A video displaying embattled music legend Sean “Diddy” Combs violently attacking his then-girlfriend in a Los Angeles lodge in 2016 is probably going so as to add extra urgency to a federal sex-trafficking investigation into the star.
The video reveals Combs chasing, kicking, dragging and hurling a glass vase at Cassie, a singer whose actual title is Casandra Ventura. It was obtained Friday by CNN and corroborates elements of a civil lawsuit Ventura filed towards Combs final yr, which was settled a day after it was filed in U.S. District Court docket for the Southern District of New York.
The video just isn’t associated to the federal probe, however it’s drawing extra consideration to the continuing investigation.
Regulation enforcement sources informed The Instances that Combs is the topic of a sweeping inquiry into sex-trafficking allegations that resulted in a federal raid in March at his estates in Los Angeles and Miami. Combs has not been charged with any crime and has denied any wrongdoing.
Allegations towards Combs have piled up lately. 4 girls have accused him of rape, assault and different abuses, courting again three a long time. One of many allegations concerned a minor.
A legislation enforcement agent carries a bag of proof on the entrance to a property belonging to rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs
(Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
Credibility points
Los Angeles protection legal professional Lou Shapiro mentioned the video provides to the jeopardy Combs is going through.
“This video paints him in an terrible gentle. If the folks had been giving him the good thing about doubt, that’s over,” he mentioned.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, agreed.
“There isn’t any authorized or ethical justification for what Diddy did. He violently attacked a defenseless lady,” Rahmani mentioned, including that the “video doesn’t lie.”
When Ventura filed her lawsuit, Combs’ legal professional strongly denied any wrongdoing by his shopper, saying the declare was “riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’ popularity and in search of a payday.”
The video, each Shapiro and Rahmani mentioned, presents main credibility challenges for Combs. “The issue right here is he denied hitting [Ventura] after which on this video he’s even kicking her when she is down,” Shapiro mentioned.
“Diddy’s sharp denials early on are going to harm him because the investigation progresses,” added Meghan Blanco, an Orange County protection legal professional who has expertise with federal sex-offense instances.
A consultant for Combs didn’t instantly reply to The Instances’ request for touch upon the video.
Ventura’s lawyer, nonetheless, mentioned the video reveals his shopper was telling the reality.
“The gut-wrenching video has solely additional confirmed the disturbing and predatory conduct of Mr. Combs,” Douglas H. Wigdor mentioned in an announcement. “Phrases can not specific the braveness and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has proven in coming ahead to deliver this to gentle.”
What the video reveals
The recording, dated March 5, 2016, reveals Ventura in a hoodie and carrying a duffel bag, strolling in a lodge hallway towards an elevator. Combs will be seen operating down the identical hallway, shirtless and holding a towel round his waist.
Safety footage captured from one other angle reveals him grabbing Ventura’s head and throwing her on the bottom, the place he kicks her a number of occasions. He can be seen choosing up her luggage and attempting to tug her again to the primary hallway.
The footage additionally reveals Ventura utilizing a lodge cellphone by the elevators, in addition to Combs going again to his lodge room after which individually seemingly shoving Ventura right into a nook. He’s additionally seen throwing a vase in her route.
In a assertion Friday, the Los Angeles County district legal professional’s workplace mentioned it was conscious of the video, and known as the photographs “extraordinarily disturbing and tough to observe.”
“If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, sadly we might be unable to cost because the conduct would have occurred past the timeline the place a criminal offense of assault will be prosecuted,” the assertion mentioned. “As of right now, legislation enforcement has not introduced a case associated to the assault depicted within the video towards Mr. Combs.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs arrives on the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Could 15, 2022.
(Jordan Strauss / Invision / Related Press)
Ventura’s lawsuit
Ventura’s November lawsuit detailed the incident, which occurred on the InterContinental lodge in Century Metropolis. After Combs fell asleep, Ventura tried to go away the room, the lawsuit mentioned, however he awoke and “started screaming” at her.
“He adopted her into the hallway of the lodge whereas yelling at her,” the criticism mentioned. “He grabbed at her, after which took glass vases within the hallway and threw them at her, inflicting glass to crash round them as she ran to the elevator to flee.”
The 2023 criticism mentioned Ventura, who was courting Combs on the time, was “caught on this vicious cycle of abuse” and took a cab to her condominium after the alleged assault however returned to the lodge in search of to apologize to him for operating away. The lodge’s safety workers inspired her to return house, the lawsuit mentioned, and knowledgeable her that they had seen footage of “Mr. Combs beating [her] and throwing glass at her within the lodge hallway.”
Authorities stroll on a avenue close to a property belonging to Sean “Diddy” Combs’
(Eric Thayer / Related Press)
Intercourse-trafficking probe
Little is understood in regards to the federal probe, together with the identities of any alleged victims. Folks with data of the investigation mentioned federal investigators are in search of telecommunications and flight data associated to Combs. Again in March, investigators looking out Combs’ Holmby Hills house emptied safes, dismantled electronics and left papers strewn in some rooms, sources informed The Instances.
The U.S. Division of Homeland Safety investigates most sex-trafficking operations for the federal authorities. Authorized consultants say one cause the company might be concerned on this case is as a result of the ladies concerned within the allegations towards Combs is likely to be from different nations.
A supply acquainted with Homeland Safety’s felony inquiry mentioned investigators have interviewed a few of the folks tied to the sex-trafficking allegations within the lawsuits towards Combs.
Combs’ legal professionals have strongly criticized the federal probe, calling the searches of his houses “militarized” and a “witch hunt.”
“This unprecedented ambush — paired with a sophisticated, coordinated media presence — results in a untimely rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing greater than a witch hunt based mostly on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” legal professional Aaron Dyer mentioned in March.
