Surveillance video obtained by CNN appears to show music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie in a 2016 hotel attack she detailed in a since-settled lawsuit that alleged the rapper physically and sexually abused her for years.
CNN reported that the video was from an incident in March 2016. It captures multiple angles.
Cassie, 37, whose name is Casandra Ventura, alleged in a federal lawsuit in November that Combs raped and physically abused her, including punching, beating, kicking and stomping her over the course of their relationship. 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 settlement with Cassie, an attorney for Combs said the agreement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
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In the suit, Cassie alleged Combs lured her into the relationship from the time they began working together while she was a rising artist at Combs’ label. She said in the suit that the abuse lasted more than a decade and accused Combs of controlling all aspects of her life.
Since Cassie’s lawsuit, Combs has been accused in a series of lawsuits from others of sexual and physical abuse, gang rape and “serious illegal activity.”
He is a subject of a federal criminal investigation and agents searched his properties this spring.
Combs has denied all the allegations and has vowed to clear his name.
According to CNN, the video, captured in a hotel hallway, shows Combs in a towel with no shirt on. He walks up behind a woman near an elevator and then 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 while she is on the ground.
The woman, according to the video, picks up a phone while Combs is out of the view of the camera. Combs then enters the video frame and appears to shove the woman, who is no longer in the view of the camera.
Moments later, Combs, sitting in a chair, appears to pick up an object and throw it. The video footage does not have audio.
NBC News has not independently verified the video.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office on Saturday said that it was aware of the "disturbing and difficult to watch" video.
"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," it said in a statement. "As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs."
“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” Douglas Wigdor, an attorney for Cassie, said Friday. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
In her suit, Cassie detailed an alleged attack that she said happened at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 in which she suffered a “black eye” after Combs became drunk and punched her in the face.
She said that Combs then fell asleep but continued to be physically violent when he woke up and Cassie attempted to leave the hotel room, the lawsuit stated.
“He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her. He grabbed at her, and then took glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her, causing glass to crash around them as she ran to the elevator to escape,” the suit stated.
She left the hotel but returned with plans of “apologizing for running away from her abuser,” the lawsuit said.
Hotel staff urged her to get back into a cab and go to her apartment, “suggesting that they had seen the security footage showing Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway,” according to the suit.
In her suit, Cassie alleged that Combs paid the hotel $50,000 to obtain footage of the hallway incident.
On Friday, IHG Hotels & Resorts said that the hotel in the alleged incident is no longer under IHG management.
“IHG did not produce this footage, did not receive money for this footage, and does not have access to it," it said in a statement.
A source familiar with the criminal investigation involving Combs told NBC in March that three women and a man had been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.
Since last fall, the rapper has been hit with five lawsuits in New York accusing him of sexual assault, sexual trafficking and engaging in other criminal activity.
He has settled the suit with Cassie, but the other suits are pending.
Lawyers for Combs have filed paperwork in court seeking to dismiss a Jane Doe lawsuit and partially dismiss another woman's suit.
In March, federal agents searched the rapper’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami. Three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News that firearms were found at his residences, but no additional details were provided.
Dyer, one of Combs’ attorneys, issued a statement following the raids and said that Combs “was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities.” He described the raid as an ambush, saying there’s been a rush to judgment based on “meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations,” Dyer said. “Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
On Thursday, a man who was arrested on drug charges while federal agents conducted the searches of Combs' properties agreed to a plea deal.
Brendan Paul was with Combs as federal agents searched the rapper’s plane and was arrested at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on charges of possession of suspected cocaine and suspected marijuana candy in March, according to a police report.
"Brendan accepted the prosecutor’s offer to permit his entry into the diversion program which, after completion, the case against him will be dismissed in its entirety," his attorney, Brian Bieber, said Thursday.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
