Diddy Laughs Off Cassie Critics

By: Janine Coveney

Bad Boy label head Sean "Diddy" Combs is letting the criticism of his new vocalist Cassie roll off his back and hopes she's doing the same. "I'm going to be with her until she gets it right," he told MTV.com.

The 19-year old "Me & U" singer has been roasted by music fans about her recent performances on MTV's TRL and BET's 106th & Park, as well as about a racy early version of her video that was leaked to the Internet. Some listeners also didn't appreciate some off-the-cuff comments Cassie made last week on New York radio station Hot 97 about the sexiness of certain male R&B stars. The grumbling even sparked an online petition urging Bad Boy to drop the singer from its roster.

Meanwhile, her debut album, Cassie, landed at Number Four on the Billboard Top 200 this week with sales of more than 100,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"She had her first television performance, and she had an all right performance," Diddy stated. "You could hear the nervousness in her voice. And to be honest, I kind of smiled at it, because it made me really appreciate what I really love about her: She's a regular person. And we, as artists, we sometimes get nervous. I told her it's like riding a bike: You're gonna fall down, you got to keep on getting on it.

"I'm with her through her development, and I have no question on her ability, on her singing ability," Diddy added. "It just made me appreciate that she got nervous, and it was kind of cute to me, to be honest."

The entertainment mogul stressed that Cassie's success has literally happened overnight. "It's just so huge, and sometimes everybody handles it differently. So I'm quite sure she'll get over it. She's going to have to."