Diddy’s Bad Behavior & Public Perception Explained

[Source: Court TV]

Celebrity lawyer Christopher C. Melcher, who is ranked as a best family law attorney in California, discusses Diddy‘s bad behavior and public perception on Court TV.

Reporter: Dennis Byron is back with us. A celebrity photographer, been covering P. Diddy for 30 years. He’s been many different names, Dennis, over the years, but talk about the difference between his interaction with the criminal justice system now versus when you covered him with the gun possession charge many decades ago. What’s the difference in how the public is perceiving him then versus now?

Diddy’s Public Perception

Dennis Byron: Well, now he hasn’t been charged. Then he was charged, he was prosecuted and he was found not guilty. He didn’t take the stand in that case, Sean was ultimately convicted of the shooting. In this case, you have a lot of people coming forward. You have a lot of people making allegations about Puff. This is going to be a problem because with the settlement with Cassie and you have multiple lawsuits are just popping up left and right and you have people that have been saying things behind the scenes for years, now, he can’t really settle any more cases at this point. He has to fight this. At this point, he has to fight this, his legacy. I mean, he’s an icon. He has to fight this and he has the resources and I think that like Attorney Greenberg stated, there people are coming in and some of these losses could be frivolous. We don’t know this, but I want to give a guy… Even though this video with him beating up Cassie is very bad and I’m very disappointed and he’s totally responsible for that. Totally. But I’d still want to see all the evidence. I don’t want to just rush the judge. I don’t want to do that.

Reporter:

Dennis, do you think that’s it? Do you think the fame of Cassie and the video that backed up some of the allegations that she made in the lawsuit are why the public are reacting so negatively to him this time around when we know that the accusations with the gun charges, where, like you said, there was an actual charge, didn’t seem to impact his career negatively in the way that it is now?

Dennis Byron:

We didn’t have social media back then either. We didn’t have heavy social media. We didn’t have Instagram, we didn’t have Twitter. We didn’t have a lot of the social media platforms, and it’s pushing the message out there. I mean, then you’d have case in New York, no cameras, essentially you had to go in there and just take notes. Now you have people can get on social media and say anything, anything. And the other problem with this is the potential jurors pools are watching this, and I don’t know if you can get a fair trial in America because I mean, everyone’s talking about Diddy. I mean, this is even bigger than R. Kelly. If we want to be honest, this is even bigger than R. Kelly’s case because this guy’s the mogul.

How Diddy Abused Cassie Ventura

Julie Grant: Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura met Combs when she was 19 years old. That’s when she says she was lured into his fast paced drug fueled lifestyle. Combs signed her his record label in 2005 when he was 37 years old. In the federal lawsuit filed in New York, Ventura alleges more than a decade of abuse during their relationship. She claims Combs drugged and savagely beat her and forced her to have sex with male prostitutes. She also says toward the end of their relationship in 2018, he raped her.

Reporter:

That was a listen to one of the lawsuits that was filed against Combs by his ex-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura. Now that suit has been settled out of court, but her suit gave us the first insight into this nefarious world, Diddy’s world, according to his accuser and alleged crimes. We also got to see firsthand the abuse of Ventura that she suffered at the hands of the music mogul. CNN exclusively obtained video from inside a Los Angeles hotel showing a violent attack on Ventura.

New surveillance footage obtained exclusively by CNN appears to corroborate some of the allegations of abuse against music mogul, Sean Diddy Combs. The video captured on multiple cameras shows Combs assaulting his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hallway at a Los Angeles hotel in March, 2016. A lawsuit filed by Ventura in November last year and settled the next day reference actions that seem to match those seen in this video, there is no audio. According to the complaint, Combs became extremely intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura in the face giving her a black eye, which according to the lawsuit, prompted Ventura to try and leave the hotel room. The surveillance video obtained by CNN begins as she enters the hallway. The complaint says, as she exited, Mr. Combs awoke and began screaming at Ms. Ventura. He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her. The complaint goes on to say he grabbed her and then took glass vases on the hallway and threw them at her.

In the surveillance video, Combs can be seen grabbing Ventura and throwing her to the ground. As Ventura lies on the ground, Combs then kicks her twice and attempts to drag her on the floor back to the hotel room. Ventura is seen picking up a hotel phone. Combs seems to walk back to the hotel room, then returns and appears to shove her in a corner. Moments later, he can be seen throwing an object in her direction. According to Ventura’s now settled lawsuit, the pair began dating several years after they met in 2005. They parted ways in 2019. Combs’ attorney said the decision to settle was in no way an admission of wrongdoing. Ventura declined to comment on the video, but her attorney told CNN the gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs. Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light. The video hasn’t been seen publicly before and comes on the heels of a series of civil lawsuits alleging Combs’ involvement in sex trafficking and sexual abuse, allegations Combs has repeatedly denied. In a December, 2023 statement, Combs responded to the claims and all the lawsuits saying, “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear, I did not do any of the awful things being alleged.”

Still with us, Dennis Byron and Chris Melcher, partner of Walzer Melcher & Yoda LLP which is ranked as a best family law firm in California, as we break down the latest allegations, but also looking back at some of the other allegations against P. Diddy Combs. Let me start with you, Dennis, in following his career for 30 years, this horrible video that was released by CNN, it happened in 2016. Can you talk about what happened in his career following 2016 and how if this had been released then it may have changed things. I mean, this is someone who really has just risen in the world of hip hop, but even beyond that, and he got a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022 from BET.

