A video showing music legend Sean “Diddy” Combs violently attacking his then-girlfriend at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 is likely to add more urgency to a federal investigation into sex trafficking of the star.
The video shows Combs chasing, kicking, dragging and throwing a glass vase at Cassie, a singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura. It was obtained Friday by CNN and corroborates parts of a civil lawsuit Ventura filed against Combs last year, which was settled a day after being filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The video is not related to the federal investigation, but is drawing more attention to the ongoing investigation.
Law enforcement sources told The Times that Combs is the subject of a wide-ranging investigation into sex trafficking allegations that resulted in a federal raid in March on his properties in Los Angeles and Miami. Combs has not been charged with any crime and has denied any wrongdoing.
The accusations against Combs have piled up in recent years. Four women have accused him of rape, assault and other abuse, dating back three decades. One of the accusations involved a minor.
A law enforcement officer carries a bag of evidence to the entrance to a property owned by rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.
(Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
Credibility issues
Los Angeles defense attorney Lou Shapiro said the video adds to the danger Combs faces.
“This video shows him in a terrible light. “If people were giving him the benefit of the doubt, that’s over,” he stated.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, agreed.
“There is no legal or moral justification for what Diddy did. “He violently attacked a defenseless woman,” Rahmani said, adding that “the video does not lie.”
When Ventura filed his lawsuit, Combs' attorney flatly denied any wrongdoing on his client's part, saying the claim was “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, intended to tarnish Mr. Combs' reputation and seek a payday.” ”.
The video, both Shapiro and Rahmani said, presents significant credibility challenges for Combs. “The problem here is that he denied having hit [Ventura] and then in this video he even kicks her when she's on the ground,” Shapiro said.
“Diddy's blunt denials from the beginning will hurt him as the investigation progresses,” added Meghan Blanco, an Orange County defense attorney with experience in federal sex crimes cases.
A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment on the video.
Ventura's attorney, however, said the video shows his client was telling the truth.
“The heartbreaking video has only confirmed Mr. Combs’ disturbing and predatory behavior,” Douglas H. Wigdor said in a statement. “Words cannot express the courage and strength that Ms. Ventura has shown by coming forward to bring this to light.”
What the video shows
The recording, dated March 5, 2016, shows Ventura wearing a hoodie and 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 kicks her several times. He can also be seen picking up her suitcases and attempting to drag her back to the first hallway.
The footage also shows Ventura using a hotel phone next to the elevators, as well as Combs returning to his hotel room and then, separately, apparently shoving Ventura into a corner. He is also seen throwing a vase in her direction.
In a statement Friday, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said it was aware of the video and called the footage “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch.”
“If the conduct described occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would not be able to file charges as the conduct would have occurred beyond the time frame in which an assault offense can be prosecuted,” the statement said. “To date, authorities have not filed any cases related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 15, 2022.
(Jordan Strauss/Invision/Associated Press)
The Ventura lawsuit
Ventura's November lawsuit detailed the incident, which occurred at the InterContinental hotel in Century City. After Combs fell asleep, Ventura tried to leave the room, according to the lawsuit, but he woke up and “began yelling at him.”
“He followed her into the hotel hallway while yelling at her,” the complaint states. “He grabbed her and then picked up glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her, causing glass to shatter around her as she ran toward the elevator to escape.”
The 2023 complaint said Ventura, who was dating Combs at the time, was “caught in this vicious cycle of abuse” and took a taxi to her apartment after the alleged attack, but returned to the hotel seeking to apologize to him for running away. Hotel security encouraged her to return home, according to her lawsuit, and informed her that they had seen images of “Mr. Combs knocking [her] and throw glasses at him in the hotel hallway.”
Authorities walk down a street near a property belonging to Sean “Diddy” Combs.
(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)
Sex trafficking investigation
Little is known about the federal investigation, including the identities of the alleged victims. People with knowledge of the investigation said federal investigators are searching for flight and telecommunications records related to Combs. In March, investigators who searched Combs' Holmby Hills home emptied safes, dismantled electronics and left papers scattered in some rooms, sources told The Times.
The United States Department of Homeland Security investigates most sex trafficking operations for the federal government. Legal experts say one reason the agency could be involved in this case is because the women involved in the allegations against Combs could be from other countries.
A source familiar with the Homeland Security criminal investigation said investigators have interviewed some of the people linked to the sex trafficking allegations in the lawsuits against Combs.
Combs' lawyers have sharply criticized the federal investigation, calling the searches of his homes “militarized” and a “witch hunt.”
“This unprecedented ambush, combined with an advanced and coordinated media presence, leads to a premature rush to try Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on baseless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” said attorney Aaron Dyer in March.
