Sean “Diddy” Combs Apologizes for Alleged Attack in 2016 Video: “I Take Full Responsibility”
The video, released Friday, shows Combs allegedly attacking his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a hotel in 2016.
Sean “Diddy” Combs apologized on Sunday morning for a recently surfaced 2016 video which sees him allegedly attacking his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy said on Instagram. “I was fucked up — I hit rock bottom — but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable.”
The video, first obtained by CNN and released Friday, showed the music mogul running out of a hotel room in a towel and chasing a woman who appears to be Ventura toward the elevator. He grabs her by the back of the neck and throws her on the floor, kicks her, shoves her and drags her by her sweatshirt. Later in the footage, he returns to kick her again, and then throws an object from a nearby table at her.
“I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” Combs said Sunday. “I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
On Friday, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office said in a statement that they were “aware of the video” and that they “find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch,” but that “we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.”
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, said in a statement on Friday. “The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
Combs and Ventura were romantically linked for over a decade. Last November, she accused the rapper of repeatedly raping and physically abusing her during the course of their relationship. The lawsuit, which also named Combs’ label, Bad Boy Records, and Sony Music, claimed that Ventura was “trapped by Mr. Combs in a cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking.” The claim also alleged that Diddy “punched, beat, kicked and stomped” on her several times.