Diddy’s Video of Abusing Cassie

Dennis Byron: The problem is no one’s seen this video, and if someone had seen this video prior to him getting that award, he wouldn’t have received the award. You have to also know that there have been a lot of people around Puffy over the years, and none of them have come out to defend him with the exception of maybe one or two people. And that’s pretty telling because he’s invited some of the who’s who and entertainment to his parties. When I say the “who’s who, “I photograph some of the biggest names at his parties, and I haven’t seen none of them come out to say, “Hey, this is not this guy.” And it is very troubling, and I think that if this case gets indicted and they bring this video out, it’s going to be problematic. And they had less, in my opinion, they didn’t have this kind of visual in the other cases I covered like R. Kelly, they didn’t have this type of stuff. They didn’t have this type of stuff.

Reporter:

That’s true.

Dennis Byron:

And that’s the problem.

Reporter: We were both there, Dennis, we were on the ground in New York for that R. Kelly trial. They did not have a video like this that they let us see. They did have some audio recordings that never got released to the public because they were too explicit. But for this to already be circulating does make a big difference. Can I follow up real quick with you, Dennis, and ask you if you’re surprised in covering trials that impact those who are in the hip hop industry? Are you surprised that more high names, heavy hitters, haven’t come forward to defend Diddy?

No Celebrities Are Defending Diddy

Dennis Byron:

I would say not so surprised. No one wants to really attach their brand to his brand because his brand is crumbling right now. So I don’t think anyone wants to really… The big names, and they have four big names in hip hop and only one of them has been pretty vocal and they’re pretty much been on Diddy’s neck, so to speak. And I’ll just say 50 Cent has given Diddy some hell right now. And I can say that because 50’s been very vocal about how he sees this. And I don’t think anyone of notoriety is going to attach their name to his brand right now. His empire is crumbling, so I don’t see it happening. And now the jury pool has seen this video. Again, I don’t know if he’s going be able to come out this with clean hands.

Reporter:

Chris, if you’re an entertainment lawyer representing P. Diddy, I know he’s likely got an entertainment lawyer or a criminal defense attorney, everyone’s standing by right now, what are you advising him? What does he do while the world is watching these lawsuits, watching this video, and there’s no charge at this point, but everyone is expecting an indictment soon?

Chris Melcher:

Well, this is always difficult for a celebrity because all of these headlines, all of this media coverage, and he really needs to be careful because he likely will be indicted, but he also can’t defend himself really against these things. I think that the prior denials that his attorney has made and then he himself has made that you displayed earlier, really are coming back to haunt him because they’re not credible. And even with Ms. Ventura’s suit, there was an immediate denial by his attorney saying that this was some kind of shakedown or payday and obviously was nothing like that. So obviously anything he says has to be truthful, but also to avoid omissions. So he can have surrogates or other people going out there and trying to talk up his good character, talk about this being an isolated incident, that this is part some criminal enterprise, but this is very difficult and I think that that groundwork is going to need to be done in these coming weeks here. Now that the Ventura video has been out there, everybody’s seen it, we’ve kind of been able to process that a bit, now, I think is the time to come out there and try and rehabilitate his image.

Reporter:

Yeah, let’s talk about that because he did put that one video out. We have it. It’s no longer on Instagram, but it is something that he did put on Instagram not too long after this video emerged.

Diddy’s Insincere Apology Video

Sean Combs: It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life. Sometimes you got to do that. I was… Up. I mean, I hit rock bottom, but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I’m disgusted now.

Reporter:

Chris, to you again. Do you think there needs to be more like this? And also a second question to that is you’ve got these victims writing these lawsuits with trigger warnings on the top saying that they couldn’t speak out then, they feel more empowered to speak out now, do you think there’s going to be any change brought about now that everything is out in the open and he is forced to apologize for at least this part of it that’s on video?

Chris Melcher:

Well, his approach there in that video was awful. And he knew what he did when he did it. All this time had gone by and he had denied it and accused her of trying to shake him down. And so really what he was upset about is that he got caught. And that’s my takeaway from this video, was insincere. This is not the kind of thing that he should be doing. Why was he so upset about it now? Why wasn’t he upset immediately after it happened? So he has to be, again, very, very careful. I think that that was not a good look. And obviously he’s got to take responsibility for his actions, but also do it in a way that’s sincere and I really don’t think that that landed. And then we have, as we’ve mentioned earlier, all these other lawsuits coming out there and we don’t know because we weren’t witnesses to these things, did he abuse them also or are they just piling on for a payday?

Reporter:

Dennis, we have to go in just a moment, but can you say whether you think there has been a change now in the music industry because of the prosecution of R. Kelly and now pending indictment potentially of Sean Diddy Combs?

Dennis Byron:

I don’t know so much of a change, but I think there are people that are shaking in their boots right now because they’re… I can’t say too much now, but there’s some things that may be also coming down the pipeline as it relates to others. So I think that especially the executives are running these labels, they’re telling their artists that “We’re not going to stand behind you. We’re not going to back you up if you are out there doing crazy stuff.” So hopefully this is a wake up call for the other artists that are rising to the top of the game.