Cassie has been speaking out, expressing her gratitude for the support she has received following the allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs and the recent release of a video showing Combs assaulting her in 2016.
“The outpouring of love has given me a place of calm and security at a young age, but this is just the beginning,” she said in a statement posted to Instagram on Thursday. “Domestic violence is the problem. It has made me into someone I never thought I would become. I have worked hard and am better now, but healing from the past will always be a struggle.”
She continued, “I've fallen into a person I never thought I'd become. I'm better now thanks to hard work, but I'll always be recovering from the past.”
The horrifying footage from March 5, 2016, obtained and released by CNN last week, shows Combs attacking his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway, kicking and shoving her, dragging her by her sweatshirt and throwing things at her.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office was aware of the footage but said it could not prosecute because of the statute of limitations on assault charges, though it called the video “deeply disturbing.”
In his apology video, Diddy called the time “the darkest” of his life. “I was a mess. I was at rock bottom. But I make no excuses,” he said. “My behavior in that video is inexcusable.”
In a civil lawsuit filed in New York in November, Cassie alleged that she was repeatedly raped and physically abused by Combs over the course of their on-and-off relationship for nearly a decade. The suit, which also names his label, Bad Boy Records, and Sony Music, claims that she was “trapped in a cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking by Mr. Combs.” The suit alleges that Combs repeatedly “punched, punched, kicked and stomped” on her.
Cathy and Combs settled shortly after she filed her lawsuit.
Since the settlement, Combs has faced multiple lawsuits in recent months alleging rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking – all charges he denies.
As news broke yesterday that Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson had sold his documentary series about the Diddy allegations to Netflix, Combs was hit with a new sexual assault lawsuit from former model Crystal McKinney, who claims Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her during Fashion Week in 2003.
In her post on Thursday, Cassie thanked family, friends, fans and strangers for the overwhelming support she's received, and spoke directly to victims of domestic violence.
“All I ask is that everyone be open to believing the victim first,” she wrote. “It takes a lot of courage to tell the truth from a situation where you were powerless.”
She concluded by saying, “My journey of healing is never over, but this support means everything to me.”