“Hell on Earth” is how Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) is described. And who else could one expect to share it other than Sean “Diddy” Combs, Sam Bankman-Fried and the newly infamous – Luigi Mangione.

It is also the only operating federal detention center in New York.

Apart from sharing the same prison, Combs and Mangione coincidentally share the same lawyer. Marc Agnifilo, who represents Combs, will also defend Mangione in his upcoming trial. On Sunday, Agnifilo and his wife, Karen Friedman Agnifilo announced their involvement in Mangione’s case and in a press statement, Karen Agnifilo said, “Mangione appreciates everyone’s support.”

Mangione is an accused in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson who was arrested in Penssylvania after a five-day search and brought to New York and Combs has been held amid a flurry of sexual assault lawsuits.

Metropolitan Detention Center is fabled for its difficult conditions and is notorious even among wardens. It is depicted as one of the most “troubled” facilities in the Bureau of Prisons, with issues ranging from overcrowding, violence, rodent infestations, and deteriorating infrastructure.

Apart from these high-profile cases, Mexican cartel figure Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada will also be housed at Metropolitan Detention Center.

Mangione faces federal charges of murder by firearm and death penalty could be on the table although New York abolished capital punishment in 2004. However, Mangione could become the first person in decades to face execution if the state decides to move forward with it. His next court appearance is scheduled for January 18, 2025.

Executives believe Mangione murdered Brian Thompson of UnitedHealthcare because of pent-up frustrations with the company. When he was arrested, officials found a manifesto that praised filmmaker Michael Moore’s critique of the healthcare system among other things such as fake ids, a U.S. passport and other writings about the healthcare system.

As of now, Mangione faces both state and federal murder charges. The state charges are delineated as murder and act of terrorism. Additionally he faces weapons and forgery charges in Pennsylvania where he pleads not guilty.

It is interesting to note that the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” were written on bullet shell casings found at the murder scene. It is a reference to the three D’s of the insurance world – Delay, Deny, Defend, the way in which insurance companies move to reject requests for medical coverage deemed necessary by doctors.
 

Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday proposed a new $50 million bail package backed by his Florida mansion that the music mogul hopes will win his release from the Brooklyn jail where he has been held for eight weeks on criminal sex trafficking charges. 

Combs has been denied bail three times since his arrest, with multiple judges citing a risk that he might tamper with witnesses. The rapper and producer on Sept. 17 pleaded not guilty to charges that he used his business empire including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment to transport women and male sex workers across state lines, to take part in recorded sexual performances called “Freak Offs.” 

In another development on Friday, US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who oversees the criminal case, denied Combs’ request for a gag order barring his accusers from speaking publicly about the matter. His lawyers had argued that the approximately 30 civil cases accusing Combs of misconduct or abuse were interfering with his right to a fair trial.

Combs, 55, has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have argued that the sexual activity described by prosecutors was consensual.

In a court filing on Friday, defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro asked Subramanian to release Combs on the $50 million bond, which would be backed by his $48 million Miami home and co-signed by several of his family members. 

Shapiro also proposed that Combs be monitored around the clock by security personnel, be subjected to home detention, and have no contact with alleged victims or witnesses. His trial is scheduled for May 5.

In seeking bail, Shapiro said new evidence undermined part of the prosecution’s justification for detaining Combs. She said the evidence shed new light on a 2016 hotel surveillance video of him physically assaulting former girlfriend Casandra Ventura, known as Cassie.

“The video is not evidence of a coerced ‘freak off,’ but rather a minutes-long glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship,” Shapiro wrote.

Shapiro also said it is impossible for Combs to prepare for trial from behind bars because of the “incredibly voluminous” amount of material to review, especially without a laptop computer. She also said his preparation has been stymied by conditions at the jail, including frequent lockdowns and even officers taking away the pens he uses to take notes.

Detention is stripping Combs of “any real opportunity” to be ready for trial, violating his rights under the US Constitution, Shapiro said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Billionaire Elon Musk has alleged that rapper Eminem attended the party thrown by music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was indicted last month on three criminal counts that allege he sexually abused women and coerced them into drug-fueled sex parties using threats and violence.

Musk’s allegations came days after Eminem introduced former US president Barack Obama at a major Kamala Harris campaign event in Detroit. Musk has endorsed Harris’ Republican rival Donald Trump in the November 5 US presidential elections.

“Yet another Diddy party participant,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday in response to a post that alleged that Eminem rapped about “killing homosexuals with a chainsaw”.

Yet another Diddy party participant

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2024

Sean Combs, the Grammy Award-winner who is popularly known as “Diddy”, was arrested on sex trafficking and racketeering charges last month.

