The original video of Sean “Diddy” Combs beating his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel was destroyed by CNN, according to the hip-hop mogul’s defense team.
In an evidence letter filed Thursday in Manhattan Federal Court, his attorneys claims CNN purchased the surveillance video from the InterContinental Hotel, edited it into the clip seen by millions worldwide and then destroyed the original copy.
The assault on Ventura is not part of the federal case against 55-year-old Combs, but prosecutors were seeking to include the video as evidence to argue he has a history of violence. However, they likely faced an uphill battle because the video published by CNN had clearly been edited.
The InterContinental Hotel has since closed down and the footage acquired by CNN was the only known copy, according to Combs’ lawyers.
“CNN purchased the only known copy of the hotel’s surveillance footage, uploaded that footage into a free editing software, altered the video, and then destroyed the original footage even though [the outlet] knew about and repeatedly reported about the federal investigation,” his defense attorneys claim.
CNN published the disturbing clip in May 2024. It shows Combs grabbing, kicking and dragging Ventura in the hotel hallway in 2016. No criminal action came from the video, as the statute of limitations for assault is one year in California.
However, the video was a turning point in Combs’ downfall. While he settled a civil sexual assault lawsuit filed by Ventura in November 2023, the video proved he had not been entirely truthful when he denied all wrongdoing.
By September of last year, he’d been arrested by federal agents in New York on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Earlier in the legal process, Combs’ attorneys claimed federal prosecutors had edited the video as part of their argument for the rapper to remain held without bail. But his defense team’s allegations were not enough for multiple federal judges, who have all ruled Combs must remain behind bars at Brooklyn MDC until his trial begins. Jury selection is currently scheduled to begin May 5.
According to the evidence letter filed Thursday, CNN will be subpoenaed to provide the full video. The network did not publicly respond to claims that the original copy had been destroyed.
With Molly Crane-Newman
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