domestic abuse

Disturbing Video Backs Up Allegations Against Diddy

Sean “Diddy” Combs Album Release Party For “The Love Album: Off The Grid”
Photo: Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images

In November, singer Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against her former boyfriend Sean Combs, the rap mogul better known as Diddy. The suit detailed a long-running pattern of alleged abuse, including an incident in 2016 in which Diddy allegedly punched Ventura in the face in their hotel room then followed her into the hallway, where he “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,” according to the complaint. Combs settled the day after the lawsuit was filed.

On Friday, CNN published security video from an incident in March 2016 bearing a close resemblance to the alleged abuse described in the lawsuit. The video shows Combs, in a towel, grabbing Ventura by the neck and throwing her to the ground of a hotel hallway, kicking her while she is on the ground. Combs then picks up an object from a hallway table and throws it at Ventura. CNN confirmed that the security footage was from the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, where the lawsuits alleges the assault took place.

“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” Ventura’s attorney Douglas Wigdor told CNN. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”

In March, federal agents raided Combs’s mansions in Los Angeles and Miami. While he has not been charged, Combs is facing several more civil lawsuits claiming he abused staffers and romantic partners — allegations that Combs has denied.

Disturbing Video Backs Up Allegations Against Diddy