Former singer and past girlfriend of entertainment mogul Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy,, aka Diddy, aka Love) Cassie filed a lawsuit against the founder of Bad Boy Records, claiming US$30 million for physical abuse, rape and being forced into sexual degrading acts.

The day after her claim went public, Combs settled with her out of court for an undisclosed sum believed to be in the eight-figure range.

The Bad Boy boss was right to settle this quickly, issuing a terse statement that read: “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love”

Initially he vehemently denied her claims but if he had contested it, Combs ran the risk of not only destroying his established career but perhaps even going to jail.

Cassie’s allegations were very serious and in this febrile feminist/Me Too era, he may very well suffer the same fate as his contemporary, R. Kelly.

The question of whether he did or did not do these vile acts is now resided to media chatter and for him ,life goes on.

There are those who say why would Cassie after all these years come out with these these destructive claims? Was she after a huge pay day after being washed up at 37 with no discernible entertainment career and a husband and two kids?

That may be a little short-sighted.

She got with Diddy when she was a 19-year ingenue, hoping he would shape her career and take care of her. It’s an age-old story.

Rich successful men in whatever endeavour more often than not seek out young, good-looking ,nubile women as consorts.

It is understood from her deposition that he paid for her apartment and car and bankrolled her albums, so there was a certain obligation there that a young woman would be reluctant to contest.

What she was asked to do was despicable but the ends justify the means and she was being made into a star – the next Jlo. They were on and off for about a decade, that’s some dance.

As time went by and she grew in confidence, she may have felt emboldened to say no and reflect with revulsion as to what she was being subjected to.

At 37 and heading into middle age ,the answer could be in this statement: “ I am finally ready to tell my story and to speak up on my behalf and for the benefit of other women who face violence and abuse in their relationship.”

She was wasn’t ready nor equipped to take on her ‘Sugar Daddy’ then, but now she is. What she cannot be today, she can be tomorrow.

Today, the worse thing a man can be is a woman beater. Diddy would not recover from this, not after Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly.

Businesses and sponsors would have turned their backs on him and further investigations into the deaths of his former lover Kim Porter, his star act on Bad Boy “ Biggie Smalls” and the shooting of Tupac would be opened up with perhaps efforts to implicate him.

Puff Daddy had beef with alcohol drinks giant Diageo and with him having to defend Cassie’s claims, they could crow, “I told you so, he’s trouble”.

It’s a road he shouldn’t go down to simply defend his honour, not when your life as you know it is at stake. Best to settle and move on.

You don’t want your song I’ll be Missing You to take on a macabre tone.

It is said that Sean Combs is the Berry Gordy of his generation, a man who took rap and New Jack Swing to unprecedented heights. I would argue he went beyond Gordy. As well as being an impresario, Diddy was a producer, performer, and an actor., straddling the entire gamut of the entertainment industry. His other business ventures have also struck gold.

He is said to have a net worth of just over a billion dollars. This Cassie situation could have cost him dearly.

It’s a salutary lesson for male entertainers – don’t let it be said that you physically and sexually abuse your paramours.

Al Green, Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, James Brown. Kelly Bill Cosby, Mike Tyson, Russell Brand, Ike Turner and Cuba Gooding Jr. have had to fend off allegations of abuse which threatened and, in many instances, derailed their careers.

The buzzards circled when Aubrey O’Day and Kimora Lee Simmons weighed in on the Cassie imbroglio and Puffy’s behaviour with the ladies.

What he doesn’t want to happen here is the dam gates to open and multiple women come out with unsavoury tales which are similar to Cassie’s claims, thus nailing him to his cross.

As it now stands, Cassie’s allegations are conjecture.

For many ladies who hook up with entertainers, stories of abiding trauma and phycological pain will endure. Some of them will walk away with millions, others will have to live with the scars.

We’ve seen this movie before.