Jury will be shown footage of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs physically assaulting Cassie Ventura, judge rules

By Nicki Brown and Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN

(CNN) — Footage of Sean “Diddy” Combs physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, will be shown to the jury in his criminal sex trafficking trial, which is scheduled to begin next month.

After numerous attempts to exclude the 2016 hotel footage, which was first reported on by CNN, the judge denied the Combs’ attorneys requests to eject the damning footage at a hearing on Friday.

Despite numerous attempts to exclude the footage from evidence, Combs previously admitted in May 2024 to physically assaulting Ventura. After CNN released the video, Combs posted an apology on his Instagram account, saying, “My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.”

In its attempt to exclude the 2016 footage, Combs’ defense team had claimed it was inaccurate.

“We can eliminate at least many of the defense’s concerns through technology,” Judge Arun Subramanian said Friday. Prosecutors said at the court appearance they had a video expert working on adjusting some of the footage.

“CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source,” a spokesperson for CNN said in a statement last month. “CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested.”

CNN has reached out to Ventura’s attorney for comment regarding the footage being allowed in federal court.

Combs and Ventura settled a civil lawsuit in which she alleged years of abuse by Combs in November 2023. He has been accused of sexual assault in dozens of civil lawsuits since that time. Combs has denied all the allegations.

In his federal criminal case, Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. He is currently being held at a federal detention center in New York City as he awaits trial. Jury selection will begin on May 5, with opening statements expected to begin May 12.

At the hearing Friday, Assistant US Attorney Madison Smyser informed the judge that Combs had rejected a plea deal offered by prosecutors, though no further details on what the plea deal entailed were revealed.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.