CCTV video footage confirmed what many individuals within the music business knew was brewing: a second of reckoning for one of the crucial influential hip-hop artists in historical past.
The clips of Sean “Diddy” Combs kicking his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura – as she lay immobile on the ground – cemented his downfall, regardless of his apology after the leak.
“I do not see a path for him to return again from this,” stated Amy DuBois Barnett, the previous editor-in-chief of Ebony journal, who has written about hip-hop tradition.
Combs’ fame within the business had been “chequered for a while,” added Barnett. “Many individuals had been conscious of his fairly unbridled mood.”
Combs – previously referred to as P Diddy, Puff Daddy or Puffy – is among the best-selling and most acclaimed artists of all time, with three Grammy Awards and hundreds of thousands of report gross sales to his identify.
For years, nothing actually affected his rise to icon standing as an artist, producer and businessman. There have been damaging tales within the business, stated Barnett, however a lot of it stayed out of the general public eye.
Final November, Ms Ventura settled a lawsuit in opposition to Combs – wherein she accused him of rape and sexual trafficking – for an undisclosed sum. However Combs’ lawyer stated the settlement was “under no circumstances an admission of wrongdoing”.
Celebrities continued to voice assist for him, however that ended with the CCTV video obtained by CNN and printed final week.
The assault proven within the footage is brutal. After kicking Ms Ventura like a soccer, Combs, sporting only a towel, is seen dragging her throughout the ground.
The video seems to be a compilation of surveillance footage angles dated 5 March 2016, which CNN stated was filmed on the InterContinental Resort in Century Metropolis, Los Angeles. In her lawsuit, Ms Ventura had described a March 2016 incident at that resort, wherein Combs allegedly attacked her.
A string of different lawsuits have since been introduced in opposition to Combs for abuse, sexual misconduct and rape. Once they had been filed, the rapper known as the accusations “sickening” and stated the alleged victims had been searching for “a fast pay day”.
However the video of the assault on Ms Ventura undermined his denials.
Combs was silent for 2 days after its launch, earlier than posting an apology to Instagram, admitting it was him within the tape and calling his actions “inexcusable”.
“I used to be disgusted then after I did it,” he stated, “and I am disgusted now.”
“I went and I sought out skilled assist,” he continued. “I bought into going to remedy, going to rehab. I needed to ask God for his mercy and beauty. I am so sorry.”