Rapper-actor 50 Cent, pop singer Aubrey O’Day, and other celebrities have criticized music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs after he released a video apologizing for leaked surveillance footage showing him assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
Last week, Diddy faced significant backlash when surveillance video showed him brutally attacking Ventura in a hotel. On Sunday, he released an apology video and took full responsibility.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted.”
Diddy said he sought “professional help” after assaulting Ventura and “started going to therapy and rehab [and] had to ask god for his mercy and grace.”
Notably, Diddy did not specifically apologize to Ventura, who later sued him for abuse, rape and other offenses in November of last year.
A 2016 surveillance video obtained by CNN shows Sean “Diddy” Combs violently grab, shove, drag, and kick his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura during an altercation in a hotel in California. https://t.co/JrnJhWOaQt pic.twitter.com/xeRBtoGBDV
— CNN (@CNN) May 17, 2024
Despite the apology, Diddy’s critics were vocal, with Aubrey O’Day stating he only apologized for getting caught. She also noted that he previously claimed people accusing him of abuse were looking for a payday.
“Diddy did not apologize to Cassie. He apologized to the world for seeing what he did. He says he’s ‘disgusted w himself now, and he was disgusted w himself then’… but apparently he wasn’t disgusted enough w himself to not PIN this statement out calling her a liar & denying all of it.. leave god and mercy out of this, they aren’t present here, and you know it,” she said.
twitter.com/AubreyODay
In an Instagram post, rapper 50 Cent said, “This is not going to work, who is advising him right now? SMH bad move.”
Cassie Ventura’s lawyers also denounced Diddy in a statement on Sunday.
“Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt,” said Meredith Firetog, a partner at Wigdor LLP, the legal firm representing Ventura.
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday,” she continued. “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.”
