Cassie has broken her silence and opened up about the footage of her ex-partner – rap mogul Diddy – attacking her in 2016.
Diddy – real name Sean Combs – is currently facing a series of ongoing investigations regarding alleged sex trafficking, sexual assault and harassment. The rapper’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided in March, seemingly in connection with the accusations.
Last week (March 17), footage of the rapper from 2016 appeared to show the rapper beating his former partner, singer Cassie, and throwing an unidentified object at her from a nearby table. It was published by CNN.
The footage aligns with testimony Cassie gave in a lawsuit filed against the rap mogul, in which she claimed Diddy “became extremely intoxicated and punched [her] in the face” at the hotel, then followed her into the hallway and threw glass vases at her after she tried to leave when he was asleep.
Diddy has since apologised for his “inexcusable” behaviour in the video allegedly showing him attacking Cassie.
Now, the ‘Me & U’ singer has broken her silence about the publication of the 2016 footage. In a statement shared to her official Instagram account, the singer wrote: “Thank you for all of the love and support from my family, friends, strangers, and those I have yet to meet. The outpouring of love has created a place for my younger self to settle and feel safe now. But this is only the beginning.”
She continued: “Domestic violence is THE issue. It broke me down to someone I never thought I would become. With a lot of hard work, I am better today, but I will always be recovering from my past.
“Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to take this matter seriously. My only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims the first time, it takes a lot of heart to tell the truth out of a situation that you were powerless in.”
“I offer my hand to those that are still living in fear. Reach out to your people, don’t cut them off, no one should carry this weight alone,” she added. “This healing journey is never-ending, but this support means everything to me. Thank you. Love always, Cassie.”
In his apology video, Diddy shared that he “has asked God for his mercy and grace” but is “not asking for forgiveness”. He added that he is “truly sorry” and revealed that he allegedly sought professional help and went to both therapy and rehab following the 2016 incident.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” he said. ”I was fucked up – I hit rock bottom – but I make no excuses. My behaviour on that video is inexcusable.”
Elsewhere, Alex Fine – Cassie’s husband – recently penned a message to the rap mogul following the assault video.
His open letter, in solidarity with his wife, condemned violence against women and girls writing: “Men who hit women aren’t men. Men who enable it and protect those people aren’t men.”
In other news, 50 Cent has claimed that Netflix has picked up his docuseries about Diddy, with the streaming giant winning “the bidding war”.
Back in March, 50 Cent confirmed that a documentary on the sexual assault allegations surrounding Combs is to be released, titled Diddy Do It?
Diddy has been recently accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a former model.
The post Cassie breaks silence after Diddy attack video emerged: “Open your heart to believing victims the first time” appeared first on NME.
