Last month, the singer Cassie filed a federal lawsuit accusing her ex-boyfriend, the music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, of physical abuse, rape and sex trafficking during their nearly 10-year relationship.
The two settled for an undisclosed amount of money just 24 hours after Cassie, whose full name is Cassandra Ventura, filed the lawsuit. Following the settlement, Combs said that he “wishes Ventura nothing but the best,” while his attorney, Ben Brafman, said the settlement was “not an admission of wrongdoing.”
The singer/songwriter Tiffany Red, one of Ventura’s longtime friends, told NBC News in an exclusive interview that aired Wednesday on NBC News’ “Top Story with Tom Llamas” that Diddy should be held accountable for his treatment of the singer.
“I think a lot of people, especially in the Black community, I’ve seen the narrative of like, they just trying to take a black man down, and it’s just like, that’s not what this is about. This is about accountability and a reckoning. That’s just the bottom line,” Red said.
Red recently wrote an open letter in Rolling Stone recalling the verbal abuse she says she witnessed her friend endure. Red said that while working with Ventura on new music, they became friends and part of her inner circle, giving her a glimpse into the toxic dynamic between Diddy and Ventura.
“I remember him [Diddy] calling her like over and over and over and I was in the car with her … and then she finally answered the phone. … It was on speakerphone and that was the first time I ever heard him screaming. He just was like, ‘B—-, what are you doing?’ She kept like hanging up because he was screaming, and he was like, ‘Ah, don’t you hang up on me!’ And he kept threatening to take her car,” Red said.
A few months before Ventura filed her lawsuit, Red said Ventura opened up to her and revealed she had suffered more than just verbal abuse. Ventura told Red about the “freak offs” that she detailed last…
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