LOS ANGELES (AP) — Newly released video appears to show Sean “Diddy” Combs beating his former singing protégé and girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
The video was broadcast by CNN Friday, six months after the R&B singer filed a lawsuit that sparked a wave of similar cases and public allegations against one of the most influential music moguls of the past three decades.
Here’s a look at key events that have happened since the end of last year.
NOVEMBER 16, 2023
Cassie says in a lawsuit that Combs subjected him to years of abuse, including beatings and rape. Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the two were on-again, off-again romantic partners for more than a decade starting in 2007. The lawsuit filed in federal court says Combs was “prone to uncontrollable rage” and subjected her to “savage” beatings. He says he drugged her, forced her to have sex with other men and raped her in her home when she tried to end the relationship in 2018. Combs, per through his lawyer, “vehemently denies” the accusations.
NOVEMBER 17, 2023
With astonishing speed, Ventura lawsuit settled the day after its filing. The terms of the agreement remain confidential. “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably,” Combs said in a statement. “I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.”
NOVEMBER 23, 2023
Two other women accuse Combs of sexual abuse in lawsuits filed on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law giving victims of sexual abuse one year to file a civil action, regardless of the statute of limitations. The lawsuits, filed by Joi Dickerson and another unnamed woman, allege sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging in the early 1990s by Combs, then an artistic director, party promoter and rising community figure. New York hip-hop. . Combs’ lawyers called the allegations false.
NOVEMBER 28, 2023
Combs temporarily resigns as president of his cable television network, Revolt, due to the wave of sexual abuse allegations. It would be one of several business setbacks for Combs caused by the lawsuits.
DECEMBER 6, 2023
Woman Alleges in Another Lawsuit that in 2003, when she was 17, Combs and two other men raped her. The complaint filed in Manhattan federal court says she lived in a Detroit suburb and was flown to a New York studio, where she was given drugs and alcohol that incapacitated her to consent to sexual relations, and where the men took turns raping her. Combs said in a statement: “I did not do any of the horrible things alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.
FEBRUARY 26, 2024
A music producer files a complaint alleging that Combs sexually assaulted him and forced him to have sex with prostitutes. The lawsuit gives a long list of potentially illegal drug and sex activities that the producer says he witnessed. A lawyer for Combs calls the allegations “pure fiction.”
March 25, 2024
Homeland Security Investigations serves search warrants early in the morning searches in Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of what officials tell The Associated Press is a sex trafficking investigation. Combs was at one of his homes in Miami at the time. His two sons, at his home in Los Angeles, were handcuffed during the search, Combs’ lawyers said. Authorities have not said whether the searches were motivated by civil suits, but Combs’ lawyers said they believed that to be the case.
MARCH 26, 2024
Combs’ lawyer calls the raids “constitute a blatant use of military-level force” and says Combs is “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name. Attorney Aaron Dyer says there is “no excuse for the excessive display of force and hostility shown by authorities or for the way his children and employees were treated.”
APRIL 4, 2024
A trial which names Combs as co-defendant alleges that his son Christian “King” Combs sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father. The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court says Sean Combs created the circumstances that led to the assault and paid to cover it up afterward. The two men’s lawyer calls the allegations “scandalous.”
APRIL 26, 2024
In the first major legal setback for Combs and his team, they file a motion to dismiss multiple items from Dickerson’s lawsuit because they were not illegal in 1991 when the alleged incidents occurred. Although the legal objections are procedural, the filing also denounces the “numerous false, offensive and salacious accusations” contained in the lawsuit.
MAY 10, 2024
Combs asks federal judge to dismiss Dec. 6 lawsuit who claimed that he and two co-defendants raped a 17 year old girl from Michigan in a recording studio in New York. Again, the objections are procedural – alleging the lawsuit was filed too late under the law – but the court document calls his claims “false and hideous.”
May 17, 2024
CNN broadcasts video This appears to show Combs attacking Ventura in the hotel hallway in 2016. The video closely mirrors an assault described in her lawsuit, which claimed Combs had already hit her that night and that she was trying to leave the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles when he woke up and chased her. In the footage, a man who appears to be Diddy, wearing only a towel, punches Ventura, kicks her and throws her to the ground. The lawsuit alleges Combs paid $50,000 to remove the video at the time. Representatives for Combs had no immediate comment. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said no case has been presented regarding the attack depicted in the video. And that even if law enforcement presented a case to prosecutors, the statute of limitations would apply, preventing them from charging Combs, the office said in a statement posted Friday on social media.
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The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they were sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as those named here have done.
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News Source : apnews.com
