Sean “Diddy” Combs faces increasing danger when an attack video emerges

A video showing embattled music legend Sean “Diddy” Combs violently attacking his then-girlfriend at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 is likely to add even more urgency to the federal sex trafficking investigation into the star.

The video shows Combs chasing, kicking, dragging and throwing a glass vase at Cassie, a singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura. It was obtained by CNN on Friday and confirms portions of a civil lawsuit Ventura filed against Combs last year, which was settled a day after it was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The video has nothing to do with the federal investigation but draws more attention to the ongoing investigation.

Law enforcement sources told the Times that a comprehensive investigation into sex trafficking allegations was launched against Combs, which led to a federal raid on his properties in Los Angeles and Miami in March. Combs was not accused of a crime and denied any wrongdoing.

In recent years, allegations against Combs have increased. Four women have accused him of rape, assault and other abuse over three decades. One of the allegations involved a minor.

A police officer carries a bag full of evidence at the entrance to a property owned by rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs

(Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

Credibility issues

Los Angeles defense attorney Lou Shapiro said the video magnifies the danger Combs faces.

“This video shows him in a terrible light. “If people gave him the benefit of the doubt, that’s over,” he said.

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, agreed.

“There is no legal or moral justification for what Diddy did. He violently attacked a defenseless woman,” Rahmani said, adding that “the video does not lie.”

When Ventura filed her lawsuit, Combs’ attorney strenuously denied any wrongdoing by his client, saying the lawsuit was “replete with baseless and outrageous lies designed to damage Mr. Combs’ reputation and aimed at his payday.”

Both Shapiro and Rahmani said the video presented Combs with major credibility issues. “The issue here is that he has denied hitting Ventura, and in this video he even kicks her while she’s on the ground,” Shapiro said.

“Diddy’s strong denials at the outset will hurt him as the investigation continues,” added Meghan Blanco, an Orange County criminal defense attorney who has experience with sex crimes in federal court.

A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to the Times’ request for comment on the video.

However, Ventura’s attorney said the video shows his client was telling the truth.

“The heartbreaking video has only further confirmed Mr. Combs’ disturbing and predatory behavior,” Douglas H. Wigdor said in a statement. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude Ms. Ventura showed when she came to light.”

What the video shows

The March 5, 2016, shot shows Ventura wearing a hoodie and carrying a duffel bag, walking down a hotel hallway toward an elevator. Combs is seen running down the same hallway, shirtless and with a towel around his waist.

Security footage taken from a different angle shows him grabbing Ventura by the head and throwing her to the ground, where he kicks her several times. He is also seen picking up her bags and trying to drag her back to the first hallway.

The footage also shows Ventura using a hotel phone next to the elevators, and Combs returning to his hotel room and then appearing to separately push Ventura into a corner. He is also seen throwing a vase in her direction.

In a statement Friday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said it was aware of the video and called the images “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch.”

“Unfortunately, if the conduct depicted had occurred in 2016, we would not be able to file charges because the conduct would have occurred outside the time frame in which a crime of assault can be prosecuted,” the statement said. “To date, law enforcement has not filed a case against Mr. Combs related to the attack depicted in the video.”

Sean “Diddy” Combs arrives at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 15, 2022.

(Jordan Strauss/Invision/Associated Press)

Ventura’s lawsuit

Ventura’s November lawsuit detailed the incident at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. After Combs fell asleep, Ventura tried to leave the room, the lawsuit said, but he woke up and “started yelling at her.”

“He followed her into the hotel hallway while yelling at her,” the complaint states. “He grabbed her, then picked up glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her, shattering glass around her as she ran to the elevator to escape.”

The 2023 complaint said Ventura, who was dating Combs at the time, was “caught in this cycle of abuse” and took a taxi to her apartment after the alleged attack but then returned to the hotel, to apologize to him for running away. Hotel security staff encouraged her to return home, the lawsuit says, and told her that she had footage of “Mr. Combs punches (her) and throws glass at her in the hotel hallway.”

Officers walk on a street near a property owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs.

(Eric Thayer/Associated Press)

Sex trafficking investigation

Little is known about the federal investigation, including the identities of the alleged victims. People with knowledge of the investigation said federal investigators are seeking telecommunications and flight records related to Combs. Back in March, investigators searched Combs’ Holmby Hills home, emptying safes, dismantling electronic devices and leaving papers scattered in some rooms, sources told The Times.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigates most sex trafficking operations on behalf of the federal government. Legal experts say one reason the agency could be involved in this case is that the women implicated in the allegations against Combs could be from other countries.

A source familiar with the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigation said investigators have interviewed some of the people connected to the sex trafficking allegations in the complaints against Combs.

Combs’ lawyers have sharply criticized the federal investigation, calling the searches of his homes “militarized” and a “witch hunt.”

“This unprecedented ambush – coupled with a progressive, coordinated media presence – results in a premature judgment against Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on unfounded allegations in civil litigation,” attorney Aaron Dyer said in March.