Record producer P Diddy, regarded as one of the wealthiest musical artists, became the first male rapper to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008. His career came to a halt when his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against him in 2023, accusing him of r**e, s*x trafficking, and physical abuse. The two of them reached an undisclosed settlement the following day, but what followed was a series of lawsuits against the rapper-producer alleging s**ual assault and revenge p**n.
The number of cases filed against P Diddy rose to 120 by October 2024, and plaintiffs include minors, both male and female. The record producer who repeatedly denied the allegations was indicted in the Southern District of New York in September 2024 on charges of s*x trafficking by force, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering. He is currently awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center, in Brooklyn. P Diddy is now walking back on his steps, but it no longer matters.
P Diddy claims CNN altered the footage of him assaulting Cassie Ventura
According to reports by Deadline, ahead of his trial in May, P Diddy has now claimed that the footage of him assaulting his former partner Cassie Ventura, which was released by CNN, was ‘altered.’ The publication back in May 2024 released surveillance footage of the Bad Boy Records’ owner physically assaulting Ventura at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, in 2016.
At the time, when the footage was released, P Diddy shared a video on his social media, apologizing for his behavior and stating that he was ‘truly sorry’ for his inexcusable actions. (via USA Today)
It was also stated at the time that the record producer had tried to bribe the staff at the hotel, who eventually stopped him from assaulting her. Now, the artist’s attorney shared a joint letter to Judge Arun Subramanian stating,
The defense has confirmed, through a forensic video analysis of the CNN footage that the government provided to this Court and of the footage provided by CNN in response to the defense subpoena, that all CNN video footage was substantially altered in significant respects.
The letter added that the publication covered the timestamp and then changed the video sequences by speeding up the video to make it falsely appear. Diddy claims that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they happened in 2016.
The redacted section of the letter also mentioned that CNN purchased the only known copy of the hotel’s surveillance footage but uploaded the footage into free editing software and altered the video. They claimed that the publication even went ahead to destroy the original footage and requested the footage to be excluded from the evidence presented to the jury for the upcoming trial.
A spokesperson of CNN released a statement later, which noted (via USA Today),
CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source. CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested.
But in Cassie Ventura’s lawsuit, she claimed at the time that P Diddy himself purchased the footage for $50,000 after the incident took place. The record producer has repeatedly denied all the allegations.
Critics question P Diddy’s ‘apology video’ after claims of video footage being altered
After P Diddy and his attorneys wrote a joint letter to the judge claiming that the video footage of the record producer assaulting Cassie Ventura was altered, critics including Popcorned Planet, TMZ, and others questioned his ‘apology video.’ Diddy released a video in 2024 taking full responsibility for his actions and apologizing.
The critics shared, ‘Dude, why’d you make an apology? Like, I don’t understand it.’ Users online also had a similar reaction to the record producer’s claims, with one user writing,
Disgusting! Poor Cassie, how did she deal with this man for 11 years? I would cope like crazy. He kicked her; he treated her like trash. We saw what we saw. What is this fool talking about? WE SEE YOU.
Another user questioned if Diddy believes that the public is going to buy his lie. A third user noted that claiming that the video was sped up is not the best argument they should be having. Another online user mentioned that Diddy admitted to his behavior with a fake apology.
Some other users also noted that this behavior is gaslighting to a whole new level. Some of them even went on to question if the video was altered; why did Diddy go and settle the case with Ventura in 24 hours?
In February, according to Fox News, Anthony Ricco, who had been on Sean Diddy’s case, requested the court to step down from the legal battle. He wrote in the motion that although he had provided the record producer with a high level of legal representation, under no circumstances could he continue to serve as his counsel. He also noted that there were sufficient reasons for him to step down.
P Diddy’s trial is set to begin May 5, 2025.
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