Sean “Diddy” Combs has apologized on Instagram
Sean “Diddy” Combs has apologized after video emerged appearing to show him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016.
After months of reviewing videos of Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016, his lawyers have presented their case for excluding the footage from the hip-hop mogul’s upcoming criminal trial.
In court documents dated April 2 and filed on April 17, Combs’ defense team said a forensic analyst they’d hired as an expert confirmed none of the videos they were able to obtain “accurately depict the incident.” As such, his team argued, “There is simply no way to obtain or create an accurate version” of the footage, and the video evidence should not be presented to jurors.
The assault footage, which became public when CNN released and aired it on May 17, 2024, was the result of the news organization editing “approximately ten-and-a-half-minutes of footage into a 48-second out-of-order clip,” Combs’ attorneys wrote. The clip “immediately and dramatically turned the tide of public opinion against Mr. Combs” and “painted Mr. Combs in the worst possible light,” they added.
CNN has denied this characterization, with a spokesperson previously telling USA TODAY in a statement, “CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source. CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested.”
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
Shortly after CNN made the video public last year, Combs posted a video taking “full responsibility” for the attack. The post is no longer available on his Instagram account.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, (and) I’m disgusted now.”
Diddy’s team claims all existing assault footage is ‘distorted’
Combs’ team said in total, they received the following: two iPhone videos from prosecutors showing what someone recorded of the hotel surveillance footage while watching it, the “compilation” CNN released to its audience and “three videos with footage obtained by CNN from three single cameras in the Intercontinental Hotel.”
The iPhone videos “distort the events,” the defense claimed in their filing, while CNN’s videos were allegedly “significantly sped up (and) not accurately represent human movement as a result of being converted from one file type to another.”
In their filing, defense attorneys also alleged “CNN paid their source” for the video files, made copies and destroyed the original files they’d received.
Combs’ team has previously cast doubt on the hotel video as evidence of what U.S. attorneys allege was a widespread sex trafficking enterprise spearheaded by the rapper. In November, his team accused prosecutors of presenting an “altered” video of him attacking Ventura to convince a judge he should not remain detained.
The rapper’s lawyers at one point accused government agents of leaking the footage to CNN, but the judge rejected the claim.
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If the judge does not agree to the request to exclude the footage, Combs’ team is asking for a pretrial hearing in which their forensic analyst could share his findings about the various videos.
Combs is currently in jail after being denied bond multiple times.
He now faces two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and one count of racketeering ahead of his May 5 trial. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintained his innocence in response to dozens of sexual assault lawsuits, which detail alleged events dating back to the 1990s, that have been filed over the past 1½ years.
What is shown in CNN’s video of Diddy and Cassie?
The hotel surveillance video, reportedly from March 5, 2016, compiled clips from multiple camera angles. The incident matched an allegation levied in Ventura’s November sex trafficking, rape and physical abuse lawsuit against the hip hop mogul. The two settled the civil suit one day after it was filed.
In the video, Ventura is seen in a black sweater with the hood up and a duffle bag in hand, calling an elevator. From a different camera angle, Diddy is seen in a bath towel running down the hotel hallway.
He catches up with Ventura before the elevator comes, striking and yanking Ventura by the hair and throwing her to the ground. Combs then kicks Ventura twice while she lies on the ground, picking up her bag and dragging her back toward the hotel rooms.
He then lets her go, appearing to say something to her as he walks back to a hotel room with her bag.
Diddy’s lawyers have said Cassie video shows ‘domestic dispute,’ not trafficking
Combs and his lawyers have repeatedly pushed back on prosecutors’ claims that the 2016 video is evidence of Combs’ alleged sex trafficking and so-called “freak offs.” Rather, his attorneys say, the footage shows a “domestic dispute” and “a sad glimpse into a decade-long consensual relationship.”
In a TMZ documentary released last year, Combs’ lead attorney Marc Agnifilo argued the attack footage was not relevant to his client’s criminal case.
“Their difficulties did not stem from their intimate time together. Their difficulties stemmed from the fact that she was cheating on him and he was cheating on her,” he said. “And what we see in that video is terrible. It’s unforgivable, and we don’t seek to forgive it. But it’s not related to the charge.”
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
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