Disturbing video shows 'extremely intoxicated' Diddy brutally assaulting former girlfriend, LA DA says rapper won't be prosecuted
Disturbing video has surfaced of entertainment mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs brutally assaulting his former girlfriend at a California hotel in 2016. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has issued a statement on the physical assault and declared that the rapper will not be prosecuted.
The troubling footage obtained and released by CNN shows Diddy grab, shove, drag, and kick his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. CNN verified the location of the alleged attack that was captured by the hotel's surveillance cameras on March 5, 2016.
The alarming video shows Ventura walking barefoot down a hotel hallway on her way to the elevator. Seconds later, Diddy is seen wearing only a towel sprinting down the same corridor.
Diddy is seen sneaking up on Ventura from behind and then smacking her in the back of the head and dragging her to the ground. He then kicks her while she is down.
The rapper grabs her bag and then stomps on her again. He grabs her by her jacket and drags her back toward his hotel room.
The Bad Boy Records founder walks back to the hotel room to drop off the bag, but then returns.
Ventura picks up a phone in the hallway near the elevators.
In the footage, Diddy appears to shove his then-girlfriend before hurling an object toward her.
The savage attack matches the allegations that Ventura made in a federal lawsuit that was filed in November 2023. In the suit, Ventura accused Combs of rape, sex trafficking, and domestic violence during their off-and-on relationship from 2007 to 2018.
Ventura alleged Combs "often punched, beat, kicked and stomped" her during their relationship, according to court filings.
The 37-page complaint read: "In or around March 2016, during an FO at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, Mr. Combs became extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye."
"After he fell asleep, Ms. Ventura tried to leave the hotel room, but as she exited, Mr. Combs awoke and began screaming at Ms. Ventura. He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her," the complaint continued. "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."
Ventura reportedly was able to flee from Combs and leave the hotel in a cab. However, the lawsuit said that "upon realizing that her running away would cause Mr. Combs to be even angrier with her, and completely stuck in his vicious cycle of abuse, Ms. Ventura returned to the hotel with intention of apologizing for running away from her abuser."
When Ventura arrived back at the InterContinental Hotel, security staff purportedly "urged her to get back into a cab and go to her apartment, suggesting that they had seen the security footage" of Combs assaulting her, according to the lawsuit.
"Upon information and belief, Mr. Combs paid the InterContinental Century City $50,000 for the hallway security footage from that evening," the lawsuit claimed.
The lawsuit was settled after one day.
At the time of the settlement, Ventura said that she "decided to resolve this matter amicably on terms that I have some level of control."
Diddy said at the time, "We have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love."
Combs – a vocal supporter of the Democratic Party – has consistently denied the assault accusations.
Douglas H. Wigdor, Ventura's lawyer, issued a statement in response to the newly-released video: "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."
Ventura's husband, model Alex Fine, posted a statement on Instagram on Friday that did not mention Diddy by name, "Men who hit women aren't men. Men who enable it and protect these people aren’t men."
Fine added, "To the abusers, you’re done, you’re not safe anymore, you’re not protected anymore and the men by your side are just as weak, you’re so miserable with yourself that d**th would be considered a kindness."
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has put out a statement declaring that the assault will not be prosecuted.
"We are aware of the video that has been circulating online allegedly depicting Sean Combs assaulting a young woman in Los Angeles," the statement began. "We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch."
The L.A. DA's office continued, "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."
Under California state law, the statute of limitations for simple assault is one year and three years for felony assault.
The statement concluded, "As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Service."
(WARNING: Graphic video)
Sean 'Diddy' Combs seen on video assaulting Cassie Ventura in 2016 www.youtube.com