In November of 2023, R&B singer Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, made multiple shocking allegations of abuse against her former partner Sean “Diddy” Combs, whom she met in 2005—when she was 19 years old and he was 36—and with whom she was entangled until the end of their relationship in 2018. In a federal lawsuit, Cassie accused Combs of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and rape. Combs denied the claims and settled with Cassie the following day.
On Friday, May 17, CNN published video that shows Combs striking, kicking, and dragging his then girlfriend Cassie during an altercation that is consistent with one she presents in the now settled suit. The surveillance footage, assembled from multiple camera angles and dated March 5, 2016, occurred at the now closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs, who has not been criminally charge, and InterContinental Hotels for comment. Combs did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.
A representative for Cassie declined comment on the footage to CNN, but her attorney Douglas H. Wigdor, said in a statement to the news outlet: “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.”
In the video, Cassie walks down a hotel hall to a bank of elevators, and Combs, holding a towel around his waist, chases after her. He then grabs her by the back of the neck, throws her to the floor, and kicks her twice, before dragging her for a few feet. Later, Combs is seen lifting an object off a table and appears to throw it in Cassie’s direction.
Since November, Combs has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple defendants in five other civil lawsuits. He has denied the accusations, calling them “sickening allegations” from people seeking “a quick payday.” In March, federal agents raided Combs’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami Beach, Florida. His lawyers called the operations a “gross overuse of military-level force” and maintained that it was born of “nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations.”