Cassie Ventura discloses $20 million settlement during Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial

R&B singer Cassie Ventura on Wednesday revealed that she received a $20 million settlement from ex-boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs in 2023, in exchange for dropping her lawsuit against the hip-hop mogul. 

Ventura, known professionally as just "Cassie," accused Combs in the lawsuit of raping and beating her during their years-long relationship. But she quickly dropped the case for the settlement.

The revelation occurred during Ventura's testimony in Combs' high profile racketeering and sex trafficking trial in New York City. He has been imprisoned since his arrest in September and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

"I agreed to settle 24 hours later for $20 million,” she testified. “I wanted to be compensated for the time, the pain … to fix my life ... I didn't really do any research, I just picked a number." 

The testimony comes a day after she told the New York court that Combs would have "freak-off" parties that could sometimes last for days, and that the parties became her primary job. She testified that she didn't have time to do anything else, including advancing her own music career.

When asked on Wednesday why she decided to testify about the alleged abuse she suffered now, Ventura admitted that she felt ashamed for not speaking out sooner, according to Reuters.

“I can't carry this anymore," Ventura said. "I can't carry the shame, the guilt, the way he treated people like they were disposable. What's right is right, what's wrong is wrong. I came here to do the right thing."

Ventura is considered the prosecution's star witness, and testified about the alleged rape she endured. She told the court that trying to get Combs to stop would often make the abuse worse, rather than calm him down.

“It would just make him more violent, make him stronger, make him want to push me harder," Ventura said. "He said that it would ruin everything that I had worked for, that it would make me look like a slut. That I would be shamed. Nobody should do that to anyone."

The trial, which began with jury selection last week and had opening remarks Monday, is expected to take up to eight weeks. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.