Rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs has finally apologized after a leaked hotel surveillance video showed him brutally beating his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura in 2016.
The rapper had denied allegations of abuse before the leaked video surfaced.
Combs is the subject of multiple civil cases, alleging that he is a violent sexual predator who uses drink and narcotics to sedate his victims, and federal officials searched his properties this year.
The disturbing film released on Friday shows Combs beating Ventura, a singer and model also known as Cassie, verifying charges she made in a now-settled lawsuit late last year.
"My behavior on that video is inexcusable," Combs said in a video posted on Instagram, adding he was "disgusted" and "sought out professional help" after the incident, including therapy and rehab.
"I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm committed to be a better man each and every day."
In the footage originally published by CNN, Cassie is seen leaving the hotel room and heading to the lift, looking disheveled without her shoes on; moments later, diddy comes running towards her with a towel wrapped around his waist. The rapper proceeds to brutally beat Cassie, stomping on her head while she is down and then drags her back to the hotel room.
In a recent lawsuit, Cassie said Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs, plus a 2018 rape.
"The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs," read a statement from her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor.
Ventura sued Combs in federal court last October in a bombshell action that was resolved out of court but was followed by a succession of equally lurid sexual assault allegations against the rapper.
