When Kathy Ventura sued her ex-boyfriend and manager Sean “Diddy” Combs in November, she said she had “endured over a decade of violent behavior from him,” including rape and rape. , which included punching, punching, kicking, and stomping her. Combs, an influential music mogul, settled with Ventura the next day for an undisclosed amount, but maintained her innocence and essentially accused her ex-lover of lying.
The settlement announcement was accompanied by a statement from Ben Brafman, Combs’ attorney: Combs’ decision to settle the case in no way detracts from his blanket denial of the claims. He is pleased that a mutual settlement has been reached and wishes Mr. Ventura the best of luck. ”
CNN on Friday released incriminating security video taken in a hotel hallway in 2016 that shows Combs violently assaulting Ventura, his then-girlfriend, with his hands and feet.
It’s unclear how CNN obtained this video or why it took eight years to release it, but it shows Combs to be an abuser and a liar. What Ventura said he did to her in that incident is no longer just an allegation. Nor should it be classified as a ploy to tarnish the image of an ex-lover. He harmed Ventura on at least one occasion, and her claims are even more believable given the escalating nature of the domestic violence and the fact that the video corroborates the specific incident that Ventura highlighted in her lawsuit. Become something.
Combs is now in full damage control mode, issuing a weak apology on Instagram in which he emphasizes his “rehabilitation” rather than the trauma he inflicted.
“It’s very difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you have to,” Combs said. “I was fed up. I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My actions in that video are inexcusable. I take full responsibility for this.”
Before apologizing to the public rather than Ventura himself, Combs said he went to therapy, went to a rehab facility and sought the help of a higher power to right his wrongs. “I am truly sorry,” he continued. “But I am dedicated to becoming a better person every day.”
Kathy’s attorney, Meredith Firetog, said in a statement Sunday that Combs’ video is “more about himself than the many people he hurt.”
“When Kathy and several other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested the victims were looking for a payday,” Firetog said. “The fact that he was forced to ‘apologize’ for the first time after his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation and leaves no one shaken by his dishonest words. There will be no one there.”
Instead of using this post to apologize for his terrible behavior to the women and children he abused, four of them young girls, Combs seemed more interested in getting his career back. He has once again failed on the stage of success, and seems more concerned about his public image than his private life.
But the walls seem to be closing in on Combs. Ventura sued him in November, and though the case was quickly settled, more lawsuits have followed. Two other women, Lisa Gardner and Joie Dickerson-Neal, have also sued, alleging that Combs sexually assaulted them. And a woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe said Combs and two other men gang-raped her when she was 17 and Combs was 34.
“For the past few weeks, I have sat silently as people assassinated my character and attempted to destroy my reputation and legacy,” Combs wrote in a Dec. 6 Instagram post. wrote. He called the allegations against him “disgusting” and said, “To be clear, I have done nothing as egregious as the allegations are.”
In February, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, the producer of Combs’ latest album, filed a lawsuit against Combs, accusing him of sexual harassment, drugging and intimidation. “We will address these outlandish allegations in court and take all appropriate action against those who made these allegations,” Combs’ attorney said of Jones’ lawsuit.
In March, Homeland Security Investigations’ New York office searched two of Combs’ homes, one in Los Angeles and one in Miami. (He has not been charged with any crime related to the raid, and his lawyer’s statement said the raid was a “terrible military-grade use of force” and that Combs “is innocent and will continue to fight for his honor.”) ) CNN’s release of the security tapes on Friday was another crack in Combs’ once-seemingly impenetrable armor.
Whatever happens next for Combs, whether it be indictment, deplatforming, or settlement of lawsuits with other accusers, will aid and abet Combs and help him gain wealth and power in society. The question of what to do with the entertainment industry, the industry that has become so popular, will remain. The cost of the women in his orbit?
For more than 30 years, Combs has been an influential and sometimes ubiquitous figure in black music and culture as a whole. At times, it seemed inevitable and a great example of how far hip-hop had come, but there have long been complaints that it exploited contracted artists. Finally, there were also allegations of even worse exploitation and abuse. Yet, as a culture, we supported him. He bought his albums, bought clothes from Sean John’s line, went to concerts, and paid little attention when former artists accused him of cheating.
(According to Billboard, last year Combs finally “returned publishing rights to all the artists and songwriters who helped build the label he founded, Bad Boy Entertainment.”)
We have collectively stood by Combs through multiple rebrandings, name changes, and even a 1999 trial related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting that resulted in an acquittal. We have reveled in Combs’ lavish lifestyle and held him up as an example of “black excellence” who turned nothing into something.
This is the same protection given to other violent entertainers such as Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly. Multiple women have accused Russell Simmons, arguably the hip-hop mogul and arbiter of hip-hop morality, of sexual misconduct, including raping them. (In February, after a woman filed a lawsuit alleging that Simmons raped her in the late 1990s, Simmons said in a statement, “I have never engaged in nonconsensual sex.”) “I do I had no intention of doing so, and I never will.”
Bill Cosby, the famous abuser who said he picked on women he pursued for sex; Miles Davis, who beat his wife; or Miles Davis, who admitted to abuse but made “many allegations” of physical and emotional abuse. Is it Shia LeBoeuf who mentioned it? What her ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs claimed in an unresolved lawsuit is ‘not true’ – people trying to hold such men accountable are focused on bringing down good men. , are often treated as organized detractors.
We need a world where survivors and abusers don’t need video evidence to believe they will be held accountable the first time, and there are no second, third, or fourth times. In this world, Ventura’s trauma wouldn’t need to be played on loop on TV screens and the internet before he received kind words from other celebrities. She would not have been attacked if she had sued him in civil court and sought her monetary damages. Such a request would be seen as a worthy form of justice.
It is not hysterical to suggest that it is time to burn down the entertainment industry and rebuild from its ashes an abuse-free, safer, and fairer industry. In fact, it transcends time. Survivors, including Ventura, are counting on it, and it is up to us to protect them, hold the line for them, and not accept Instagram apologies in lieu of actual accountability and behavior change. It remains a collective responsibility. There are many lessons we should heed from Combs’ ability to shirk responsibility, but there is one that particularly resonates with me today. That is, no matter how much wealth, fame, or power a person acquires, there is no way to avoid karma.
This article originally appeared on MSNBC.com
