Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has issued a grovelling apology after footage surfaced of him assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
The video obtained by CNN, showed the rapper, 54, kicking, dragging and throwing an object at his ex-partner.
Several stars spoke out against him, including 50 Cent, and Emily Ratajkowski, who branded him a ‘monster’.
After two days of silence, Diddy himself has now spoken out.
In a sombre video shared to social media, the musician began: “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you’ve gotta do that.”
He continued: “I was f***ed up. 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’m disgusted now.”
Diddy added: “I went and I sought professional help, started going to therapy, I’ve been going to rehab. I had to ask God for His mercy and grace.
“I’m so sorry. But, I’ve committed to being a better man, each and every day.”
He concluded: “I’m not asking for forgiveness, I’m truly sorry.”
Following the release of the original footage from 2016, Cassie’s husband, Alex Fine, also took to social media to share a heartfelt message.
One part read: “Men who hit women aren’t men. Men who enable it and protect those people aren’t men.”
The video was dated March 5 and seems to match a description of an incident at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles in a now-settled lawsuit originally filed by Cassie in November.
The court document said: “In or around March 2016, during an FO at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, Mr Combs became extremely intoxicated and punched Ms Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye.”
Cassie claimed she was a victim of rape and violent behaviour during their decade-long relationship in the lawsuit, which was settled a day after it was filed at a New York federal court.
A statement from Douglas H Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, in response to the video footage said: ‘The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behaviour of Mr Combs.
“Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
Diddy has since been named as a defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits, and in March his properties in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by federal authorities in a reported sex trafficking investigation.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said on Friday that the assault captured in the video would be too old to prosecute if it occurred in 2016, due to the statute of limitations.
“We are aware of the video that has been circulating online allegedly depicting Sean Combs assaulting a young woman in Los Angeles,” it said in a statement.
“We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch.
“If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately, we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.
“As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Services.”
