Claims that Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura endured brutal attacks during her relationship with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs have seemingly been corroborated in newly obtained video footage of a 2016 assault. The former pair dated off and on between 2007 and 2018.
The content was exclusively shared by CNN on May 17, six months after the “Me & You” singer filed a bombshell lawsuit in New York alleging that she was sex trafficked and a victim of various abuses.
The November petition fell under the state’s Adult Survivors Act, which lifted the statute of limitations, allowing victims to pursue legal action against their alleged abusers between November 2022 and this past fall. The dispute was swiftly settled within 24 hours, with the disgraced music executive continuing to claim his innocence.
However, the footage captured by security cameras inside the since-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, on March 5, 2016, reveals a different story. The Bad Boy Records founder is alleged to have paid $50,000 for the footage of him “beating” Cassie, as noted in her lawsuit.
According to TMZ, no police report about the 2016 incident has been filed and there is no possibility Los Angeles cops will further investigate to bring charges against Diddy due to the statue of limitations.
The footage shows a barefoot Cassie dressed in jeans with a black hoodie over her head and toting a purse and a larger bag as she leaves a room and heads to the elevator.
Moments later, Diddy runs out of his suite in a white towel to confront his then-girlfriend. Upon encountering her, he appears to grab her by the back of the neck, slam her to the ground, and kick her twice before he grabs her belongings and begins to drag her down the hall by her sweatshirt. He releases his grip on her clothing soon after and continues to make his way back to the room.
In his absence, Cassie uses a hotel phone to place a call. Another moment showed him reappear, still dressed in only a towel and socks, as he manhandled her while she was cornered off camera. He then sits in a nearby hallway chair and throws a glass vase in her direction.
Her attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, said, “The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. [Ventura] has shown in coming forward to bring this to light,” as it began to circulate online.
Cassie’s lawyer Douglas Wigdor emailed this statement about the new video of Diddy.
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) May 17, 2024
“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward… https://t.co/h1AWFipOMR pic.twitter.com/uMCFiVAdtE
In her lawsuit, Cassie said they had been at the hotel for one of the producer’s many “freak-offs,” which are described as arranged meetings where she was piled with drugs and alcohol and forced to perform sex acts with male prostitutes as Diddy recorded.
She claimed that at some point he allegedly punched her in the face, causing her to suffer a black eye. She attempted to flee while he was asleep, which is what security cameras captured.
The model eventually did make it into an elevator and back to her apartment, but returned to the hotel to apologize. She was advised by security to go back to her residence.
Two days before the incriminating video was publicized, Diddy shared a cryptic post that read, “Time tells truth.” The comments now read, “Well time happened. We saw the CNN video where you brutally attacked Cassie. So yes, you are right.” As well as, “And today is your day. Shameful.”
Another person wrote, “You’re definitely gonna serve some time I can tell you that…” In the state of California, victims of assault and battery have two years from the time of the incident to seek justice. California lawmakers, however, have enacted a law allowing those who have endured sexual assault between Jan. 1, 2009, and Jan. 1, 2019 can file civil suits before the loopback window expires on Dec. 31, 2026.
In November, when the private settlement took place, Cassie’s public statement read, “I have decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control. I want to thank my family, fans and lawyers for their unwavering support.”
Whereas, Diddy’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, said, “Mr. Combs’ decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims” and that “he [Diddy] is happy they got to a mutual settlement and wishes Ms. Ventura the best.”
The “All About the Benjamins” rapper has since been named in five additional lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct, one accusing him of raping a woman when she was 17 years old in New York. The fallout from his irreparably tarnished reputation includes his loss of business relationships, his liquor brand Deleon, and his status as a chairman on REVOLT, the media company he founded in 2013.
In March, his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were both raided by federal agents amid an ongoing investigation into allegations of sex trafficking.
