LOS ANGELES, Nov 16 (Reuters) – R&B vocalist Cassandra Ventura sued Sean “Diddy” Combs in federal courtroom on Thursday, accusing the rapper and hip-hop mogul she as soon as dated and whose music label she signed with of subjecting her to serial bodily abuse, sexual slavery and rape.

One of the central allegations towards Combs by Ventura, who performs underneath the stage identify Cassie, was that he pressured her to interact in sex acts with a succession of male prostitutes he employed whereas he watched and filmed the encounters for his personal pleasure.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, additionally accuses Combs of recurrently beating Ventura over the course of a 10-year skilled and romantic relationship by which he managed her via intimidation and by plying her with medicine and alcohol.

Ventura, 37, alleges that Combs raped her close to the top of their relationship in 2018 when she broached the concept of leaving him.

Combs’ lawyer, Ben Brafman, issued a press release saying his shopper “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations.”

Brafman mentioned Ventura resorted to submitting a lawsuit “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies” after a failed try to blackmail Combs into paying her $30 million by threatening to jot down a harmful ebook about their relationship.

Combs, 54, founder of the landmark label Bad Boy Records, is one of probably the most influential producers and executives in hip-hop and a vastly profitable performer in his personal proper, in addition to the impresario of his personal Sean John clothes line.

Forbes journal ranked him in 2017 because the world’s highest-paid musician, then incomes an estimated $130 million a yr.

The lawsuit filed Thursday depicted Combs, who has previously passed by such monikers as P. Diddy, Puff Daddy and Diddy, as an erratic, controlling particular person with violent tendencies aimed toward Ventura and others.

The lawsuit mentioned he pressured Ventura to hold his handgun for him in her purse, as soon as dangled a buddy of hers over the balcony of a high-rise resort suite and blew up a automobile belonging to rapper Kid Cudi after studying he was occupied with Ventura.

According to the lawsuit, Ventura met Combs in late 2005 when she was 19 and he was 37, signed a 10-album recording cope with Bad Boy Records inside months and started a romantic relationship with him just a few years later.

The lawsuit doesn’t search a specified quantity of financial damages. Instead, it says Ventura seeks “justice for the decade of her life that Mr. Combs took away from her with threats of violence, excessive use of drugs, physical and psychological abuse and sexual slavery.”

The lawsuit cites violations of sex trafficking and human trafficking statutes underneath federal, New York and California legal guidelines.

Combs is the newest high-profile determine within the recording business to be accused of sexual misconduct in latest lawsuits, amongst them singer-songwriter Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, report producer L.A. Reid and music government Neil Portnow, former chairman and CEO of the Recording Academy that hosts the Grammys.

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