As he took the stage at the BET Awards in June 2022 to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, Sean “Diddy” Combs was elated. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” he bellowed, punctuating his words with triumphant jumps. The adoring crowd — who gave him a sustained standing ovation — included his mother and children, longtime friends, and music-industry peers Kanye West, Janelle Monáe, Babyface, and Lil Wayne. After three decades of relentless hustling that took him from hungry teenage intern to A&R executive, producer, label impresario, respected fashion designer, and household brand name, Diddy had seemingly reached the apotheosis of his career.
He closed his eyes and repeatedly thanked God. He got down on one knee and praised his mother. He name-checked a laundry list of people who’d mentored and inspired him. “Anything I do is through love,” Combs proclaimed early in a nine-minute speech. “That’s what I evolved to be, and that’s what I’m doing right now.”
But soon, Combs struck a more somber tone. “I was in a dark place for a few years,” he said. “I gotta give a special thank you to the people that was really there for me.” He listed friends and advisers. Then, looking directly into the camera, he added, “Cassie, for holding me down in the dark times. Love.” He raised one hand to make an “L” sign and held his gaze steady, silently, for several seconds.
Combs and Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, a former singer for his iconic Bad Boy record label, had split four years earlier. But he had been openly pining for her ever since. He posted photos of her online and urged her to listen to Michael Jackson’s “The Lady in My Life.” He publicly congratulated her on her first pregnancy with her husband. His comments at the awards show were part of a pattern of behavior — one that had been tormenting Ventura for years. When she learned of her ex’s latest remark, sources say, Ventura was distressed. She was also resolute.
Almost 18 months later, in November 2023, Ventura sued Combs, claiming he held her in a violent form of sexual servitude throughout their relationship and raped her upon their final breakup, in 2018. She invoked Combs’ BET speech in her filing: “For Ms. Ventura, the ‘dark times’ were those she spent trapped by Mr. Combs in a cycle of abuse, violence, and sex trafficking.” She said Combs’ brutal beatings — one of them captured in harrowing hotel surveillance video obtained by CNN in May — left her with bruises, burst lips, black eyes, and extensive trauma.
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