Cassie breaks silence after video showed Diddy attacking her in hotel
Cassie has broken her silence after video emerged of her ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking her in a hotel hallway.
The model and singer, 37, said she would “always be recovering from my past” and urged her followers on Instagram to “open your heart to believing victims the first time”.
It comes after footage obtained by CNN earlier this week showed her being punched and kicked in a hotel hallway in Los Angeles by rapper and record executive Combs.
The CCTV footage from 5 March 2016 shows Combs wearing only a white towel as he beats his then girlfriend and protege.
Pic: CNN via AP
The R&B artist, who was in relationship with Combs between 2007 to 2018, said on Thursday: “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.
“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.”
Cassie and Combs pictured together in 2015. Pic: Reuters
She added: “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.
“This healing journey is never-ending, but this support means everything to me. Thank you. Love always, Cassie.”
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‘Diddy’ apologises after assault video
Earlier this week, Combs – also known as P Diddy and Puff Daddy – said the CCTV footage was “inexcusable” and that he was “disgusted”.
The footage also shows the rapper shoving and dragging the singer – real name Casandra Ventura – and throwing a vase in her direction.
Read more: Accusations against P Diddy
It followed raids on the 54-year-old’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami by Homeland Security Investigations agents on 25 March, as he faced a series of public allegations of physical and sexual violence.
Raids on the rapper‘s properties were part of an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York.
According to Sky’s US partner network NBC News, three women and a man were interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to the probe.
The investigation includes further claims of sexual assault, solicitation, and distribution of illegal drugs and firearms.
Combs has denied all the allegations.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The record executive has also recently faced several lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct and other wrongdoing.
In February, a music producer alleged Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.
Combs’s lawyer responded by saying: “We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies.”
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Read more about Taylor Swift:
Swift’s final London show was the ‘best’
The impact of the ‘excruciating’ Era’s tour
Her new chart record
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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