Sean “Diddy” Combs seen physically assaulting Cassie Ventura in 2016 surveillance video, which matches allegations Ventura made last year.
CNN has obtained a 2016 surveillance video which shows Sean “Diddy” Combs grabbing his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura by the back of the neck, throwing her down on the ground, and kicking her. The altercation matches allegations made by Ventura last year in her now-settled lawsuit against the music mogul.
The altercation took place on March 5, 2016, at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. The video shows Ventura leaving the hotel room and walking to the elevators. Moments later, Combs rushes out of the room dressed only in a towel and grabs Ventura by the back of the neck while she’s waiting for the elevator. He throws her to the ground, kicks her, and then picks up Ventura’s purse and suitcase before turning around to kick her again. Roughly grabbing her sweatshirt, Combs then starts to drag her down the hallway back towards the room before dropping her and leaving. Ventura gets up and picks up a hotel phone on the wall, but Combs returns and appears to shove her into a corner. He then sits on a chair, picks up an object (possibly a vase) and throws it forcibly in Ventura’s direction.
Ventura declined to comment on the video, but 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.” CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs and InterContinental Hotels, but they’ve yet to comment.
As I mentioned at the start, this incident was described in Ventura’s lawsuit against Combs. The lawsuit claims that an extremely intoxicated Combs had punched Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye. She waited until he fell asleep before attempting to leave the hotel room, leading to the events witnessed in the video. Ventura took a cab to her apartment but realized that Combs would be even angrier at this action, so she returned to the hotel with the intention of apologizing. Hotel security allegedly told her to return to her apartment, suggesting that they had seen the footage of the assault. The lawsuit also alleges that Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the security footage.
Although the lawsuit was settled, more people have since come forward to accuse Combs of sexual abuse, rape, and sex trafficking, and his homes were even raided by Homeland Security earlier this year. Combs has spoken out against the allegations. “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” Combs wrote in a statement. “For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday.“
Now that this video has been made public, I can’t imagine things are looking good for Diddy now.
