New surveillance footage has surfaced that seems to indicate this Sean “Diddy” Combs violently attacks Casandra Ventura, the singer known as Cassie, who settled a lawsuit last year accusing him of rape and assault.
The video, obtained by CNN, appears to show Combs with a towel around his waist chasing after Ventura, punching and kicking her and then trying to drag her back down a hallway. Combs also appears to push Ventura into a corner and throw an object in her direction.
The video, dated March 5, 2016, consists of footage collected by several surveillance cameras. Neither NBC News nor MSNBC has verified the video, and NBC has contacted representatives for Combs and Ventura for comment.
Ventura’s lawsuit against Combs was filed in November and quickly settled the next day for an undisclosed amount. Combs has denied the allegations in her lawsuit, calling them “offensive and outrageous” and accusing Ventura of “blackmail.” In announcing the settlement, his attorney Brad Brafman said it is “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
The violent scene and the timestamps in the footage appear to match some details in Ventura’s suit. Among the incidents of alleged abuse detailed in the lawsuit is one that occurred at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in March 2016, in which Ventura said an “extremely intoxicated” Combs punched her in the face. According to the complaint, Ventura then tried to leave the hotel room as Combs was sleeping, but he woke up, followed her down the hallway, “grabbed her” and threw glass vases at her.
Ventura said she left the hotel but later returned to apologize to Combs. The complaint described her as “completely trapped in his cycle of abuse” and fearful that “her walking away would cause Mr. Combs to become even angrier with her.” The lawsuit said she was stopped by hotel security staff, who suggested they saw him punch him on security footage and advised her to leave.
The lawsuit also alleged that Combs paid hotel management $50,000 for the surveillance footage.
In the month after Ventura’s trial, three other women filed separate lawsuits against Combs, with allegations including sex trafficking, sexual assault and gang rape. In a statement on Instagram in December, Combs called the allegations “sickening” and accused people of “assassination my character, destroying my reputation and legacy.”
“Let me be very clear: I did not do any of the horrible things alleged,” he wrote.
Since then, two more sexual misconduct lawsuits have been filed against Combs. He has also denied those accusations. NBC News also reported in March that the producer is the subject of a federal investigation that has led agents to search two of his properties and conduct interviews with several people about sex trafficking allegations.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
