US broadcaster CNN has released a montage of surveillance footage taken at a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016, revealing an episode of violence involving rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and his then girlfriend, R&B singer “Cassie” Ventura.
P. Diddy, accused of rape and violence
Since 2023, the 54-year-old international hip-hop star and billionaire from New York, known as “Puff Daddy” and “P. Diddy”, has been facing numerous accusations of rape, sexual exploitation and physical and psychological abuse.
In November, “Cassie” filed a civil suit in New York, accusing her ex-partner of raping her in 2018 and engaging in “violent” and “deviant” behavior for ten years. The singer by of forced sexual relations with male prostitutes. The case was resolved “amicably” through a confidential settlement.
Filmed in the corner of a corridor
Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit, which is now closed, involved a particularly violent physical assault. CCTV footage dated March 5, 2016, revealed and authenticated by CNN a few days ago, illustrates this violence.
In a montage of videos showing several angles of a hallway and elevator doors at the InterContinental Hotel (which no longer exists) in Los Angeles, a woman, identified by CNN as Cassie Ventura, is seen walking down the hallway, wearing a hooded coat, jeans and carrying a purse and duffel bag.
Seconds later, a man appears in the hallway and starts running after her. According to the network, the man is Sean Combs. He is dressed only in a towel around his waist and socks.
Kicking his partner to the ground
Arriving at the elevator, the rapper found Cassie Ventura with her back to him. He brutally grabbed her by the back of the neck, threw her violently to the floor and kicked her as she lay on the ground.
“Diddy”, holding his towel in one hand, picks up “Cassie’s” bags with the other and kicks her again, according to the footage. He is then seen violently grabbing his then companion by the hood or top of her coat and dragging her several yards down the hallway before abandoning her.
Vases thrown at “Cassie
Cassie Ventura is then seen slowly getting to her feet. She gathers her belongings and picks up a service phone near the elevator. In another clip from a camera showing a mirror in the hotel corridor, Sean Combs, still in the same outfit, is seen violently throwing glass vases in Cassie Ventura’s direction, although she is not visible.
This “stomach-churning video only confirms Mr. Combs’ predatory behavior”, said Cassie Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, in a statement, hailing his client’s “courage”. The rapper has denied most of the accusations since filing a civil suit in November, and has not been criminally charged.
But for this video, the rapper acknowledges the facts and reacted on the internet: “I take full responsibility for my actions in this video,” continues the rapper, saying he was “disgusted” by his behavior. “I was disgusted when I did it, and I still am today”, assures the producer, who confides that he has “undergone therapy” and “rehab”. The music mogul concludes his post, stating that he was “not asking to be forgiven” and that he was “truly sorry”.
A new complaint following the release of the video
Following the release of the video, the rapper was once again accused of sexual assault in a new complaint filed by Crystal McKinney, former model and winner of MTV’s Model Mission contest in 1998.
According to the complaint, Crystal McKinney claims to have been “drugged and sexually assaulted” in 2003 by Combs following a Men’s Fashion Week event in New York.
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