As Sean “Diddy” Combs awaits trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Stevie J says he was as surprised as everyone else about the alleged evidence against him. He weighed in on the rapper’s reputation and reacted to the Cassie assault video.
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According to XXL Mag, Stevie J recently sat down with TMZ for their multi-part series documenting Diddy’s case. As a longtime friend and collaborator of Combs, Stevie has insight into the Bad Boy founder’s lifestyle. In the interview, he addressed the allegations that Diddy is facing and the evidence presented.
As BOSSIP reported, CNN released surveillance footage of Diddy physically assaulting Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura. This video is key evidence in the case against him, but Stevie is still shocked by it.
“It really threw me for a loop,” he revealed. “I always think about and talk about things I know to be true about Sean Combs.”
The former Love & Hip Hop star also stated that when the footage was released, he spoke with Combs about it as he was surprised to know Diddy could assault a woman.
“After I saw the video, I went and saw him in Miami and we had a conversation. And I let him know how affected I was by that. I didn’t know he had that in him to do that,” he stated.
You may recall Diddy responded to the release of the footage in an Instagram video.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy said in his video. “I was f**ked up—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,” he continued. “I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace.”
However, the video was later deleted. Still, Stevie says he was hurt by the video and was in a dark place in his life.
“I just know that he was in a dark place in his life, as he described to me,” Stevie J stated. “He was just doing a lot of drugs and it was just dark for him.”
Diddy Says His Relationship With Cassie Was Toxic
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Combs is currently awaiting trial at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center. His trial is set for May 2025. While doing so, he and his legal team have desperately tried to receive bail. The rapper has been denied bail three times, but in his fourth attempt, his team presented new evidence regarding the footage of him assaulting Cassie.
In the filing, Combs denies the assertion that the assault occurred during one of his infamous “freak-offs.” The paperwork also stated that his relationship with Cassie was not an abusive one but rather a toxic situation. He claims the video was “a minutes-long glimpse into a complex but decade-long consensual relationship.”
Combs is still awaiting a decision on his fourth request for bail.
