Sean Combs’ 2016 ‘Assault on Cassie’ ‘Off Schedule’ Is Indictable, Says Los Angeles Prosecutor

Sean Combs, the rapper and producer known as P. Diddy, cannot be charged with physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016, the Los Angeles District Attorney said Friday, because the statute of limitations has expired.

“If the conduct described had occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would not have been able to bring charges because it would have occurred after the time frame for prosecuting the offense of assault,” the prosecutor’s office explained in a statement posted on Instagram.

A 2016 hotel surveillance video obtained and published Friday by CNN shows a woman who appears to be Ventura quickly walking barefoot down a hotel hallway, pursued by Combs, who was wearing a towel and socks.

After catching up with her, Combs grabbed the woman by the neck and head, threw her to the ground and kicked her twice before trying to drag her back down the hall.

The Los Angeles attorney’s office called the clip “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch” and noted that as of Friday, city and county law enforcement had not further prosecuted the attack.

“We encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness of a crime to report it to law enforcement or contact our office for support from the Office of Victim Services,” the office added.

See the full statement below:

On Friday, Ventura’s husband, Alex Fine, addressed the matter in an Instagram statement he wrote earlier, but shared it because “these words ring true not only today, but every day.”

“Men who beat women are not men. The men who enable this and protect these people are not men. As men, violence against women should not be inevitable, check your brothers, friends and family” – Fine Wrote. “Our daughters, sisters, mothers and wives should feel protected and loved.”

Later in the message, Fine wrote: “To the perpetrators: you are done, you are no longer safe, you are no longer protected, the men by your side are equally weak, you are so unhappy with yourself that death would be considered kindness.”

In March, four women, including Ventura, accused Combs of sexual and physical harassment. Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones also made similar allegations against Combs in his own lawsuit filed in February. Federal agents then raided two of the tycoon’s homes as part of a sex trafficking investigation.

Ventura and Combs met in 2005, after the rapper heard the then-20-year-old’s song “Me & U” and offered her a 10-album deal with Bad Boy Records. Her self-titled album was released three years later, by which time the couple was in a relationship.

Comes was first accused of molestation by ex-girlfriend Gina Huynh in 2019. In an interview with Tasha K, Huynh said Combs was physically abusive and offered to pay for her abortion. She said he once “stopped on my stomach really hard, like he knocked the wind out of me.”