Sean “Diddy” Combs has apologized for attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura after CCTV footage showed him kicking and pushing her in a hotel hallway in 2016.
Speaking in a video posted to his Instagram page, the rapper noted he took full responsibility for his “inexcusable” actions in the clip.
““I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
Diddy
The security video aired Friday shows Combs, wearing only a white towel, punching and kicking Cassie, an R&B singer who was his protege and longtime girlfriend at the time. The footage also shows Combs shoving and dragging Cassie, and throwing a vase in her direction.
Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, sued Combs in November over what she said was years of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. The suit was settled the next day, but spurred intense scrutiny of Combs, with several more lawsuits filed in the following months, along with a federal criminal sex-trafficking investigation that led authorities to raid Combs’ mansions in Los Angeles and Miami.
He had denied the allegations in the lawsuits, but neither he nor his representatives had responded to the newly emerged video until Sunday.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you have to do that. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to being a better man each day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
Diddy
Combs is looking somber and wearing a T-shirt in the selfie-style apology video and appears to be on a patio. It is the hip-hop mogul’s most direct response and first apology after six months of allegations that have threatened his reputation and career.
Meredith Firetog, who represents Ventura and other women who have sued Combs, said the apology was “more about himself than the many people he has hurt.
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday. That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”
Lawyer Meredith Firetog
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Ventura has done.
In December, after Ventura and at least three other women had filed lawsuits against him, Combs posted a statement on Instagram broadly denying the truth of all of them.
“Let me absolutely clear. I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”
Diddy
The security camera video, dated March 5, 2016, closely resembles the description of an incident at an InterContinental Hotel in the Century City area of Los Angeles described in Ventura’s lawsuit.
The suit alleges that Combs paid the hotel $50,000 for the security video immediately after the incident. Neither he nor his representatives have addressed that specific allegation.
The suit stated that Ventura had been trying to get away from a sleeping Combs, who had already punched her in the face before the video began.
Vocal Critics Slam Diddy’s ‘Disgusting’ Apology
Diddy’s new apology video has sparked further controversy, with two of his most vocal critics condemning the rapper anew.
After shocking footage emerged showing Sean “Diddy” Combs seemingly manhandling, shoving, dragging, and kicking his long-term partner Cassie Ventura, he has come forward to express his “disgust” at his actions.
However, following his Instagram post, two of his harshest detractors Aubrey O’Day and 50 Cent have hit back at the embattled hip-hop star.
Aubrey, who previously collaborated with Diddy, criticized him for failing to directly apologize to Cassie, the victim.
“Diddy did not apologize to Cassie. He apologized to the world for seeing what he did.”
Aubrey O’Day
But she didn’t stop there. She further lambasted him for maintaining a post where he refuted all allegations against him, suggesting his accusers were merely after “a quick payday.”
“He says he’s ‘disgusted with himself now, and he was disgusted with himself then’, but apparently he wasn’t disgusted enough with himself to not PIN this statement out calling her a liar and denying all of it. Leave God and mercy out of this, they aren’t present here, and you know it.”
Aubrey O’Day
50 Cent, a long-time critic of Diddy, also chimed in, casting doubt on the advice Diddy received regarding his apology.
“This is not going to work, who is advising him right now? SMH bad move.”
50 Cent
Like Aubrey, 50 Cent also criticized the post Diddy still has up doubting his accusers and proclaiming his innocence.
“The lie detector test has determined this was a lie… Maury vibes,” the 48-year-old commented on the poorly aged post.
After the video was released along with the news that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office couldn’t press charges due to the statute of limitations 50 Cent explained to his followers why the video was released at all.
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