In 2016, music legend Sean “Diddy” Combs was videotaped violently attacking his then-girlfriend at a Los Angeles hotel, leaving the embattled star facing even greater challenges. Dangerous as he faces a federal sex trafficking investigation.
The video shows Combs chasing, kicking, dragging and throwing glass vases at singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura. It confirmed parts of a civil lawsuit Ventura filed last year against Combs, which was settled a day after it was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The accusations against Combs have grown in recent years, but he has vehemently denied wrongdoing, including when Ventura filed suit. But after facing backlash, Combs posted a video on Instagram on Sunday apologizing for his actions in the video.
“It’s very difficult to reflect on the darkest moments in life, but sometimes you have to,” he said. “My actions in that video are inexcusable.”
Combs said he entered “therapy and recovery” after the incident. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted. I was disgusted when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” he said.
The video is not related to the federal investigation, but it draws more attention to the ongoing investigation.
Law enforcement sources who were not authorized to speak publicly told The Times that Combs was the subject of a sweeping investigation into sex trafficking allegations and that the FBI conducted raids on Combs’ properties in Los Angeles and Miami in March. Combs has not been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing. The investigation was launched after three women accused him of rape, assault and other abuse dating back three decades. One of the charges involves a minor. It’s unclear whether the allegations are related to the investigation, and Combs has denied them.
A law enforcement officer carries a bag of evidence at the entrance to rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs’ property
(Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office called the video “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch” but said it was not currently investigating.
“If the conduct described had occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would not be able to file charges as it occurred beyond the time limit within which assault charges could be prosecuted,” the statement read. “As of today, law enforcement has not filed charges. case related to the attack on Mr Coombs depicted in the film.”
But legal experts say the footage, first obtained by CNN, is a major blow to Combs’ denials that he abused women and could change public perceptions of the star.
“This video paints him in a very horrific light. If people believe him, that’s the end of it,” said Los Angeles defense attorney Lou Shapiro. Combs’ apology “is the only recourse, especially since the statute of limitations has expired,” he said.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani agrees.
“There is no legal or moral basis for what Diddy did. He violently attacked a defenseless woman,” Rahmani said, adding that “the video does not lie.
When Ventura filed the lawsuit, Combs’ attorney said the allegation was “filled with baseless and egregious lies designed to tarnish Mr. Combs’ reputation and seek a payday.”
Shapiro and Rahmani both said the footage posed a significant challenge to credibility. “The problem here is that he denies hitting the ball [Ventura] And then in this video, he even kicks her when she falls,” Shapiro said.
“Dad’s initial strident denials will hurt him as the investigation progresses,” added Megan Blanco, an Orange County defense attorney with experience in federal sex crimes cases.
“Any apology needs to be detailed enough to allow the public to gain insight into why he acted so violently in the first place and why, after attending counseling and years of self-reflection, he continues to deny assaulting Cassie,” she said. “This is nowhere near enough.”
Blanco added that the footage may require Combs’ legal team to argue that his treatment of Ventura was an isolated incident rather than a pattern of behavior toward women.
The recording, dated March 5, 2016, shows Ventura wearing a hoodie and carrying a duffle bag walking in a hotel hallway toward an elevator. Combs can be seen shirtless and running down the same hallway with a towel tied around his waist.
The incident happened at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, the lawsuit said. After Combs fell asleep, Ventura tried to leave the room, but he woke up and “started screaming at her,” the lawsuit states. “He followed her into the hotel hallway while yelling at her,” the complaint states. “He grabbed her and then picked up a glass vase in the hallway and threw it at her, causing her to run toward the elevator and escape. Glass shattered.”
Surveillance footage shot from another angle shows him grabbing Ventura by the head, throwing her to the ground and kicking her multiple times. He can also be seen grabbing her bag and trying to drag her back into the first hallway.
The video also shows Ventura using a hotel phone near an elevator while Combs returns to the hotel room and then appears to push Ventura into a corner. He was also seen throwing a vase in her direction.
Ventura also accuses Combs in the lawsuit of raping her, forcing her to have sex with male sex workers and introducing her to a “lifestyle of excessive alcohol and drug abuse” that required her to “purchase illegal prescriptions to Satisfy your own drug addiction.” “
Sean “Diddy” Combs will arrive in Las Vegas to attend the Billboard Music Awards on May 15, 2022.
(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Authorities were walking down the street near one of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ properties.
(Eric Thayer/AP)
Little is known about the federal investigation, including the identities of any alleged victims. Federal investigators are seeking telecommunications and flight records related to Coombs, said people familiar with the investigation who were not authorized to speak publicly. Sources told The Times that investigators searched Combs’ Homeby Hills home back in March, emptying the safe, removing electronic equipment and leaving documents scattered in some rooms.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigates most sex trafficking operations for the federal government. Legal experts said one reason the agency might be involved in the case is that the women involved in the allegations against Combs may be from other countries.
Combs’ attorneys have strongly criticized the federal investigation, calling the search of his home “militarized” and a “witch hunt.”
“This unprecedented ambush, coupled with a sophisticated and coordinated media presence, resulted in premature judgment against Mr. Combs and was nothing more than a witch hunt based on baseless accusations in a civil lawsuit,” attorney Aaron Aaron Dyer said in March.
In addition to the federal investigation, Combs faces civil lawsuits from three women. He denies wrongdoing.
The lawsuits were filed under the Adult Survivors Act, which takes effect in New York in November 2022 and allows individuals who believe they have been sexually assaulted a one-year window during which they can sue their abusers. Even if the statute of limitations has expired the time limit for prosecuting the underlying crime charged has expired.