According to the complainants’ lawyers, several A-listers were friends with Diddy and were regular at his parties.

Allegations have been building against him since last year when US singer Cassie alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.

He has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and is set to go on trial on May 5, 2025.

Eminem Fans Slam Elon Musk

After Elon Musk’s accusation, Eminem fans slammed the billionaire, saying the rapper had been “taking potshots” at Diddy “for decades”.

“Em (Eminem) never attended and has always been against Diddy. Do your research Elon,” a fan wrote on X, which Musk owns.

He has been “dissing” Diddy since 1996, said another.

Eminem’s latest album “The Death of Slim Shady” is apparently also a dig at Diddy.

Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently in federal custody following multiple charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, has now been accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with the help of two other celebrities at a 2000 MTV Video Music Awards afterparty. According to the New York Post, a 37-year-old woman filed a lawsuit in New York federal court on Sunday in which she claimed that the incident occurred after she went to an empty bedroom to lie down for a moment because she felt “woozy and lightheaded” from a drink she had during the bash on September 7, 2000. She said that at the party she was raped by an unnamed male celebrity, while an unnamed female celebrity watched before Combs raped her. 

“Combs aggressively approached Plaintiff with a crazed look in his eyes, grabbed her and said, ‘You are ready to party!'” the lawsuit states, per the Post. He then allegedly “threw” the girl, identified as Jane Doe in the court documents, toward another male celebrity, referred to as Celebrity A, who proceeded to remove the teen’s clothing as she became “more and more disoriented”. 

“Plaintiff was held down by Celebrity A who vaginally raped her while Combs and Celebrity B, a female, watched,” the lawsuit claims. “After the male celebrity finished, Combs then vaginally raped Plaintiff while Celebrity A and Celebrity B watched,” it added. 

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The lawsuit also alleged that the music mogul attempted to force the victim to perform oral sex on him, but she resisted by hitting him in the neck, so he stopped. She then escaped the room and had her father pick her up from the party. “After the assault, Plaintiff fell into a deep depression which continues to affect every facet of her life,” the lawsuit states. 

The plaintiffs are not named in the court papers, but they are described as two men and three women, including the one who was 13 at the time of the alleged VMAs rape. One of the men and three women also accused Combs of drugging them. While one of the male accusers claimed he was drugged and sexually assaulted by both Combs and an unnamed celebrity, the other male accuser said Combs groped him at a Ciroc Vodka party in Los Angeles.

Notably, Combs has denied all the charges against him. He is currently being held behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after being denied bail. 

Homeland Security Investigation agents are seen at the entrance of U.S. producer and musician Sean “Diddy” Combs’s home at Star Island in Miami Beach on March 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A new wave of lawsuits filed Monday (October 14, 2024) accuses Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping women, sexually assaulting men and molesting a 16-year-old boy.

At least six lawsuits were filed against the hip-hop mogul in federal court in Manhattan. They were filed anonymously, two by women identified as Jane Does and four by men identified as John Does.

The accusers are part of what their lawyers say is a group of more than 100 alleged victims who are in the process of taking legal action against Combs in the wake of his sex trafficking arrest last month.

One of the John Does, a man living in North Carolina, alleges that Combs fondled his genitals when he was 16 at one of the rapper’s famous white parties in Long Island’s Hamptons in 1998.

The man alleges that during a conversation about possibly breaking into the music industry, Combs abruptly ordered the then-teen to drop his pants.

According to the man’s lawsuit, Combs explained to him that it was a rite of passage to becoming a music star, at one point asking him: “Don’t you want to break into the business?”

The man said he complied out of fear, anxiety and power imbalance he felt with Combs, only realizing later that what had happened was sexual assault.

Until Monday’s lawsuit, Combs had only been accused in civil cases and his criminal indictment of sexual activity with adults.

Combs’ lawyers and other representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. When the planned lawsuits were announced Oct. 1, a lawyer said Combs “cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus.”

Combs, 54, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges alleging he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.

Combs’ lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to get the Bad Boy Records founder freed on bail. He has been held at a Brooklyn federal jail since his Sept. 16 arrest.

Two judges have concluded that Combs would be a danger to the community if he is released from the Metropolitan Detention Center, a facility that has been plagued by violence and dysfunction for years. At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected a proposed $50 million bail package, including home detention and electronic monitoring, after concluding Combs might tamper with witnesses and obstruct a continuing investigation.

On Friday, an appeals court judge denied Combs’ immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs his bail request.

Other lawsuits filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan include allegations of rape, forced oral sex and drugging to incapacitate victims.

