In 2016, video footage surfaced of Sean “Diddy” Combs kicking, punching and dragging his then-girlfriend, Kathy Ventura.
The hotel surveillance video obtained by CNN and released Friday was shot on March 5, 2016 and was reportedly edited from multiple camera angles. The incident matched allegations made in a sex trafficking, rape and physical abuse lawsuit Ventura filed against the hip-hop mogul in November. The two settled the civil suit the day after it was filed.
In the video, Ventura, wearing a black sweater, hood up and holding a duffel bag, can be seen calling for an elevator at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles, CNN reported. In another camera angle, Didi is seen running through a hotel hallway wrapped in a bath towel.
He caught up with Ventura before the elevator came and punched and pulled Ventura by the hair, throwing him to the ground. The producer then kicked Ventura twice while she was lying on the ground, picked up her bag and dragged her back to the hotel room.
He then appeared to say something to her as he let her go and returned to the hotel room with her bag.
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“The heartbreaking video provides further confirmation of Mr. Combs' disturbing and predatory behavior,” Doug Wigdor, Ventura's attorney, said in a statement to the media Friday. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura showed by coming forward and bringing this issue to light.”
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives from Comms and Intercontinental for comment.
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The video shows Ventura answering the phone in a hotel hallway near an elevator. In another clip, Combs returns from the room to the hallway and lunges toward where Ventura was seen.
In another video angle, Diddy is seen sitting on a chair and throwing a vase of flowers onto a table in the hallway.
In Ms. Ventura's now-settled lawsuit, she recalled an incident in which Diddy was “extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face, blackening her eye.”
“After falling asleep, Mr. Ventura attempted to leave the hotel room, but as soon as he left the room, Mr. Combs woke up and began screaming at Mr. Ventura,” the complaint continues. “The man chased her down the hallway of the hotel, yelling at her. He grabbed her, picked up a glass vase that was in her hallway and threw it at her, and while she ran to the elevator, the glass splattered over the vase. It shattered around me.”
Ventura left, but was “caught in a cycle of abuse” and returned “with the intention of apologizing for running away,” according to the complaint.
The complaint continues: “When she returned, hotel security staff suggested that they had seen the security footage and urged her to return to the taxi and go to the apartment.”
The suit alleges that Diddy paid the hotel $50,000 for the footage.
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Diddy and Ventura dated on and off from 2007 to 2018. Ventura, who began a professional and sexual relationship with the rap mogul when she was 19, alleges in her lawsuit that Combs raped her, trafficked her and severely assaulted her. 10 years have passed.
The former couple reached a settlement the day after the singer filed her lawsuit. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
“I have decided to resolve this matter amicably, provided that I have some control,” Ventura said in a statement at the time. “I would like to thank my family, fans, and attorneys for their unwavering support.”
“We have decided to resolve this matter amicably and wish Kathy and her family the best,” Combs said in a separate statement. “Love.”
The lawsuit is among several filed against music moguls in recent months, including one by “The Love Album” producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones Jr. There is one.
Contributor: Annika Reed
If you are a victim of domestic violence, National Domestic Violence Hotline (thehotline.org) allows you to speak confidentially with a trained advocate online or by phone. Recommended for people who believe their online activity is being monitored by an abuser (800-799-7233). These can help survivors make plans to keep themselves and their children safe.
