A friend and collaborator of the singer Cassie corroborated the singer’s claim that her ex, media mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, was physically and sexually abusive toward her.
In an open letter to Diddy published in Rolling Stone on Thursday, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Tiffany Red said he “traumatized” her. Red’s piece follows Cassie’s lawsuit against Diddy, which was filed on Nov. 16 and privately settled less than 24 hours later.
“I’m breaking my silence, freeing myself from haunting recollections, standing in solidarity with Cassie, and standing up for myself,” Red wrote. “I fear for my safety as her suit alludes to me, although not by name. I hope that revealing my identity to the public will afford me some measure of protection.”
Red has written songs for Cassie, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Tamar Braxton, Zendaya and more, according to her website.
In the “Me and U” singer’s lawsuit, Cassie claimed Diddy repeatedly beat her, raped her and forced her to abuse drugs and alcohol. She also claimed he blew up the car of rapper-producer Kid Cudi when Diddy learned Cudi had a romantic interest in Cassie. Cassie also said Diddy would force her to do “Freak Offs,” a term he used to describe her having sex with multiple male sex workers as he watched, recorded and pleasured himself.
In her letter, Red said she has memories of numerous instances of Diddy being abusive toward Cassie that have since “tormented” her. Red also claimed that everything in Cassie’s lawsuit was consistent with what she witnessed as Cassie’s friend.
“Your abuse of power has inflicted ongoing harm on countless individuals, including myself, my friends, and my peers,” she wrote. “The power imbalance makes it nearly impossible to fight back and terrifying to speak up. But despite that, here I am, standing beside my friend.”
Richard Shotwell/Invision via Associated Press
Cassie’s lawsuit against Diddy was filed just days before the Adult Survivors Act was set to end in New York. The law, which expired on Nov. 24, gave victims a year to come forward with abuse allegations even if the alleged abuse occurred outside the statute of limitations.
Cassie’s lawsuit was the first of at least three others accusing Diddy of violence and sexual abuse. On Thanksgiving, a “Jane Doe” alleged that Diddy and singer Aaron Hall raped her in 1990 or 1991. The same day, Joi Dickerson-Neal accused him of raping her when she was a student at Syracuse University and then sharing a video of it with multiple people. These two lawsuits were filed under the Adult Survivors Act.
On Wednesday, another “Jane Doe” accused Diddy of getting her intoxicated and “gang banging” her with two other associates, including record executive Harve Pierre, when she was a 17-year-old high school junior. Doe’s suit included pictures of her with the then-34-year-old music mogul at the studio where she alleged the abuse happened. This suit was filed under the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Act, which is similar to the Adult Survivors Act and expires in March 2025.
In a statement posted online on Wednesday, Diddy denied the numerous allegations against him.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
Diddy, who changed his name to “Love,” has branded himself as a “fun-loving, often-smiling purveyor of peace,” HuffPost’s Stephen A. Crockett Jr. wrote in a HuffPost opinion article earlier this month. But both confirmed and unconfirmed rumors about him being violent have circulated for years.