Sean “Diddy” Combs reportedly did not mention ex Cassie Ventura by name in his apology video for legal reasons.
“Seeing lots of commentary about #Diddy not mentioning Cassie in his apology,” Elizabeth Wagmeister, the CNN reporter who broke the video of Diddy assaulting the singer during a 2016 hotel stay, tweeted Tuesday.
“Diddy & Cassie’s Nov. 2023 settlement prohibits both from speaking about each other, multiple sources have told me,” the reporter said. “’He’s not allowed to say Cassie’s name,’ a source familiar w/ the settlement says.”
The source was referring to the “Me & U” singer’s November 2023 lawsuit against Combs in which she accused him of physically abusing and raping her throughout their decade-long on-again, off-again relationship.
Combs denied any wrongdoing and they settled for an undisclosed amount just one day after Ventura filed the case.
However, the rapper’s legal team later said the settlement was in “no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
Ventura claimed in the filing that Diddy assaulted her in a hotel in 2016 and claimed he was “extremely intoxicated” and gave her a “black eye” after punching “in the face.”
“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 filing stated.
While Diddy denied the incident ever took place, calling the accusations “offensive and outrageous,” the newly released alarming surveillance footage from the 2016 hotel incident published by CNN last week shows the rapper violently punching and kicking Ventura.
Ventura, who was dating Diddy at the time of the incident, was seen trying to sneak away from him and get on the hotel elevator, but she was stopped by Diddy, who ran over in a towel and punched her to the ground, proceeding to repeatedly kick her and drag her across the floor.
Upon the video surfacing online, Diddy released an apology video and claimed he was remorseful and wrong for his violent actions against Ventura.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted,” he said in an Instagram video Sunday.
Diddy added that he sought professional help and went to therapy and rehab after the attack and had to “ask god for his mercy and grace.”
He notably did not mention Ventura by name, and the pop star’s team called the apology video “pathetic.”
“Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt,” Meredith Firetog, a partner at Wigdor LLP, the legal firm representing Ventura, told in a statement Sunday.
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday.”
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She continued, “That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, told in a statement that 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,” Wigdor said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced last week that Diddy could not be charged for the assault due to the statute of limitations.
However, Diddy’s homes were raided by Homeland Security amid an ongoing sex trafficking investigation in March.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
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