[Source: CNN Entertainment] When Sean Combs was presented with a lifetime achievement recognition at the BET Awards in 2022, his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, was among the people he thanked. “I’mma keep it a hundred with y’all, I was in a dark place for a few years,” Combs said at the time. “And also Cassie for holding me down in the dark times.
Love.” The moment has been revisited through a different lens since Ventura first came forward in November with allegations of rape and abuse against Combs in a since-settled lawsuit and CNN’s publication on Friday of video showing Combs physically assaulting her in 2016. Combs and Ventura dated off and on from 2007 to 2018.
In her complaint that was settled with in a day of its filing, Ventura alleged Combs raped her in 2018 and subjected her to years of repeated physical and other abuses over the course of their relationship. “A decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing,” Ben Brafman, an attorney for Combs, told CNN in a statement in November. “Mr.
Combs‘ decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims. He is happy they got to a mutual settlement and wishes Ms. Ventura the best.
” However, Combs apologized Sunday for his actions in the video. Ventura’s allegations had not yet surfaced publicly in 2022, when Combs accepted the BET Award meant to mark his decades of success in the music industry. That night he .