In a CNN exclusive, surveillance footage from 2016 appears to reveal Sean “Diddy” Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. The video seems to corroborate allegations from a federal lawsuit filed by Ventura in November, which has since been settled.
The footage, dated March 5, 2016, is compiled from multiple camera angles and depicts an incident at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. CNN verified the location through publicly available photos of the hotel’s interior.
CNN has obtained video of Diddy allegedly beating his girlfriend. Luckily for Diddy he didn’t praise stay at home moms or he could be in real trouble with the media here: pic.twitter.com/VtDoFa7awa
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 17, 2024
In the video, it looks like Ventura exits a hotel room and walks to a bank of elevators. Combs, holding a towel around his waist, runs after her, seemingly grabs her by the back of the neck, and throws her to the floor. He then appears to kick her while still holding his towel closed. Combs retrieves what looks to be a purse and suitcase from the floor near the elevators and seems to kick Ventura again before dragging her by her sweatshirt towards a room and then walking away.
Ventura declined to comment on the video. Her attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, stated that the video confirmed the “disturbing and predatory behavior” of Combs, praising Ventura for her courage in bringing the issue to light.
CNN has reached out to Combs’ representatives and InterContinental Hotels for comment. Combs has previously denied Ventura’s allegations.
Combs and Ventura were in an off-and-on relationship from 2007 to 2018. Ventura’s complaint details an incident in March 2016 when Combs, allegedly intoxicated, punched Ventura, giving her a black eye.
The complaint claims that Ventura returned to the hotel to apologize out of fear of Combs’ reaction. Hotel security staff reportedly urged her to leave, suggesting they had seen the security footage. The lawsuit alleges that Combs paid $50,000 to the hotel for the footage.
Ventura’s lawsuit, which included multiple allegations of abuse, was settled the day after it was filed. Details of the settlement were not disclosed. Combs’ attorney, Ben Brafman, stated that settling the lawsuit did not imply wrongdoing, and Combs denied the allegations.
Since November, Combs has faced five other civil lawsuits accusing him of various misconducts. He denies the allegations, and the cases remain active. In April, federal authorities raided Combs’ homes in California and Florida as part of an investigation into human trafficking. Combs’ attorney, Aaron Dyer, criticized the searches and reiterated Combs’ denial of the allegations, describing the investigation as a “witch hunt.”