One of the Jane Does suing Combs alleges he raped her in a locked hotel room in 2004 after he invited her and a friend there for a party, gave them drinks and told them to snort cocaine.

The woman, then a college freshman, alleges Combs also forced her friend to perform oral sex on him and said he would have them both killed if they didn’t comply with his demands.

The other Jane Doe alleges Combs violently attacked and raped her in a bathroom in 2005 at a party for the late rapper Biggie Smalls’ music video, “One More Chance.”

According to the woman, Combs brought her into the bathroom to talk privately and then started kissing her unexpectedly. When she tried to pull away, she alleges, he slammed her head against the wall, causing her to fall to the floor. The woman said she tried to escape, but Combs hit her again and raped her.

Afterward, according to the woman, Combs nonchalantly adjusted his clothing and told her: “You better not tell anyone about this, or you will disappear.”

In another John Doe lawsuit, a man working as a security guard at Combs’ Hamptons white party in 2006 alleges the star gave him an alcoholic beverage he came to believe was laced with a drug that made him feel extremely ill. The man alleges Combs then pushed him into a van, held him down and sexually assaulted him.

In the other lawsuits filed Monday, Combs is accused of forcing a man to perform oral sex on him in the stockroom of Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan’s Herald Square in 2008 and sexually assaulting a man at a party in October 2021. The latter man, who suspects a drugged beverage left him unable to fight back, recalls multiple men assaulting him and distinctly recalls seeing Combs above him, naked, at one point during the assault, his lawsuit said.

Kanye West’s former assistant has filed a lawsuit, accusing him of drugging and sexually assaulting her during a studio session he co-hosted with Sean “Diddy” Combs. Lauren Pisciotta, who was employed by West from 2021 to 2022, claims in an amended complaint obtained by PEOPLE that West committed “sexual battery” after giving her a drink that was laced with a substance.

Pisciotta’s allegations are an extension of her earlier wrongful termination lawsuit against West, in which she alleged she was subjected to explicit messages, pornographic images, videos, and phone calls from him before she was fired. She began working with West in July 2021 to assist with his Yeezy women’s fashion line and collaborate on his 2021 album, Donda.

Previously, a legal representative for West denied Pisciotta’s other claims and stated that “Ye will be filing a lawsuit against Ms. Pisciotta.”

According to the now-amended complaint filed on Oct. 8 in Los Angeles County Court, Pisciotta alleges that before her employment with West, he invited her to a studio session in Santa Monica, Calif., where “drinks were served to others in attendance, followed by an announcement that everyone had to drink if they wanted to stay.”

The lawsuit claims that West and Combs co-hosted the studio session, and Pisciotta attended with a “former artist management client.” Although Combs is named in the amended complaint as a co-host, Pisciotta is not accusing him of any wrongdoing.

The filing further alleges that the drink served to Pisciotta-allegedly by a studio assistant at West’s request- was “laced with an unidentifiable drug,” causing her to feel disoriented after just “a few small sips.”

“As plaintiff began to slip into an altered and heavily impaired state, she felt less in control of her body and speech, and that is where plaintiff’s memories of that night escape her,” the complaint reads.

According to the filing, Pisciotta woke up the next day “feeling physically ill and confused” and experienced “immense shame and embarrassment” for not being able to recall what happened after drinking at the studio session.

For years, West’s former assistant believed she had been drugged and humiliated herself at a work event. Later on, after West hired Pisciotta as an assistant, Chief of Staff, and A&R representative, he allegedly brought up that night for the first time. During the conversation, West told Pisciotta that they had “kind of hooked up a little one time,” referring to the night at the Santa Monica studio where the alleged assault occurred.

When Pisciotta told West she had no memory of that studio session, West allegedly laughed and remarked, “Women love to say they don’t remember,” according to the complaint.

“Up until that very moment, right before that very conversation, Plaintiff was unaware that she had been subjected to gender violence and sexual battery on that studio night by KANYE WEST a.k.a YE,” the document states.

The amended complaint also states that Pisciotta felt “overcome with immense shame, discomfort, and utter disgust.”

Additionally, Pisciotta alleges that in July 2021, during an “album workshop” at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco, West “aggressively pounded” on her hotel room door at 6 a.m., forced his way into her room, and claimed he needed to use her shower because his was out of order. She further alleges that West later approached her, “dropped his towel,” and attempted to “forcefully thrust his naked body onto and penis into Plaintiff’s face,” ignoring her pleas to stop. According to the complaint, West then “swiftly left” after saying “sorry” and continued his day as if nothing had happened.

The complaint also claims that Pisciotta, who alleges she received lewd messages from West and was fired from her Chief of Staff position at his companies just a month after her promotion in September 2022, “could not stomach the fact that she worked for the man who had sexually assaulted her while she was drugged, who then successfully lured her back into his orbit through a job opportunity to repeat the assault.”

