During Diddy's trial, unedited videos were released showing the rapper brutally beating and dragging his girlfriend through a hotel hallway in 2016.
One of the videos taken from multiple surveillance cameras captured different angles of Diddy's (Sean Combs) attack on singer Cassie Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel. In the video, Cassie is seen wearing a hoodie pulled over her head, carrying her luggage, and running toward the elevator door. Diddy, shirtless and wearing only a towel around his waist, ran up to grab his girlfriend's head, pulled her back, violently slammed her to the ground, and stomped on her. The rapper then dragged Cassie back to her room, but the singer got up and ran away. A moment later, a hotel security guard appeared to resolve the situation.
Another 15-minute video, which fully captures the attack, shows Cassie being abused by Diddy in front of the elevator, dragged on the floor. The singer escapes, calling a landline in the hallway for help while the rapper angrily stands and points at her. Security guard Israel Florez appears, comes to talk to Diddy, asks the rapper to go to his room, and signals Cassie to pack her things and leave.
Prosecutors showed the silent videos during the trial on May 13 and 14 at Manhattan Federal Court, New York. According to The Daily Mail, members of the jury watched the video intently. Diddy slowly shook his head from side to side while the crowded courtroom watched in silence. The videos were later published in newspapers, causing a stir with numerous angry comments about Diddy's behavior.
The hotel security guard, Israel Florez, took the stand to describe the assault to the jury. Israel said that when he reached the hotel hallway, he heard Diddy yelling at Cassie. Israel asked Diddy to respect Cassie, go back to his room, and let his girlfriend go. According to the security guard, at one point, Diddy became angry and tried to grab his partner's phone because he was afraid of being filmed. The rapper then handed Israel a wad of $100 cash and asked him to keep quiet about the incident, but Israel refused to accept the money.
Cassie Ventura testified that Diddy beat her up at a hotel in 2016 and accused the rapper of regular physical abuse during their 11-year relationship, from 2009 to 2018. Cassie said Diddy paid the hotel $50,000 to keep the video private before an edited (fast-forwarded) cut was released by CNN in May 2024. She appeared with Diddy at the premiere of The Perfect Match two days after the incident.
Cassie said their decade-long relationship was controlled by the rapper with violence and weapons. She accused Diddy of keeping guns in the house to intimidate her and couldn't count the number of times the rapper brutally beat her. Cassie said Diddy forced her to attend sex parties called Freak Offs, where she had sex with male escorts while the rapper sat by and directed, monitored, and filmed. According to Cassie, there were sex parties that lasted for days, leaving her exhausted. These Freak Offs took place at luxury hotels across the US and around the world, staged like music videos with LED lights, baby oil, and drugs.
Diddy's lawyer does not deny that Diddy abused his girlfriend and engaged in unusual sexual behavior. However, the lawyer argued that domestic violence is not federal sex trafficking, one of the major crimes prosecutors are charging the 55-year-old rap mogul with.
Diddy's trial began on May 12 and is still ongoing. If convicted on the five charges, Diddy could face life in prison.