Misa Hylton, a stylist and former partner of Sean “Diddy” Combs, has responded to the shocking footage of the rap mogul punching and kicking his former girlfriend, Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016.
“I am heartbroken that Cassie must relive the horror of her abuse, and my heart goes out to her,” wrote Hylton on Instagram. “I know exactly how she feels, and through my empathy, it has triggered my own trauma.”
Hylton and Combs met and dated in the early 1990s and share a son, Justin Combs, who was born in 1993.
In her Instagram post, Hylton shared photographs of Comb’s five children and wrote: “These young people were raised by women that want the best for them – we put God and education first and have always been united in our mutual effort to support their dreams.
“Two of the youngest do not have their mother here and it has been our duty to support them. Their father needs help and I am praying that he truly does the personal work and receives it.”
Combs posted an Instagram video on Sunday apologizing for beating Ventura, who he was in a relationship with from 2007 to 2018, calling his behaviour “inexcusable” and saying he “takes full responsibility for his actions in the video”.
Ventura’s attorney Meredith Firetog later responded to his apology by calling it “disingenuous” and saying that it was “more about himself than the many people he has hurt”. She added that he was only saying sorry because the footage has now come to light.
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday,” Ms Firetog told CNN in a statement.
“That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words,” she added.
In his video, Combs referred to the incident as “one of the darkest times in his life”, saying that he was “f***ed up” and is “disgusted by his actions”.
He said he “has asked God for his mercy and grace” but is “not asking for forgiveness”, adding that he is “truly sorry” and that he sought professional help and went to therapy and rehab in the aftermath of the 2016 incident.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” he said.
“I was f***ed up – I hit rock bottom – but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable.”
Prior to the hotel security footage coming to light, Combs had strongly denied all of the allegations against him including claims that he had trapped Ventura in “a cycle of abuse, violence and sex trafficking” during their relationship.
In his video apology, he does not mention Ventura by name.
