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.
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers are coming forward with new bombshell allegations about a nearly decade-old video showing the music mogul physically assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, which plays a role in his upcoming criminal trial.
In a joint letter to the judge from Combs’ defense team and prosecutors, reviewed by USA TODAY, Combs’ lawyers say they subpoenaed CNN, which last May made public the footage of Combs physically assaulting Cassie at a Los Angeles hotel on March 5, 2016. The news organization provided copies of the hotel surveillance footage to the defense, according to the letter.
But, Combs’ team claims, “a forensic video analysis of the CNN footage” showed it was “substantially altered in significant respects.”
CNN, Combs’ lawyers allege, covered the time stamp in the footage and sped up the video “to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are.” They also alleged “CNN purchased the only known copy of the Hotel’s surveillance footage, uploaded that footage into a free editing software, altered the video; and then destroyed the original footage.”
As such, the defense will request for the footage to be excluded from evidence presented to the jury in the upcoming trial. Combs previously acknowledged his violent actions in the footage, claiming “full responsibility” in a video he posted last year, while his lead attorney characterized the clips as evidence of “toxicity and drug use in the 10-year relationship” rather than sex trafficking, as prosecutors claim.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. TMZ was first to report the news.
CNN denies altering video of Diddy’s assault
In a Thursday statement to USA TODAY, CNN denied the allegations leveled by Combs’ team.
“CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source,” a spokesperson for CNN said. “CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested.”
Meanwhile, Combs’ legal team stands by their allegations in Thursday’s letter. “Our written and oral communications with CNN’s counsel was clear — they destroyed the original video file they received from their source,” his lawyers said in a statement provided to USA TODAY.
In the letter, which was filed in New York federal court Thursday, both sides presented the issues they would like to address in the pretrial conference scheduled for Friday afternoon in Manhattan, including the CNN footage.
As the prosecution and defense presented their positions regarding when Combs’ team would share materials and evidence they’ve collected with U.S. attorneys, the hip-hop mogul’s defense attorneys revealed they would be introducing the subpoenaed materials they’ve gathered in Friday’s conference.
Combs is currently in jail after being denied bond multiple times and is scheduled to head to trial for his sex trafficking and racketeering charges on May 5. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Officials can’t prosecute Diddy: Why Los Angeles district attorney can’t bring charges for 2016 video
Cassie’s lawyer says assault footage ‘fairly and accurately represents what happened’
In a statement shared with USA TODAY on Thursday, Cassie’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, criticized this latest move from Combs’ team.
“It is not surprising that Combs would make a disingenuous argument to exclude the disturbing video from being shown to the jury in the upcoming trial,” Wigdor said. “I am confident that the video fairly and accurately represents what happened, will be admitted into evidence, and that Combs will be held accountable for his depravity.”
Shortly after CNN made the video public last year, Combs posted a video apologizing for the incident.
“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.”
In a TMZ documentary released last year, Combs’ lead attorney Marc Agnifilo argued that 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.”
Diddy’s lawyers have cast doubt on video of him attacking Cassie before
This is not the first time Combs’ lawyers have cast doubt on the hotel video as evidence of what U.S. attorneys allege was a widespread sex trafficking enterprise spearheaded by Combs. In November, his team accused prosecutors of presenting an “altered” video of him attacking Ventura to convince a judge he should not remain detained.
Prior to this, the defense also accused government agents of leaking the footage to CNN — a claim U.S. attorneys slammed as “baseless.” The judge later sided with prosecutors and denied Combs’ request for an evidentiary hearing to investigate this claim.
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 response to alleged videos that prosecutors have obtained of Combs’ so-called “freak offs,” the rapper’s team has cast the evidence as consensual sexual encounters rather than “sex parties” that show criminal conduct.
In the 2024 grand jury indictment that charges Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, federal prosecutors claimed the rapper “used force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers that Combs referred to as, among other things, ‘freak offs.’”
Since Cassie’s November 2023 sex trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit that alleged she was trafficked, raped and viciously beat by Combs over the course of a decade, the music mogul has faced dozens of civil lawsuits from alleged victims who have have accused him of rape, trafficking and sexual abuse from the 1990s to 2024. He has repeatedly maintained his innocence.
Combs and Cassie settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount on Nov. 17, one day after her complaint was filed in court.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
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.
