Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs seen on video chasing, kicking, dragging then-girlfriend Cassie at L.A. hotel
Sean “Diddy” Combs chased, kicked, dragged and hurled a glass vase at his then-girlfriend Cassie in 2016, newly surfaced surveillance video from a Los Angeles hotel shows.
The video, obtained and published by CNN on Friday, seemingly confirms at least some of the physical abuse allegations against the singer detailed in a lawsuit filed in November — accusations Combs has denied.
That lawsuit was settled a day after it was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In it, Cassie, a singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged that Combs “became extremely intoxicated and punched” her in the face, “giving her a black eye” during an attack in March 2016.
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“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” Douglas H. Wigdor, Ventura’s lawyer, told The Times in a statement Friday. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment on the video.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office issued a statement Friday saying the images were “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,” the statement said. “As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs.”
The recording, dated March 5, 2016, shows Ventura with a hoodie and a duffel bag as she walks toward an elevator in a hotel hallway. Combs can be seen running down the hallway, shirtless and holding a towel around his waist.
Security video recorded from another angle shows him grabbing Ventura’s head and throwing her on the ground, where he kicks her multiple times. He can also be seen picking up her bags and trying to drag her back to the first hallway.
Ventura’s November lawsuit detailed the attack, which occurred at the InterContinental hotel in Century City. After Combs fell asleep, Ventura attempted to leave the room, the lawsuit said, but he awoke and “began screaming” at his then-girlfriend.
“He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her,” the complaint said. “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.”
Hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is accused of rape, abuse, sex trafficking and more by former partner Casandra Ventura, a.k.a. Cassie, in a new lawsuit.
The newly surfaced video shows Ventura using a hotel phone by the elevators, as well as Combs going back to his hotel room and then separately seemingly shoving Ventura into a corner. He is also seen throwing a vase in her direction.
The 2023 complaint said Ventura, “stuck in this vicious cycle of abuse,” took a cab to her apartment after the attack but returned to the hotel seeking to apologize for running away from Combs. The hotel’s security staff encouraged her to go back home, the lawsuit said, informing her they had seen video of “Mr. Combs beating [her] and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway.”
Ventura, 37, and Combs, 54, dated for about 11 years before breaking up in 2018. In her lawsuit — brought under New York state’s Adult Survivors Act — Ventura also accused Combs of rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking.
“He signed her to his label, Bad Boy Records, and within a few years, lured Ms. Ventura 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, and a vicious, cruel, and controlling man nearly two decades her senior,” the lawsuit said.
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Combs’ lawyer Ben Brafman said in a November statement to The Times that his client “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations” and accused Ventura of being “persistent” in demanding more than $30 million from Combs.
He said the complaint was “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’ reputation and seeking a payday.”
Shortly after Ventura’s lawsuit was settled, Combs faced further allegations of sexual abuse. Joi Dickerson-Neal alleged in a November 2023 lawsuit that the hip-hop artist and music executive drugged and sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, when she was 19. Combs recorded and shared a video of that assault, the document said.
In December, Combs and former Bad Boy label president Harve Pierre were accused in another lawsuit of gang rape and sex trafficking. Pierre has denied the allegations, which he called “disgusting,” “false” and a “desperate attempt for financial gain.”
Then in February, producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones sued Combs, accusing him of sexual assault and harassment. Jones also accused several of the mogul’s associates of illicit behavior and likened Combs’ inner circle to a “RICO enterprise.” Combs, through attorney Shawn Holley, rejected Jones’ allegations.
Legal experts say it could take time to build a criminal case against the hip-hop mogul but note that civil lawsuits against him could offer investigators a road map.
“Lil Rod is nothing more than a liar who filed a $30-million lawsuit shamelessly looking for an undeserved payday,” Holley said in a February statement. “His reckless name-dropping about events that are pure fiction and simply did not happen is nothing more than a transparent attempt to garner headlines. We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”
Amid all that turmoil, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents conducted searches of Combs’ Holmby Hills and Miami mansions in March as part of a federal inquiry into sex-trafficking allegations involving Combs.
Aaron Dyer, one of Combs’ lawyers, called the raids a “witch hunt” in a March statement.
“There was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” Dyer said. “This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations.”
Times staff writers Nardine Saad and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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