By Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Singer Cassie Ventura, ex-girlfriend of rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, on Thursday publicly thanked the people who supported her after the release of a 2016 surveillance video that appeared to show him assaulting her at a Los Angeles hotel.
“Thank you for all of the love and support from my family, friends, strangers and those I have yet to meet,” the “Me & U” vocalist wrote in a post on Instagram.
“Domestic Violence is THE issue. It broke me down to someone I never thought I would become,” she added.
Combs posted an apology on social media on Sunday, two days after the video was released on CNN.
“I’m truly sorry,” he said in a video post on his Instagram page. “My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”
In the surveillance video, the rapper appears to grab Ventura as she waits by an elevator at the hotel.
Ventura wrote that she is better now but will always be recovering from her past.
“My only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims for the first time. It takes a lot of heart to tell the truth out of a situation that you were powerless in,” she wrote.
She urged people to never bear burdens alone and said her “healing journey” would never end even with support.
Other women in the industry, most notably other Black women, added comments of support on the 37-year-old singer’s post.
“The Color Purple” actor Taraji P. Henson sent a message with hearts and prayer hands, while fellow vocalist Chloe Bailey wrote “we love you so much Cassie.”
Ventura sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of serial physical abuse, sexual slavery and rape during a 10-year relationship. The lawsuit said he controlled her through intimidation, drugs and alcohol.
The parties settled the matter the following day for undisclosed terms. Representatives for Combs said at the time the settlement was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
Attorney Meredith Firetog, who represented Ventura, said Combs’ apology on Sunday does not vindicate him.
(Reporting by Danielle Broadway; Editing by Mary Milliken and Andrew Heavens)
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