Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
By now you’ve heard the story.
Casandra Ventura, better known by the mononym Cassie, filed a federal lawsuit against her former boyfriend — music mogul and Bad Boy Records founder Sean “Diddy” Combs (neé Puff Daddy, Puffy, P Diddy, et. al.) — alleging physical and sexual abuse as well as human trafficking.
Within 24 hours of Cassie filing the suit, Diddy settled with her for an undisclosed amount thereby avoiding discovery, depositions and a trial that could have potentially exposed more of his business than he was ready for the world to know.
To be fair, from a legal standpoint, we can’t say whether or not the things Cassie alleged were true, but between my opinion and my Magic 8-Ball, all signs point to yes with a settlement that fast.
Cassie filed her lawsuit just before the expiration of a New York state law that allowed victims of sexual assault to file civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers in cases where the criminal statute of limitations had expired.
That law, the Adult Survivors Act, was signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul last year and provided people over the age of 18 a one-year window to file a civil lawsuit against their accused abusers for any type of sexual assault regardless of when the assault occurred. That window closes on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23.
While the window to file civil lawsuits against accused abusers is closing, the door is not closed on the reckoning that is long overdue in hip-hop.
We’ve spent the entirety of this year celebrating the 50th…
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