Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, seen here arriving at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, May 15, 2022, was caught on video at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 beating his then girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, seen here at the 2022 CFDA Fashion Awards held on Nov. 7, 2022 in New York City. (Combs: Jordan Strauss/Invision; Ventura: Patricia Schlein/STAR MAX)
Singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura in a post Thursday on her Instagram page thanked supporters and urged domestic violence victims to reach out to loved ones for help. The response comes about a week after CNN obtained surveillance video that showed rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs viciously attacking her in a Los Angeles hotel.
“The outpouring of love has created a place for my younger self to settle and feel safe now, but this is only the beginning,” she wrote. “Domestic violence is THE issue. It broke me down to someone I never thought I would become. With a lot of hard work, I am better today, but I will always be recovering from my past.”
She went on to say that her “only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims the first time.”
“It takes a lot of heart to tell the truth out of a situation that you were powerless in,” she continued. “I offer my hand to those that are still leaving in fear. Reach out to your people, don’t cut them off. No one should carry this weight alone. This healing journey is never ending, but this support means everything to me.”
CNN exclusively published the video last week that showed Combs, wearing only a towel and socks, chasing down Ventura and assaulting her in front of a bank of elevators at the InterContinental hotel in Century City. He grabbed her, slammed her to the ground and kicked her as she lay motionless, the video shows. The incident occurred on March 5, 2016.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Combs posted his own response in a video Sunday on his Instagram page where said he is reflecting on some of his “darkest times in life.”
“I was f—– up. I mean I hit rock bottom,” he said. “But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
He went on to say he got professional help following the incident.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I am truly sorry.”
But despite the so-called contrite response, he never apologizes to Ventura or mentions her by name. The video also came after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office released a statement on Friday saying it cannot prosecute Combs for the incident which it called “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch.”
“If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted. As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Services,” the statement said.
The hotel video seems to confirm the assault allegations Ventura made against Combs in a now-settled lawsuit she filed against the rapper last fall. She said an “extremely intoxicated” Combs assaulted her that day in the hotel room, giving her a black eye.
“After he fell asleep, Ms. Ventura tried to leave the hotel room, but as she exited, Mr. Combs awoke and began screaming at Ms. Ventura. He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her. He grabbed at her, and then took glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her, causing glass to crash around them as she ran to the elevator to escape.”
It continued: “She managed to get into the elevator, and when she got to the lobby, quickly took a cab to her apartment. Upon realizing that her running away would cause Mr. Combs to be even angrier with her, and completely stuck in his vicious cycle of abuse, Ms. Ventura returned to the hotel with the intention of apologizing for running away from her abuser. When she returned, hotel security staff urged her to get back into a cab and go to her apartment, suggesting that they had seen the security footage showing Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway.”
She said Combs paid $50,000 for the now-public video to go away.
At the time Ventura filed the lawsuit, Combs through his attorney vehemently denied the “offensive and outrageous allegations.” But just a day later Combs decided to settle the lawsuit for an unspecified amount.
Combs met Ventura in 2005 when she was 19 and he was 37. He lured her into an “ostentatious, fast-paced, and drug-fueled lifestyle, and into a romantic relationship with him — her boss, one of the most powerful men in the entertainment industry,” according to the suit. Her debut single, “Me & U” in 2006, was produced by Combs’ Bad Boy Records. Combs was a well-established music superstar, and he allegedly used his status and her naiveté to manipulate her into doing whatever he wanted. That included allegedly talking her into doing drugs such as ecstasy.
“From the very start of their relationship, Mr. Combs exerted his power and influence over Ms. Ventura. This dynamic was fueled by their nearly twenty-year age difference as well as their relative positions in the entertainment industry — with Mr. Combs considered a music ‘mogul’ and Ms. Ventura at the very start of her career as an entertainer,” the suit stated.
That was just the beginning of Combs’ legal troubles. The Department of Homeland Security in March simultaneously raided Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles. He also faced more lawsuits that reveals startling accusations of sex trafficking, sexual abuse and grooming.
Combs last month filed to dismiss some of the claims in the lawsuit brought against his companies that accused him of “intentionally drugging,” raping, and recording a woman in 1991.
The motion to dismiss four claims in the New York case that Joi Dickerson-Neal brought under the New York Adult Survivors Act (ASA) just before a November 2023 deadline began by citing the plaintiff’s admittedly “incomplete” memory of the alleged assault, seemingly to try and undermine her claimed certainty about being “intentionally drugged” and recorded while she was a psychology student at Syracuse University more than 30 years ago.
Matt Naham contributed to this report
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