Surveillance video obtained by CNN appears to show music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie during a 2016 hotel attack, which she detailed in a now-settled lawsuit alleging the rapper physically and sexually abused her for years.
CNN reported that the video was from an incident in March 2016. The video captures multiple angles.
Cassie, 37, whose name is Casandra Ventura, alleged in a federal lawsuit in November that Combs raped and physically abused her during their relationship, including hitting, kicking and stomping her. The lawsuit was settled the day after it was filed.
Representatives for Combs, 54, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. He has previously denied the allegations, calling them sickening. Shortly after the Cassie settlement, an attorney for Combs said the agreement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
In the lawsuit, Cassie alleged that Combs lured her into the relationship from the moment they started working together while she was an emerging artist at Combs’ label. She said in the lawsuit that the abuse lasted for more than a decade and accused Combs of controlling all aspects of her life.
Since Cassie’s lawsuit, Combs has been accused by others in a series of lawsuits of sexual and physical abuse, gang rape and “serious illegal activities.”
He is the subject of a federal criminal investigation and agents searched his property this spring.
Combs has denied all allegations and has vowed to clear his name.
According to CNN, the video, taken in a hotel hallway, shows Combs in a towel with no shirt on. He walks behind a woman at an elevator, grabs her and throws her to the ground. The man identified by CNN as Combs then appears to kick her twice. He then begins dragging the woman by her hooded sweatshirt as she lies on the ground.
According to the video, the woman picks up a phone while Combs is out of view of the camera. Combs then enters the video frame and appears to shove the woman, who is no longer in view of the camera.
Moments later, Combs, sitting in a chair, appears to pick up an object and throw it. The video images do not have sound.
NBC News has not independently verified the video.
“The heartbreaking video only further cemented Mr. Combs’ disturbing and predatory behavior,” Cassie’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said Friday. “Words cannot express the courage and determination Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to expose this.”
In her lawsuit, Cassie describes an alleged assault that she says occurred at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, in which she suffered a “black eye” after Combs got drunk and punched her in the face.
She said Combs then fell asleep but remained physically violent when he woke up and Cassie tried to leave the hotel room, the lawsuit said.
“He followed her into the hotel corridor shouting at her. He grabbed her, then grabbed glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her, causing the glass to fall around them as she ran to the elevator to escape,” the suit said.
She left the hotel but returned with plans to “apologize for running away from her abuser,” according to the lawsuit.
Hotel staff urged her to get back into a taxi and go to her apartment, “suggesting that they had seen the security footage showing Mr. Combs punching Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway” , the complaint said.
In her lawsuit, Cassie alleged that Combs paid the hotel $50,000 to obtain footage of the hallway incident.
On Friday, IHG Hotels & Resorts said the hotel in the alleged incident is no longer under IHG management.
“IHG did not produce these images, received no money for these images, and has no access to them,” the company said in a statement.
A source familiar with the criminal investigation involving Combs told NBC in March that three women and one man had been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in connection with allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault and soliciting and distributing illegal narcotics and firearms.
Since last fall, the New York rapper has been hit with five lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, sex trafficking and other criminal activity.
He settled the lawsuit with Cassie, but the other lawsuits are still pending.
Lawyers for Combs have filed paperwork with the court to dismiss a lawsuit against Jane Doe and partially dismiss another woman’s lawsuit.
In March, federal agents searched the rapper’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami. Three sources familiar with the case told NBC News that firearms were found at his residence, but no additional details were provided.
Dyer, one of Combs’ attorneys, issued a statement following the raids, saying Combs “was never detained, but spoke with authorities and cooperated.” He described the raid as an ambush and said there was a rush to judgment based on “meritless allegations in civil lawsuits.”
“No criminal or civil liability has been established for any of these allegations,” Dyer said. “Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every day to clear his name.”
On Thursday, a man arrested on drug charges while federal agents searched Combs’ property agreed to a plea deal.
Brendan Paul was with Combs when federal agents searched the rapper’s plane and was arrested at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport in March on charges of possession of suspected cocaine and suspected marijuana candy, according to a police report.
“Brendan accepted the prosecutor’s offer to allow him to participate in the diversion program, which upon completion will result in the case against him being dismissed in its entirety,” his attorney, Brian Bieber, said Thursday.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
