New disturbing footage appears to show Sean "Diddy" Combs punching and kicking his then-girlfriend Cassie numerous times during an apparent domestic dispute.
On Friday, May 17, CNN debuted surveillance video from the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles dated March 5, 2016. In the footage, you can see Cassie, born Cassandra Ventura, making her way out of a hotel room toward the elevator. Seconds later, Diddy runs out of the room in nothing but a towel and chases her. The next scene shows Diddy as he grabs her by the neck and throws her to the ground.
WARNING: TRIGGERING VIDEO
Combs holds up the towel on his waist as he violently kicks Cassie while she's still on the ground. Afterward, he begins to drag her toward a room by her sweatshirt before he walks away. Cassie eventually gets up and tries to use a phone by the elevator. That's when the Bad Boy founder returns and shoves her again. In the next scene, he sits down on a chair and then throws an object toward her direction.
“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs," said Ventura’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor. "Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
The incident was listed as part of the bombshell lawsuit Cassie filed last year. In the complaint, she detailed an incident that happened "around March 2016" and claimed Combs got “extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye.” After the fight, Ventura left the hotel and took a cab back to her apartment. CNN reports Diddy apparently paid the InterContinental Century City $50,000 for the hotel footage.
Ventura and Combs settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount the following day. Combs has denied all the allegations against him.