Sean “Diddy” Combs, the embattled hip-hop mogul arrested last year, has accused CNN of destroying critical evidence ahead of his upcoming trial. In a bombshell letter filed by his attorneys last week, the rapper claims the media giant purchased and subsequently destroyed the only known copy of a hotel surveillance video that captured him physically assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in 2016.
The footage, which surfaced online in May 2024, shows Diddy chasing Ventura down a hallway at the now-closed Los Angeles InterContinental Hotel, beating her, and dragging her back to his room by her hair while clad only in a bath towel. Initially, Diddy denied Ventura’s account of the incident, but he issued an apology after the video emerged. Now, his legal team alleges that CNN not only acquired the sole physical copy of the tape but also altered it using free editing software before destroying the original, despite being aware of an ongoing federal investigation.
According to the Daily Caller, Diddy’s attorneys wrote, “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.” They claim the network manipulated the video by obscuring the timestamp, resequencing the events, and speeding it up to exaggerate the pace of the assault, rendering it an inaccurate depiction of what occurred. Sources told TMZ that no other copies of the physical tape are known to exist, though the footage remains widely available online.
Diddy’s defense has moved to block the video from being used at trial, arguing that its integrity has been compromised. Prosecutors, however, intend to leverage the footage not to charge him directly for the assault but to illustrate a pattern of violent behavior toward women. Complicating matters, the presiding judge is expected to require a physical copy of the video for it to be admissible in court—a requirement that CNN’s alleged destruction could thwart, potentially undermining the prosecution’s case.
This development comes amid broader legal woes for Diddy. In September, the U.S. Department of Justice charged him with s-x trafficking, racketeering, and prostitution-related offenses, alleging that from 2008 onward, he orchestrated a criminal enterprise involving coerced acts at so-called “freak off” parties in his Beverly Hills mansion. As the trial looms, the controversy over CNN’s handling of the video adds yet another layer of intrigue to an already high-profile case.
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