Sean “Diddy” Combs has apologised for attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura after CCTV footage showed him kicking and pushing her in a hotel hallway in 2016. Speaking in a video posted to his Instagram page, the rapper said he took full responsibility for his “inexcusable” actions in the clip, aired by CNN earlier this week.
“I was disgusted when I did it. I'm disgusted now,” he said in his statement.
“I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry.” He added that he was “committed to being a better man each and every day”.
But lawyers for singer, model and actress Ms Ventura told the BBC's US partner CBS News Diddy's new statement was “more about himself than the many people he has hurt”.
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday,” lawyer Meredith Firetog said.
“That he was only compelled to ‘apologise' once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.” The BBC has not independently verified the video, which appears to be a compilation of surveillance footage angles dated 5 March 2016.
The footage released by CNN showed a man the broadcaster identified as Mr Combs pushing Ms Ventura to the floor and kicking her while she is on the ground. He later attempts to drag her by her shirt and throw an object at her.
According to CNN, it was filmed at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles.
Until now, Mr Combs had not commented on the video. In an earlier statement Ms Ventura's lawyers said: “The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behaviour of Mr Combs.”
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said on Friday that the alleged assault captured in the video might be too old to prosecute. The pair had started a relationship after meeting when she was 19 and he was 37.
Last November, Ms Ventura settled a lawsuit against Mr Combs – in which she accused him of rape and sexual trafficking over a decade – for an undisclosed sum. Mr Combs' lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said at the time that the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing”.
Since then, several other women have filed lawsuits accusing the rapper of sexual and physical abuse. His homes in Los Angeles and Miami, Florida, were raided last month as part of a federal investigation into human trafficking.
