Earlier this month, Sean “Diddy” Combs was formally sentenced to 50 months (or roughly four years) in prison due to prostitution-related offenses. Multiple individuals have since spoken out about the decision handed down by the judge. One such person who released a statement via their legal team was Cassie Ventura, who was a longtime romantic partner of Diddy’s. In the aftermath of the sentencing, Ventura is still of the belief that her former boyfriend won’t change his ways, and one of Combs’ lawyers is now responding.
Cassie Ventura (39) – who’s known mononymously as Cassie – was in an on-and-off relationship with Sean Combs between 2007 and 2018 and, in late 2023, she filed suit against him for alleged domestic violence, sex-trafficking and more. The lawsuit was settled less than 24 hours later, though Combs’ team denied wrongdoing on his part. By May 2024, though, 2016 video footage of Combs assaulting Ventura in a hotel surfaced, leading him to issue an apology (which was criticized by Ventura’s lawyer).
Following Diddy’s arrest in 2024, Cassie testified about her experiences during his trial, and a letter from her was also read during his sentencing hearing, per USA Today. Via the letter, Cassie expressed her belief that if Diddy were to be freed, “his first actions will be swift retribution toward me and others who spoke up about his abuse at trial.” While Ventura is skeptical as to whether her ex will truly change his ways, one of Diddy’s attorneys, Xavier Donaldson empathized with her sentiments while speaking with CNN:
I respect her words, I’m not going to cast any dispersions on Cassie’s words. She’s entitled to believe and feel how he feels. She’s absolutely entitled to that. She has a right, she should honestly. She was a victim of domestic violence. There’s no doubt about that. No one I know of is saying anything except that.
During that same interview, Donaldson also argued that Combs would eventually “bounce back” professionally but not as a rapper. It’s Donaldson’s belief that the “Let’s Get It” performer could continue to thrive as a philanthropist. With that, while Donaldson said he could understand where Cassie was coming from, he also argued that Combs deserved a second chance:
We have to believe that everyone has the opportunity of a second chance, we have to. We have to believe that he can bounce back, we have to. He can’t be damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. If he tries to do the right thing, we can’t say, ‘Oh, we don’t believe it.’ If he doesn’t do anything, we’ll say, ‘Well, why isn’t he doing anything?’
Sean Combs’ trial ended this past July with him receiving a mixed verdict, as he was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted of sex-trafficking and racketeering. That decision came after weeks of testimony from witnesses subpoenaed by the prosecution. Casssie was on the stand for four days and, during that time, she claimed Combs subjected her to violence and his Freak Off parties. A former male escort also corroborated some of Cassie’s claims.
At this point, Diddy remains incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, and he’s currently hoping to serve his sentence at FCI Fort Dix (though he’s been warned against it). Time will tell whether the embattled rapper and his team receive their request and whether he’ll actually learn from his time behind bars. As for Cassie, after the sentencing, her lawyer shared a statement with ABC News, which read in part, “While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognizes the impact of the serious offenses he committed.”