- Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant Suzi Siegel claimed there was “not a cell in my body that was surprised” by Casanda “Cassie” Ventura’s lawsuit against the music mogul in November or the recently released video of her physically assaulting her ex
- “I’d say I’ve been around him a lot and I’ve gotten a sense of who he is,” Siegel told the publication.
- Combs and Ventura reached a settlement a day after she accused him of rape, sex trafficking and domestic violence in a November lawsuit
Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former assistant says that while she “never” saw him be abusive to Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in public during her time working for him, “there was not one cell in my body that was surprised” Ventura’s November lawsuit against Combs or the recently released 2016 video of him assaulting her at a hotel.
Suzi Siegel, who worked as Diddy’s assistant from 2008 to 2009, told CNN that she “never saw him talk down to her or insult her or anything like that,” adding that she felt “sick and violently angry ” due to recent events.
As previously reported, surveillance footage released by CNN on Friday, May 17 shows Combs grabbing, pushing and kicking his ex-girlfriend in 2016. The footage matches the allegations Ventura made in a now-settled lawsuit filed last November.
“I’ve ridden in limos with them, I’ve gone to parties with them. I guess I would say that while I’ve never seen anything that would corroborate what’s in that lawsuit and what we’ve just seen, there was none in my body cell that was surprised,” Siegel said.
Los Angeles District Attorney ‘Unable’ to Charge Diddy in Cassie Video Attack Because of the Time It Happened
“I would say that I was with him a lot and that I got a sense of who he is,” she added. “I didn’t see anything that could get him in trouble. But I think so [there’s a] power dynamics in such a situation — especially her, at the beginning of her career, so young, beautiful and talented.”
Siegel, who said she worked for Combs at the beginning of his relationship with Ventura (the couple began dating in 2007), added that she was not personally abused by him. “I haven’t seen that evidence,” she said.
“Obviously I saw it with the rest of America today. But when I saw it, I knew it was something he could be capable of,” the rapper’s former assistant continued.
Cassie and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
Kevin Mazur/Getty
A timeline of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sexual assault allegations and lawsuits
Ventura’s attorney, Douglas H. Wigdor, shared in a statement obtained by PEOPLE on Friday that the “horrifying video” showing Combs kicking and dragging his client “only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs.”
“Words cannot express the courage and strength Ms. Ventura showed in coming forward to bring this to light,” he added.
A representative for Diddy did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Friday.
In a statement shared on social media, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office wrote that it was “unable to” charge Combs with crimes related to the video, as it was taken “outside the time frame in which felony assault can be prosecuted,” calling the footage “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch.”
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“If the conduct described had occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would not have been able to press charges because the conduct would have occurred outside the time frame in which the offense of assault can be prosecuted,” according to a statement released Friday.
“As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the assault depicted in the video against Mr. Combs,” the statement continued. “But we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to the police or contact our Office of Victim Services support.”
Combs and Ventura reached a settlement a day after she accused him of rape, human trafficking for sexual exploitation and domestic violence in her November lawsuit. Ben Brafman, Combs’ attorney, later told PEOPLE that the settlement is “in no way an admission of wrongdoing.”
After the lawsuit was filed, more people came forward accusing Combs of crimes including sex trafficking and rape — all of which he denied.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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Source: HIS Education