West is also facing a separate lawsuit filed in April 2024 by a former employee who claimed to have suffered “severe discrimination [and] harassment” while working for Yeezy and at his Donda Academy school. Additionally, a former staffer recently filed a lawsuit alleging emotional distress, retaliation, and labour code violations.

People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon on September 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Much-awaited J&K Assembly election begin today, 219 candidates in fray

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At least 9 dead, thousands injured as Hezbollah is hit by a wave of exploding pagers in Lebanon, Syria

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Ready to return to work, but haunted by a ‘fear psychosis’, West Bengal doctors tell SC

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Atishi: From educationalist to Delhi’s third woman CM

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PM Modi lists NDA government’s 100 days’ achievements to benefit the poor, farmers, youth and women

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Sean ’Diddy’ Combs jailed by judge after sex trafficking indictment

 Sean “Diddy” Combs headed to jail to await trial in a federal sex trafficking case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes protected by blackmail and shocking acts of violence. The music mogul is charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. The indictment against him lists allegations that go back to 2008.

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New York:

Sean “Diddy” Combs — the rap mogul whose star has plunged after a wave of sex trafficking accusations and assault lawsuits — was arrested by federal agents in Manhattan late Monday, a US federal court said.

The attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, said in a statement that the arrest stemmed from a sealed indictment filed by his office.

“We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time,” he said, without providing further details of the charges.

Diddy’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo said in a statement provided to AFP that Combs had voluntarily relocated to New York anticipating the charges.

Combs’s lawyer said their team is “disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office.”

The rapper is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims.

His homes were raided in March by federal agents, in a heavily publicized bicoastal operation that indicated a federal investigation and potential criminal case was mounting against Combs.

Armed agents entered his sprawling luxury properties in Miami and Los Angeles, marking a rapid downfall for the powerful music industry figure who in recent years has vied to rebrand himself as “Brother Love.”

His legal team said Monday that Combs was being “cooperative with this investigation” and “looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

Bombshell suit 

The artist, who’s gone by various monikers including Puff Daddy and P Diddy, was widely credited as being key to hip hop’s journey from the streets to the bottle-service club. 

Over the decades he’s amassed vast wealth not least due to his ventures in the liquor industry.

But despite his efforts to cultivate an image of a smooth party kingpin and business magnate, a spate of lawsuits describe Combs as a violent man who used his celebrity to prey on women.

The artist has denied all accusations against him.

He has no major convictions but has long been trailed by allegations of physical assault, dating back well into the 1990s.

Late last year the floodgates opened after singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, alleged Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs as well as a 2018 rape.

The pair met when Ventura was 19 and he was 37, after which he signed her to his label and they began a romantic relationship.

The bombshell suit was quickly settled out of court, but a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims followed — including one in December by a woman who alleged Combs and others gang-raped her when she was 17.

Disturbing surveillance video then emerged in May showing Combs physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Ventura, corroborating allegations she made in the now-settled case.

Global fame with dark shadow

Born Sean John Combs on November 4, 1969 in Harlem, the artist entered the industry as an intern in 1990 at Uptown Records where he eventually became a talent director.

He gained a reputation as a party planner, which would be central to his brand as his fame rose.

In 1991 he promoted a celebrity basketball game and concert at the City College of New York that left nine people dead after a stampede.

The event was over capacity by the thousands and resulted in a string of lawsuits, with Combs blamed for hiring inadequate security.

He was fired from Uptown and founded his own label, Bad Boy Records.

Thus began a quick ascent to the top of East Coast hip hop, along with his disciple, the late The Notorious B.I.G.

Combs boasted a number of major signed acts and production collaborations with the likes of Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil’ Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men.

He was also a Grammy-winning rapper in his own right, debuting with the chart-topping single “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and his album “No Way Out.”

He built an image as a brash hustler with unapologetic swagger, a major producer who also ventured into Hollywood, reality television and fashion and had high-profile romantic links with the likes of Jennifer Lopez.

But a dark history of violence and serious misconduct has long haunted his fame — and now appears to be eclipsing it.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested late Monday (September 16, 2024) in New York, where he faces a sealed criminal indictment, prosecutors announced late on Monday.

Details of the charges weren’t immediately announced by prosecutors, but the hip-hop mogul has faced a stream of allegations by women in recent months who accused him of sexual assault.

The U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, said in a statement that federal agents arrested Mr. Combs. “We expect to move to unseal the indictment in the morning and will have more to say at that time.”

