(NewsNation) — Hotel surveillance video from 2016 appears to show Sean “Diddy” Combs violently attacking, kicking, and shoving his former partner Cassie Ventura, who filed a federal lawsuit against the music producer last year.
The footage, obtained by CNN and released on Friday, matches the description of a physical altercation Ventura detailed in her now-settled lawsuit against Combs.
In the video, Combs is seen running in a towel after Ventura, who is standing in front of an elevator bank. He aggressively grabs and drags her down, kicks her, and then picks up her luggage. He is later seen dragging her on the floor back to a hotel room as she braces her head.
Minutes later, Ventura returns to the elevator bank and picks up a phone on the wall. Diddy comes back, appears to shove her into the corner, sits on a chair near her, and aggressively throws an object at her.
CNN reported that the footage was compiled from multiple camera angles dated March 5, 2016, and the altercation took place at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. CNN verified the location based on publicly available photos of the former hotel’s interior.
“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,” said Douglas H. Wigdor, an attorney representing Ventura, in a statement to NewsNation.
Ventura, who had been in a decade-long relationship with Combs starting in the early 2000s, filed a lawsuit in New York federal court last November alleging sex trafficking, human trafficking, sexual battery, sexual assault, and gender-motivated violence, among other claims. She alleged that she was lured into and trapped in a pattern of abuse involving forced drug use, rape, battery, and forced sex acts with male sex workers.
She settled the lawsuit with Combs one day later, but her suit prompted several other alleged victims to come forward.
In her lawsuit, Ventura alleged that Combs paid the InterContinental Century City $50,000 for the hallway surveillance footage from that incident. She describes the assault in her lawsuit almost identically to what is shown in the video.
Combs is also reportedly facing a federal investigation.
On March 25, Department of Homeland Security agents conducted raids at Combs’ multimillion-dollar mansion in Los Angeles and his waterfront home in Miami.
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