in the dark times, love.\u201d<\/p>\n In the suit, filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, Ventura said that she spent these times trapped by Combs in a yearslong cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking. The complaint alleges a disturbing pattern of assault and retaliation that took place for the duration of their relationship beginning when a 37-year old Combs, an established power player in hip-hop, met Ventura as an aspiring 19-year old entertainer in 2005. He signed her to his high-flying label and within a few years, according to the suit, lured her into \u201can ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle, and into a romantic relationship with him her boss, one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry, and a vicious, cruel, and controlling man nearly two decades her senior.\u201d<\/p>\n Ventura claimed in the suit that Combs repeatedly beat her and forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed the encounters. According to the suit, Combs described these encounters as \u201cfreak offs\u201d designed to fulfill a fantasy he called \u201cvoyeurism,\u201d and they often involved drug use that eventually sent Ventura on a path towards addiction. Towards the end of their relationship in 2018, Ventura said in the complaint, Combs forced his way into her home and raped her.<\/p>\n In one of the alleged \u201cfreak offs\u201d in 2016, the suit said, Combs punched Ventura in the face and gave her a black eye. When he fell asleep and she tried to leave their Los Angeles hotel room, Ventura claimed, he woke up and followed her into the hallway, where he threw glass vases at her. According to the suit, Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the footage.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter years in silence and darkness,\u201d Ventura said in a statement. \u201cI 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.\u201d She filed the lawsuit under the Adult Survivors Act in New York, enacted last year, which grants alleged victims of sexual abuse a one-year window, ending next week, to file civil complaints in instances where the statute of limitations has passed.<\/p>\n “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations,\u201d Combs\u2019s attorney Ben Brafman<\/strong> said in a statement. \u201cFor the past 6 months, Mr. Combs, has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’ reputation and seeking a pay day.”<\/p>\n In response to Brafman\u2019s statement, Ventura\u2019s attorney Douglas Wigdor said, \u201cMr. Comb\u2019s offered Ms. Ventura eight figures to silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit. She rejected his efforts and decided to give a voice to all woman who suffer in silence. Ms. Ventura should be applauded for her bravery.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2011, during a rough patch in Combs and Ventura\u2019s relationship, according to the suit, Ventura briefly dated the rapper Kid Cudi.<\/strong> When Combs returned from a trip, the suit said, he demanded that Ventura participate in a \u201cfreak off.\u201d During this encounter, Ventura claimed, he found emails between her and Kid Cudi on her phone and lunged at her with a corkscrew placed between his fingers. Ventura ran away to Kid Cudi\u2019s home, she said, before returning because she felt that she wouldn\u2019t be able to escape Combs and his staff, whom the suit described as his \u201cnetwork of enforcers.\u201d According to the suit, Combs then hit her several times and kicked her in the back.<\/p>\n The following year, the suit said, Combs told Ventura he was going to blow up Kid Cudi\u2019s Car with the rapper and his friends home when it happened. \u201cAround that time,\u201d the suit said, \u201cKid Cudi\u2019s car exploded in his driveway.\u201d (\u201cThis is all true,\u201d a spokesperson for Kid Cudi told<\/a> the New York Times<\/em>.)<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Combs asserted complete control over Ms. Ventura\u2019s personal and professional life, thereby ensuring her inability to escape his hold,\u201d the suit said. \u201cHe provided unprecedented avenues for success for the aspiring artist, but in return, demanded obedience, loyalty, and silence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n