NEW YORK, May 20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs apologized on
Sunday after hotel surveillance video surfaced showing him physically
assaulting his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura in 2016.

Combs is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a
violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims, and
his homes were raided this year by federal agents.

Disturbing footage published Friday shows Combs attacking Ventura -- a singer
and model also known simply as Cassie -- corroborating allegations she made
in a now-settled lawsuit late last year.

"My behavior on that video is inexcusable," Combs said in a video posted on
Instagram, adding he was "disgusted" and "sought out professional help" after
the incident including therapy and rehab.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm committed to be a better man each and every
day."

The footage, which was published by CNN, shows the rap mogul hitting,
dragging and kicking Ventura, who in her recent lawsuit said Combs subjected
her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs, plus a
2018 rape.

In the video, Ventura leaves a hotel room after which Combs, appearing to
wear only a towel, chases her before throwing her to the hallway floor and
assaulting her.

"The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and
predatory behavior of Mr. Combs," read a statement from her lawyer Douglas
Wigdor.

Ventura sued Combs in federal court last fall in a bombshell suit that was
settled out of court but succeeded by a string of similarly lurid sexual
assault claims against the hip-hop star.

Ventura met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37, after which he signed her to
his label and they began a romantic relationship.

Combs has previously vehemently denied all accusations against him.

"Enough is enough," he said in a December 2023 statement, also on his
Instagram page, saying accusers were "looking for a quick payday."

"For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to
assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy."

On Sunday after the apology video emerged, a second Ventura lawyer responded,
saying the Combs message "rings hollow."

"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," lawyer Meredith Firetog said, according to celebrity
website TMZ.

In March armed agents entered Combs's sprawling luxury properties in Miami
and Los Angeles, a heavily publicized bicoastal operation that suggested an
investigation into the rapper is underway.