Surveillance footage from March 2016 obtained by CNN appears to show Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who performs under the name “Cassie,” in a Los Angeles hotel, who performs as a singer under the name “Cassie.”
The clip shows a woman who is believed to be Ventura walking down a hotel hallway with bags in her hand toward the hotel elevator. A man who appears to be Combs runs after Ventura wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.
Once he reaches her, he grabs her by her neck and head and throws her to the ground. He then kicks her twice before dragging her back toward the hotel room.
In a statement shared with TheWrap, Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas. H. Wigdor, states, “The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
TheWrap has reached out to Combs’ team to request comment.
The footage could corroborate the allegations made against Combs in a lawsuit Ventura filed in 2023, accusing the musician and executive of years of abuse.
On Nov. 16, 2023, R&B singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit against Combs, whom she dated for more than 10 years after the two met in 2007 when she was 19 and he was 37.
In the suit, Ventura broke down an incident that appears to match up with what’s seen in the video.
She stated that it happened at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, where Combs allegedly “became extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye.” After Combs fell asleep, 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.”
The complaint alleged a years-long campaign of sexual abuse and control for the duration of their relationship, which ended in 2018 after she claimed Combs raped her in her home when she attempted to leave him. She also accused her ex of physical abuse that resulted in bruises, burst lips, black eyes and bleeding. Ventura filed the federal civil suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and sought undisclosed damages.
“With the expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act fast approaching, it became clear that this was an opportunity to speak up about the trauma I have experienced and that I will be recovering from for the rest of my life,” she said in a statement at the time via her attorneys, Douglas H. Wigdor, Meredith A. Firetog and Michael J. Willemin of Wigdor LLP.
At one point in the document, she also alleged that Combs “blew up” a fellow artist’s car after he learned that the man was romantically interested in Ventura. In addition, Ventura claimed Combs “forced her to engage in sex acts with male sex workers while masturbating and filming the encounters” — hence the sex trafficking charges — and stated that Combs “introduced her to a lifestyle of alcohol and substance abuse and required her to procure illicit prescriptions to satisfy his own addictions.”
His team’s statement in response, released on Nov. 17, read: “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations. For the past six months, Mr. Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’ reputation and seeking a pay day.”
Combs and Ventura settled the lawsuit on Nov. 17, just one day after it was filed.
Since Ventura’s suit, Combs has been hit with five lawsuits in which he’s been accused of several abuse allegations, including rape, gang rape, sex trafficking, drugging victims and more. On March 25, Homeland Security raided the rapper’s homes in the New York City, Los Angeles and Miami areas. While there are no publicly confirmed reasons for the federal government’s involvement, the slew of allegations against him remain.