Mr. Combs’ lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, issued a statement saying: “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

He added that Mr. Combs had gone to New York last week in anticipation of the charges being brought.

“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Mr. Agnifilo said.

Mr. Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel lobby and is in federal custody, said a person familiar with the arrest who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The criminal charges are a major but not unexpected takedown of one of the most prominent producers and most famous names in the history of hip-hop.

The federal investigation of the 58-year-old Mr. Combs was revealed when Homeland Security Investigations agents served simultaneous search warrants and raided Mr. Combs’ mansions in Los Angeles and Miami on March 25.

His defense attorney Aaron Dyer the day after the raids called them “a gross use of military-level force,” said the allegations were “meritless,” and said Combs was “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.

Mr. Combs, then known as Puff Daddy, was at the centre of the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop battles of the 1990s as the partner and producer of the Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed in 1997. But like many of those who survived the era, his public image had softened with age into a genteel host of parties in Hollywood and the Hamptons, a fashion-forward businessman, and a doting father who spoiled his kids, some of whom lost their mother in 2018.

But a different image began emerging in November, when his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, became the first of several people to sue him for sexual abuse with stories of a steady stream of sex workers in drug-fueled settings where some of those involved were coerced or cajoled into sex.

In her November lawsuit, Ms. Cassie alleged years of abuse, including beatings and rape. Her suit also alleged Combs engaged in sex trafficking by “requiring her to engage in forced sexual acts in multiple jurisdictions” and by engaging in “harbouring and transportation of Plaintiff for purposes of sex induced by force, fraud, or coercion.”

It also said he compelled her to help him traffic male sex workers Mr. Combs would force Ms. Cassie to have sex with while he filmed.

The suit was settled settled the following day, but its reverberations would last far longer. Combs lost lingering allies, supporters and those reserving judgment when CNN in May aired a leaked video of him punching Ms. Cassie, kicking her and throwing her on the floor in a hotel hallway.

The following day, in his first real acknowledgement of wrongdoing since the stream of allegations began, Mr. Combs posted a social media video apologizing, saying “I was disgusted when I did it” and “I’m disgusted now.” Ms. Cassie’s lawsuit was followed by at least a half-dozen others in the ensuing months.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Mr. Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Mr. Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Another woman who filed a lawsuit, April Lampros, said she was a college student in 1994 when she met Combs and a series of “terrifying sexual encounters” with Mr. Combs and those around him began that lasted for years.

Mr. Combs and his attorneys denied nearly all of the lawsuits’ allegations.

While authorities did not publicly say that the lawsuits set off the criminal investigation, Dyer said when the warrants were served that the case was based on “meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Ms. Cassie and Ms. Lampros did.

As the founder of Bad Boy Records, Mr. Combs became one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades Along with the Notorious B.I.G. he worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

Mr. Combs’ roles in his businesses beyond music — including lucrative private-label spirits, a media company and the Sean John Fashion line — took major hits when the allegations arose.

The consequences were even greater when the leaked beating video emerged. Howard University cut ties with him, and he returned his key to the city of New York at the request of the mayor.

New York:

Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs apologized on Sunday after hotel surveillance video surfaced showing him physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura in 2016.

Combs is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims, and his homes were raided this year by federal agents.

Disturbing footage published Friday shows Combs attacking Ventura — a singer and model also known simply as Cassie — corroborating allegations she made in a now-settled lawsuit late last year.

“My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” Combs said in a video posted on Instagram, adding he was “disgusted” and “sought out professional help” after the incident including therapy and rehab.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’m committed to be a better man each and every day.”

The footage, which was published by CNN, shows the rap mogul hitting, dragging and kicking Ventura, who in her recent lawsuit said Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs, plus a 2018 rape.

In the video, Ventura leaves a hotel room after which Combs, appearing to wear only a towel, chases her before throwing her to the hallway floor and assaulting her.

“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” read a statement from her lawyer Douglas Wigdor.

Ventura sued Combs in federal court last fall in a bombshell suit that was settled out of court but succeeded by a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims against the hip-hop star.

Ventura met Combs when she was 19 and he was 37, after which he signed her to his label and they began a romantic relationship.

Combs has previously vehemently denied all accusations against him.

“Enough is enough,” he said in a December 2023 statement, also on his Instagram page, saying accusers were “looking for a quick payday.”

“For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy.”

On Sunday after the apology video emerged, a second Ventura lawyer responded, saying the Combs message “rings hollow.”

“That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words,” lawyer Meredith Firetog said, according to celebrity website TMZ.

In March armed agents entered Combs’s sprawling luxury properties in Miami and Los Angeles, a heavily publicized bicoastal operation that suggested an investigation into the rapper is underway.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)