Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs abuse allegations: A timeline of key occasions | EUROtoday

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Sean “Diddy” Combs has launched an apology after the discharge of a 2016 video that confirmed him beating his former singing protege and girlfriend Cassie in a Los Angeles lodge.

The video was first aired by CNN on Friday (17 May), six months after singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura filed a lawsuit in opposition to Combs.

Her go well with set off a wave of comparable instances and public allegations in opposition to Combs, some of the influential music moguls of the previous three a long time.

Combs launched an apology for his actions within the clip on Sunday (19 May), calling his personal behaviour “inexcusable” and referring to the incident as “one of the darkest times in [his] life”.

Here’s a take a look at the important thing occasions which have unfolded since late final yr.

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Cassie says in a lawsuit that Combs subjected her to years of abuse, together with beatings and rape. Cassie, whose authorized identify is Cassandra Ventura, signed to Combs’ label in 2005, and the 2 had been on-again-off-again romantic companions for greater than a decade beginning in 2007.

The go well with filed in federal courtroom says Combs was “prone to uncontrollable rage” and subjected her to “savage” beatings. It says he plied her with medication, compelled her to have intercourse with different males, and raped her in her residence as she was making an attempt to finish the connection in 2018. Combs, by way of his lawyer, “vehemently denies” the accusations.

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

With staggering pace, Ventura’s lawsuit is settled the day after it’s filed. The phrases of the settlement are stored confidential. “We have decided to resolve this matter amicably,” Combs says in a statement. “I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.”

NOVEMBER 23, 2023

Two extra girls accuse Combs of sexual abuse in lawsuits filed on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a New York regulation allowing victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil motion whatever the statute of limitations.

The fits, filed by Joi Dickerson and one other girl who was not named, allege acts of sexual assault, beatings and compelled drugging within the early Nineteen Nineties by Combs, then a expertise director, occasion promoter and rising determine in New York City’s hip-hop group. Combs’ attorneys known as the allegations false.

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

Combs briefly steps down as chairman of his cable tv community, Revolt, due to the wave of sexual abuse allegations. It can be one in every of a number of enterprise setbacks for Combs introduced on by the lawsuits.

DECEMBER 6, 2023

A girl alleges in one other lawsuit that in 2003 when she was 17, Combs and two different males raped her. The go well with filed in federal courtroom in Manhattan says she was residing in a Detroit suburb and was flown to a New York studio, the place she was given medication and alcohol that made her incapable of consenting to intercourse, and the boys took turns raping her. Combs says in an announcement that “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

A music producer files a lawsuit alleging Combs sexually assaulted him and forced him to have sex with prostitutes. The suit gives a long list of potentially illegal activities dealing with drugs and sex that the producer says he witnessed. A lawyer for Combs calls the allegations “pure fiction.”

MARCH 25, 2024

Homeland Security Investigations serves search warrants in early morning raids on Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami in what officials tell The Associated Press is a sex-trafficking investigation. Combs was at one of his homes in Miami at the time. His two sons, at his home in Los Angeles, were handcuffed during the search, Combs’ attorneys said. Officials did not say whether the raids were prompted by the civil lawsuits, but Combs’ attorneys said they believed they were.

MARCH 26, 2024

Combs’ lawyer calls the raids “a gross use of military-level force” and says Combs is “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name. The attorney, Aaron Dyer, says there is “no excuse for the extreme present of drive and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way in which his kids and workers had been handled.”

APRIL 4, 2024

A lawsuit that names Combs as a co-defendant alleges that his son Christian “King” Combs sexually assaulted a girl engaged on a yacht chartered by his father. The go well with filed in Los Angeles Superior Court says Sean Combs created the circumstances that led to the assault and paid to cowl it up afterward. An lawyer for the 2 males calls the allegations “outrageous.”

APRIL 26, 2024

In the primary main piece of authorized pushback from Combs and his group, they file a movement to dismiss a number of components of Dickerson’s lawsuit as a result of they weren’t unlawful in 1991 when the alleged incidents occurred. While the authorized objections are procedural, the submitting additionally slams the “numerous false, offensive, and salacious accusations” within the lawsuit.

MAY 10, 2024

Combs asks a federal choose to dismiss the Dec. 6 lawsuit that alleged he and two co-defendants raped a 17-year-old lady from Michigan in a New York recording studio. Again, the objections are procedural – alleging the go well with was filed too late underneath the regulation – however the courtroom doc calls its claims “false and hideous.”

MAY 17, 2024

CNN airs a video that seems to point out Combs attacking Ventura in a lodge hallway in 2016. The video carefully mirrors an assault described in her lawsuit, which mentioned Combs had already punched her that night time, and she or he was making an attempt to depart the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles when he woke and got here after her.

In the footage, a person who seems to be Diddy, sporting solely a towel, punches Ventura, kicks her, and throws her onto the ground. The lawsuit alleges Combs paid $50,000 to remove the video on the time. Combs’ representatives had no fast remark.

MAY 19, 2024

Combs releases an apology video acknowledging the safety footage that exhibits him beating Ventura in a lodge.

In the clip, posted to social media, Combs refers back to the incident as “one of the darkest times in his life”, saying that he was “f***ed up” and is “disgusted by his actions”.

He says he “has asked God for his mercy and grace” however is “not asking for forgiveness”, including that he’s “truly sorry” and that he sought skilled assist and went to remedy and rehab within the aftermath of the 2016 incident.

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The Associated Press does not sometimes identify individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused except they arrive ahead publicly, as these named right here have.