A 2016 surveillance video obtained by CNN shows Sean “Diddy” Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, corroborating allegations made in a now-settled federal lawsuit filed by Ventura in November.
The footage, compiled from multiple camera angles and dated March 5, 2016, captures the rapper and business mogul during an incident at the former InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. The location has been verified by CNN based on publicly available photos of the hotel’s interior.
In the video, Ventura exits a hotel room and approaches a bank of elevators. Holding a towel around his waist, Combs runs down the hall after her. He grabs Ventura by the back of the neck and throws her to the floor. Holding his towel with one hand, he then kicks her. As Ventura lies motionless on the ground, Combs retrieves a purse and suitcase from the floor near the elevators and kicks her again before dragging her by her sweatshirt towards a room and walking away.
Ventura is seen slowly standing, gathering items from the floor, and picking up a phone on the hallway wall near the elevators. Combs, still in a towel and socks, returns and appears to shove Ventura, as shown by a mirror across from the security camera.
Seconds later, he sits on a chair, grabs an object off a table, and forcefully throws it toward Ventura. He walks away but turns back towards her when an elevator door opens, and someone appears to exit.
Ventura, who reached an undisclosed settlement with Combs, declined to comment on the video obtained by CNN. Her attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, stated, “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 contacted Combs’ representatives for comment. Combs has previously denied Ventura’s allegations. When contacted, a representative for InterContinental Hotels said, “This hotel is no longer under IHG management, and we do not have any access to prior incident records or footage.”
Ventura’s lawsuit details that Combs and Ventura, a model and singer known for songs like “Me & U,” were in an on-and-off relationship from 2007 to 2018. The two were photographed together at the Los Angeles premiere of the film “A Perfect Match” on March 7, 2016.
According to Ventura’s complaint, around March 2016, Combs became “extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye.” When Combs fell asleep, Ventura tried to leave the hotel room, but he woke up and “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,” the complaint alleged. After Ventura got in the elevator, she took a cab to her apartment.
“Upon realizing that her running away would cause Mr. Combs to be even angrier with her, and completely stuck in his vicious cycle of abuse, Ms. Ventura returned to the hotel with the intention of apologizing for running away from her abuser,” the complaint claims. “When she returned, hotel security staff urged her to get back into a cab and go to her apartment, suggesting that they had seen the security footage showing Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway.”
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