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P Diddy's lawyers, in a new allegation, claim that CNN altered the decade-old video of Diddy beating ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, who is facing charges of sex trafficking, abuse, and multiple other illegal activities, is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The music mogul's lawyer has dropped a bombshell, claiming that CNN altered hotel security footage of him physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016.
According to a joint letter from Diddy’s defense and the U.S. Attorney’s office,
"The defense has confirmed, through a forensic video analysis of the CNN footage that the government provided to this Court and of the footage provided by CNN in response to the defense subpoena, that all CNN video footage was substantially altered in significant respects."
The statement to Judge Arun Subramanian further adds,
"This includes covering the time stamp and then changing the video sequence. It also includes speeding up the video to make it falsely appear that the actions in the video are taking place faster than they are. As a result, the CNN videos do not fairly and accurately depict the events in question."
It further continued,
"Finally, the defense has confirmed that 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 even though it knew about and repeatedly reported about the federal investigation."
About the incident and Diddy's arrest
CNN published the initial video that showcased the rapper beating his now ex-girlfriend at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, California, in May 2024, while the incident itself took place on March 5, 2016.
Diddy was arrested on September 16th, 2024, in Manhattan and was accused of multiple rapes, assaults, attacks, threats, and drug-fueled “freak off” sex parties in this criminal case and dozens more civil cases. After pleading not guilty to all the charges against him, he is awaiting trial from May 5th, 2025.
Cassi's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, stated to Page Six in regards to the allegations made by Diddy's team,
"It is not surprising that Combs would make a disingenuous argument to exclude the disturbing video from being shown to the jury in the upcoming trial. I am confident that the video fairly and accurately represents what happened, will be admitted into evidence, and that Combs will be held accountable for his depravity."
As for CNN's response to this whole debacle, though they remained silent in the beginning, a spokesperson from the news outlet later addressed the allegations,
"CNN never altered the video and did not destroy the original copy of the footage, which was retained by the source. CNN aired the story about the video several months before Combs was arrested."
Diddy's representation has yet to comment on this matter.
Combs was arrested in September 2024 for s*x trafficking, prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty and faces a trial set for May, potentially ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment.
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