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Video Appears To Show Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Beating Singer Cassie In Hotel Hallway In 2016
Los Angeles — CNN’s security footage purports to show Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel corridor in 2016, the latest in a months-long sequence of public allegations and discoveries of physical and sexual abuse by the hip-hop entrepreneur.
The footage, which debuted on Friday, shows Combs striking and kicking the R&B singer, his protege and long-term girlfriend. The video also shows Combs pushing and dragging Cassie and hurling a vase at her.
Show Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs: Getty Images
Video Appears To Show Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Beating Singer Cassie In Hotel Hallway In 2016
The security camera video, dated March 5, 2016, closely resembles the description of an incident at an InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles’ Century City neighborhood described in a November lawsuit filed by Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, who claimed years of sexual abuse and other violence from Combs.
The lawsuit claims Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the security footage. CNN could not specify how it received the video but did state that it validated the location by comparing it to publicly available photographs of the InterContinental Hotel.
Cassie’s complaint was resolved the day it was filed, but it prompted intensive scrutiny of Combs, with numerous additional claims filed in the months that followed, as well as a federal criminal sex-trafficking probe that led investigators to raid Combs’ residences in Los Angeles and Miami.
Representatives for Combs did not immediately respond to the video, but he has previously rejected the allegations in the lawsuits, and his lawyers have stated that he rejects all wrongdoing and would fight to prove his innocence.
“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed Mr. Combs’ disturbing and predatory behavior,” said Douglas Wigdor, Cassie’s attorney, who has filed earlier complaints against him. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
The Associated Press normally does not identify persons who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura has.
According to the lawsuit, Combs became “extremely intoxicated” earlier that evening and hit Ventura, resulting in a black eye. According to the lawsuit, she attempted to depart after he fell asleep. This appears to be the beginning of the video. Ventura can be seen walking towards a bank of elevators with a packed backpack.
The suit claims Combs awoke and began screaming at her, following her down the corridor.
In the video, he forcibly grabs her and yanks her to the ground before kicking her and throwing vases at her.
Perez Hilton: Getty Images
Video Appears To Show Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Beating Singer Cassie In Hotel Hallway In 2016
According to the lawsuit, she managed to flee but later returned for fear of further violence. The suit claims that hotel workers pushed her to return to her apartment when she returned. She would run and seek refuge with a friend in Florida.
The lawsuit claims Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the security footage.
It is doubtful that Combs will face criminal charges for the attack. In California, the statute of limitations for assault or battery ranges from one to three years, depending on whether the offense is charged as a misdemeanor or felony.
The tape was released just as Combs and his legal team began responding to the claims coming in steadily since November. They recently filed motions to dismiss portions of a complaint alleging he sexually attacked a woman in 1991, as well as the entire lawsuit alleging he and two other men raped a 17-year-old girl in 2003. According to the court pleadings, both sets of allegations are baseless.
On March 25, Homeland Security Investigations executed search warrants on Combs’ houses in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a sex trafficking investigation. His lawyer described it as “a gross use of military-level force.” The investigation is continuing. Combs hasn’t been charged.
Combs, a three-time Grammy winner and the founder of Bad Boy Records, is one of hip-hop’s most prominent producers and executives during the last three decades. He parlayed his hip-hop fame into a larger economic empire encompassing private-label spirits, clothes, and a television network. Since the charges surfaced, he has had to stand down from several of his corporate positions.
Show Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Ventura: AP Image
Video Appears To Show Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Beating Singer Cassie In Hotel Hallway In 2016
He and Ventura started dating in 2007, dating intermittently for over ten years.
She became well-known for her hit single “Me & U,” which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart 2006. The song was the main single from her self-titled and only studio album.
She has acted in numerous television episodes and films, including Fox’s “Empire,” “Step Up 2: The Streets,” and “Spenser Confidential.”
SOURCE – (AP)
