The rapper said he was ‘disgusted’ by his actions
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has apologised for attacking his ex-girlfriend Cassandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura after footage of the 2016 incident emerged.
In a video on his Instagram page, the rapper said he took full responsibility for his “inexcusable” actions in the clip, which was aired by CNN earlier this week.
The video, which was aired by CNN last week, is a compilation of multiple CCTV camera angles. It appears to show Combs grabbing, shoving, dragging and kicking Ventura at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, on March 5, 2016.
In his statement, the 54-year-old said he was “disgusted” by his actions.
“So difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you got to do that. I was f**ked up,” he said.
“I mean I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses, my behaviour in that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video, I’m disgusted.
“I was disgusted then when I did it, I am disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help, I got into going to therapy, going to rehab.
“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 Ventura have said Diddy’s statement was “more about himself than the many people he has hurt”.
Her lawyer Meredith Firetog said: “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.”
Ventura and Combs met when she was 19 and he was 37, and went on to have a relationship together.
Last November, she settled a lawsuit against him, 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”.
A number of other women have filed lawsuits against the rapper on accusations of sexual and physical abuse since then.
Earlier this year, Combs’ houses in LA and Miami were raided by police amid an investigation into sex trafficking allegations against the star.
