Disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs said over the weekend that he had “hit rock bottom” at the time of 2016 video footage showing him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie. Her legal team doubts the sincerity of his apology.
“Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt,” attorney Meredith Firetog, who represents Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, said in a statement to The Times. “When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday.”
Diddy, facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse and sex trafficking, seemingly apologized Saturday for the 2016 assault, a day after CNN published hotel security footage of the incident. The video shows the hip-hop star and entrepreneur chasing, kicking, dragging and hurling a glass vase at Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Combs said in his Instagram apology. “I was f— up — I hit rock bottom — but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.”
The footage seemingly confirms at least some of the physical abuse allegations Cassie raised against Combs in a lawsuit she filed in November — accusations Combs initially denied. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, details an alleged incident in which Combs “became extremely intoxicated and punched” her in the face, “giving her a black eye” during an attack in March 2016 — the same time as the events in the video.
Cassie and Diddy settled the suit a day after it was filed.
“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,” Firetog’s statement added.
When the video surfaced Friday, Diddy’s legal team did not respond to The Times’ request for comment. Cassie’s lawyer Douglas H. Wigdor dubbed the video “gut-wrenching” and said it “only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs.”
Diddy caught heat from more than just Cassie’s legal team over the weekend. Former Bad Boy rapper and Belizean politician Shyne condemned Comb’s “repugnant behavior” in the 2016 video in an Instagram statement shared Sunday.
“There is no place for Violence against Women anywhere on the planet. As a father of a precious daughter, a global citizen and the next Prime Minister of Belize I want absolutely nothing to do with people who engage in this pattern of diabolical behavior,” he said. “My prayers are with Cassie and all the other victims who have come forward with horrendous allegations against Mr Combs.”
Shyne (born Jamal Michael Barrow) served eight years in prison, from 2001 to 2009, for a 1999 shooting that involved Combs and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office also acknowledged the video over the weekend, calling it “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch.” However, LAPD said there was no current investigation into it.
“If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted,” the police statement said. “As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs.”
The dramatic security footage surfaced as Combs is facing a federal probe and multiple lawsuits, including one from producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who accused the Bad Boy records founder and former Revolt chairman of sexual assault and harassment.
In March, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents launched searches of Combs’ Holmby Hills and Miami mansions as part of a federal inquiry into sex-trafficking allegations. At the time, Aaron Dyer, one of Combs’ lawyers, called the raids a “witch hunt.”
Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
