As reported by CNN news- A now-settled federal complaint brought by Cassie Ventura in November included charges that Sean “Diddy” Combs grasped, assaulted, pushed and kicked her during an argument. Ventura got the surveillance footage exclusively for CNN in 2016.
The video purports to show the rapper, producer, and business entrepreneur during an altercation that, according to Ventura’s lawsuit, happened at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. It was assembled from various camera perspectives on March 5, 2016. Based on publicly accessible images of the inside of the defunct hotel, CNN confirmed the location.
In the video, Ventura exits a hotel room and walks to a bank of elevators. Combs, holding a towel around his waist, runs down a hall after Ventura. He grabs her by the back of the neck and throws her to the floor. Still holding his towel closed with one hand, he then turns to kick her, the video shows.
As Ventura is on the ground, Combs retrieves a purse and suitcase from the floor near the elevators. He turns around and kicks Ventura again as she lies motionless on the floor. About four seconds transpire between the two kicks, according to the video. He then briefly drags Ventura by her sweatshirt toward a room before walking away.
Then, Ventura is seen getting to her feet slowly. She picks things up from the floor and walks to a phone on the wall in the hallway by the elevators. Combs reappears wearing socks and a towel. The security camera’s mirror just across from it captures Combs seemingly pushing Ventura.
A few moments later, he takes a seat in a chair, picks something up off a table, and throws it firmly in Ventura’s direction. Combs is seen turning back toward Ventura after leaving the scene, only to have the elevator door open and someone appear to step out.
Ventura, who and Combs came to an unknown settlement, would not comment on the footage that CNN was able to get.
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, said: “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.”
CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs for comment. Combs has previously denied Ventura’s allegations.
When contacted by CNN, a representative for InterContinental Hotels said on Friday, “This hotel is no longer under IHG management, and we do not have any access to prior incident records or footage.”
Ventura’s legal action
Between 2007 and 2018, Combs and Ventura, a singer and model well known for songs like “Me & U,” had an intermittent relationship. On March 7, 2016, the two were pictured together at the “A Perfect Match” film’s Los Angeles premiere.
Ventura’s lawsuit stated that Combs became “highly inebriated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, leaving her a black eye.” The confrontation took place “around March 2016.”
Ventura tried to leave the hotel room after Combs fell asleep, but he woke up and “tracked her into the hallway of the hotel while screaming at her,” according to the lawsuit.
As she fled to the elevator, the lawsuit claimed, “He pounced at her and then grabbed glass vases in the hallway and hurled them at her, leading to glass to smash around them.”
According to Ventura’s complaint, she took a cab to her apartment after using the elevator.
“After realizing that her escape would only make Mr. Combs even more irate with her and keep her trapped in his abusive cycle, Ms. Ventura went back to the hotel intending to apologize for fleeing her abuser,” the lawsuit states. “Upon her return, the hotel security personnel advised her to board a cab again and head to her apartment, citing the security footage that showed Mr. Combs assaulting Ms. Ventura and hurling glass at her in the hotel hallway.”
The complaint makes other allegations, including that Combs paid the InterContinental Century City $50,000 for the security footage of the corridor. Ventura filed the case in November, claiming Combs had sexually assaulted her in 2018 and had mistreated her physically and in other ways for years.
Throughout their professional and emotional connection, Ventura—who was officially signed to Combs’ label—said in her lawsuit that he “exerted his power and influence” over her. She was 19 and Combs was 37 when they first met, according to the complaint, and their business partnership continued until 2019. It included specific allegations that Combs had physically abused Ventura and coerced her into having sex acts with other men at that time.
On the day it was filed, Combs’ lawyer, Ben Brafman, said in a statement to CNN, “Mr. Combs strongly rejects these disgusting and ludicrous allegations.”
The next day, the lawsuit was settled.
In a statement at the time, Brafman told CNN, “A decision to settle a lawsuit, especially in 2023, is in no way an admission of wrongdoing.” “Mr. Combs’ choice to resolve the litigation does not contradict his categorically asserted denial of the allegations in any way. He’s glad they were able to come to an amicable agreement and hopes the best for Ms. Ventura.
The settlement’s specifics were kept a secret.
Ongoing legal battle
Combs has been the target of five additional civil complaints since November, all of which accuse him of various crimes including sexual misconduct. The cases are still pending despite his denial of the accusations.
According to a senior federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, Combs’ houses in Florida and California were searched by authorities in March as part of a federal investigation led by a Department of Homeland Security unit that deals with human trafficking charges. According to a second law enforcement source aware with the searches, the probe is based on many of the same claims of sexual assault made in the civil complaints.
In a statement at the time, Combs’ lawyer Aaron Dyer described the searches as a “gross overuse of military-level force.”
“This extraordinary assault is nothing more than a witch hunt based on baseless accusations made in civil lawsuits, coupled with a sophisticated, coordinated media presence that leads to an early rush to judgment of Mr. Combs,” the speaker declared. None of these claims have resulted in a finding of criminal or civil responsibility. Mr. Combs is innocent, and he will keep fighting to clear his name every day.