Sean “Diddy” Combs chased, kicked, dragged and threw a glass vase at his ex-girlfriend Cassie in 2016, new surveillance video from a Los Angeles hotel shows.
The images, obtained and published by CNN on Friday, appear to confirm at least some of the singer's allegations of physical abuse detailed in a lawsuit filed in November against the mogul, allegations that Combs has denied.
The lawsuit was settled one day after being filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; In it, Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged that Combs “got really drunk on her and hit her” in the face, “giving her a black eye” during an incident in March 2016.
“The heartbreaking video has only further confirmed Mr. Combs’ disturbing and predatory behavior,” a representative for Ventura told the Times in a statement Friday. “Words cannot express the courage and strength that Ms. Ventura has shown by coming forward to bring this to light.”
A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment.
The video, dated March 5, 2016, shows Ventura wearing a hoodie and carrying a duffel bag walking down a hotel hallway toward an elevator. Combs can be seen running down the same hallway, shirtless and holding a towel around her waist. Security footage captured from another angle shows him grabbing Ventura's head and throwing it to the ground, where he continues to kick her several times. He can also be seen trying to drag her back to the first hallway.
Ventura's November lawsuit detailed the alleged incident, which occurred at the InterContinental hotel in Century City. Combs continued [Ventura] into the hotel hallway while yelling at him,” the lawsuit says.
“He grabbed her and then picked up glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her,” the complaint adds, “causing the glass to shatter around them as she ran toward the elevator to escape.”
Combs can also be seen pushing Ventura into a corner by the elevators and throwing a vase in his direction.
In her lawsuit, Ventura also accused Combs of rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking, although he denied those allegations.
The security footage emerged two months after Homeland Security agents searched the Holmby Hills and Miami mansions owned by Combs as part of a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving the hip-hop and liquor mogul. .
