What happened
Sean “Diddy” Combs apologized Sunday for beating, kicking and dragging former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway, 48 hours after CNN released CCTV video of the 2016 incident. Ventura described a matching altercation at the now-closed InterContinental Century City in a November 2023 federal lawsuit alleging years of abuse; Combs denied all the allegations but quickly settled the suit.
Who said what
“I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now,” Combs said in an Instagram video. He said he had been “f–ked up” and “hit rock bottom,” but his “behavior on that video is inexcusable.”
Combs’ statement is “more about himself than the many people he has hurt,” Ventura’s lawyer Meredith Firetog said. “When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday.”
What next?
The L.A. District Attorney’s Office said it was “aware” of the “extremely disturbing” video, but any 2016 incident would be outside relevant statutes of limitations. Federal agents raided Combs’ properties in March, reportedly tied to suspicions of human trafficking.