Sean “Diddy” Combs’ world began unraveling last November when Cassie Ventura, known artistically as Cassie, filed an extremely detailed lawsuit alleging years of mental, emotional, and physical abuse, including rape and sex trafficking. Diddy quickly settled with Cassie but maintained his innocence, and several more women have filed lawsuits alleging similar behavior. On May 17, CNN obtained and released video showing Diddy physically assaulting Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016, aligning with an allegation in Cassie’s lawsuit.
Most recently, Rolling Stone published a Diddy exposé, and Voletta Wallace, the late The Notorious B.I.G.’s mother, felt compelled to speak to Rolling Stone about it all.
“I’m sick to my stomach,” Wallace told the publication, in reference to learning about Diddy’s alleged years-long depravity. “I’m praying for Cassie. I’m praying for his mother. I don’t want to believe the things that I’ve heard, but I’ve seen [the hotel video]. I pray that he apologizes to her.”
Wallace added, “I hope that I see Sean one day, and the only thing I want to do is slap the daylights out of him. And you can quote me on that. Because I liked him. I didn’t want to believe all the awful things, but I’m so ashamed and embarrassed.”
The Rolling Stone report by Cheyenne Roundtree and Nancy Dillon surfaced even more concerning alleged behavior dating back to the 1980s, including new Biggie-related details, as summarized by Rolling Stone‘s Roundtree and Jason Newman below:
“Rolling Stone‘s investigation into Combs documented a pattern of alleged abuse dating back to Combs’ time at Howard University in the late 1980s. Early Bad Boy staffers, associates and industry sources also recalled how Biggie viewed his label boss as a ‘corny executive’ and was on the verge of leaving Bad Boy before his murder in 1997. Combs capitalized on the shock and sorrow over his star artist’s death, sources say, pushing his team to ensure Biggie’s upcoming album, Life After Death would top the charts and allegedly dismissing discussions to put Biggie on the cover of Rolling Stone.
Bad Boy’s co-founding partner and president Kirk Burrowes told Rolling Stone that he advocated for the late rapper to get the cover. ‘I was telling Sean, ‘Let’s make it Biggie. You still have a chance [for a cover in the future],” Burrowes recalled. ‘He’s like ‘No, he’s dead. I’m putting out [Combs’ debut album, No Way Out] in July. I need to be on the cover of Rolling Stone.’” (Voletta Wallace declined to comment on the anecdote.)”
Following CNN’s release of the 2016 hotel security footage, Diddy posted a video in which he issued a lackluster apology but didn’t mention Cassie by name.
“We are aware of the video that has been circulating online allegedly depicting Sean Combs assaulting a young woman in Los Angeles,” the Los Angeles Police Department stated on May 20. “We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch. If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.”
Cassie released her first public statement on May 23.