Investigation examines allegations against Sean Combs
Rolling Stone investigative reporter Cheyenne Roundtree discusses allegations made against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs by his former partner, singer Cassie Ventura. The lawsuit filed in November 2023 alleged that Combs beat and raped Ventura, supplied her with drugs and forced her into sexual encounters with male sex workers. Roundtree says she then investigated Combs’s past.
A civil lawsuit filed by singer Cassie Ventura against Sean “Diddy” Combs in November 2023 alleged that he beat and raped her, supplied her with drugs and forced her into sexual encounters with male sex workers during their decade-long relationship.
Cheyenne Roundtree, an investigative reporter at Rolling Stone, said the allegations initially shocked her and other media members. She subsequently investigated Combs’s past, including reported police records, alleged repeated behaviour, rumours and run-ins.
Roundtree described Combs as a music mogul and said she had viewed him and Ventura as a “power couple” before the allegations emerged.
THE QUESTIONS THIS EVENT LEAVES BEHIND
What evidence was available to investigators beyond the allegations described in the lawsuit?
Why were earlier reports or police records, if any, not more widely examined before 2023?
How did Combs’s public image affect the way allegations about him were received?
What protections and reporting channels were available to people who may have witnessed or experienced the alleged conduct?
YOUR QUESTION
Does this story leave you with another question?
Send us the question the report did not answer. It may become the next question IAQ investigates.
GLOBAL CURIOSITY MAP · AUGUST 2026