Sean “Diddy” Combs apologized for beating his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a hotel corridor in 2016, claiming he was “truly sorry” and his actions were “inexcusable.” CNN obtained video footage of the attack.
“I fully accept responsibility for my behavior in that video. I felt disgusted when I did it. “I’m disgusted now,” the music mogul said in a video statement aired Sunday on Instagram and Facebook.
The security tape, which aired Friday, shows Combs beating and kicking Cassie, his protege and longtime lover at the time. The video also shows Combs pushing and dragging Cassie, as well as hurling a vase at her.
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Cassie, whose actual name is Cassandra Ventura, sued Combs in November, alleging years of šāÆšual, physical, and emotional abuse. After the complaint was resolved, Combs faced further attention, including additional lawsuits and a federal criminal šāÆš-trafficking probe. Authorities raided Combs’ estates in Los Angeles and Miami.
He had disputed the charges in the cases, but he and his representatives had not commented to the newly released footage until Sunday.
“ItĀ“s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy says on the video. He adds, “I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. IĀ“m so sorry. But IĀ“m committed to be a better man each and every day. IĀ“m not asking for forgiveness. IĀ“m truly sorry.”
FILE – Sean “Diddy” Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of “The Four: Battle For Stardom” at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. Newly released video Friday, May 17, 2024, appears to show Combs beating his former singing protege and girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
Combs is looking somber and wearing a T-shirt in the selfie-style apology video, and appears to be on a patio. It is the hip-hop mogul’s most direct response and first apology after six months of allegations that have threatened his reputation and career.
Meredith Firetog, who represents Ventura and other women who have sued Combs, said the apology was “more about himself than the many people he has hurt.
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday,” the lawyer said in a statement. “That he was only compelled to `apologizeĀ“ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been šāÆšually abused unless they come forward publicly as Ventura has done.
In December, after Ventura andĀ at least three other womenĀ had filed lawsuits against him, CombsĀ posted a statement on InstagramĀ broadly denying the truth of all of them.
“Let me absolutely clear. I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” that post said.
The security camera video, dated March 5, 2016, closely resembles the description of an incident at an InterContinental Hotel in the Century City area of Los Angeles described in Ventura’ lawsuit.
The suit alleges that Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the security video immediately after the incident. Neither he or his representatives have addressed that specific allegation. CNN did not say how it obtained the footage.
The suit said Ventura had been trying to get away from a sleeping Combs, who had already punched her in the face before the video began.
Combs is not in danger of being criminally prosecuted for the beating. The statutes of limitations for the assault and battery charges he would be likely to face expired years ago.
The same is true of many of the allegations in the lawsuits, but the federal investigators following Combs are likely looking for potential crimes they can bring under the law.
Ventura signed to Diddy’s label in 2005. The two had an on-again-off-again romantic relationship for more than a decade starting in 2007.
This frame grab taken from hotel security camera video and aired by CNN appears to show Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in March 2016.
This frame grab taken from hotel security camera video and aired by CNN appears to show Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in March 2016.
This frame grab taken from hotel security camera video and aired by CNN appears to show Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in March 2016.
Diddy is seen violently assaulting Cassie in 2016 surveillance footage.
Diddy breaks his silence after shocking video of Cassie beating surfaces
