A CNN anchor was left in stunned silence following her disastrous interview with rapper Cam’ron about the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ assault on singer Cassie Ventura.
NewsNight host Abby Phillip peppered the Nineties hip-hop artist with questions about Mr Combs – who he attested the pair were “barely” friends.
It comes after CNN released video footage showing Mr Combs pushing, kicking and dragging Ms Ventura, his then-girlfriend, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
Mr Combs, 54, faces multiple separate civil lawsuits accusing him of sex trafficking, sexual abuse, and rape. He has not been formally charged or accused by federal prosecutors of any crime.
While Cam’ron, whose real name is Cameron Giles, 48, was initially receptive to the host’s line of questioning, the interview quickly went downhill, ending with the rapper asking “who booked me for this?”
“Everything in the video is egregious, I’m against. So when I saw the video, I was kinda upset, being that I know him,” Mr Giles said, sporting a pair of sunglasses and a bucket hat.
Ms Phillip then asked whether the “Oh Boy” rapper recognized the man in the video, which immediately elicited a fiery response: “What do you mean did I recognize him?”
“I seen him. What do you mean my experiences? I seen him and I thought it was disgusting, I didn’t do a zoom in to see if it was really him or nothing, but he admitted it was him so yeah, it was him,” he said getting visibly worked up.
Amid his furor, Mr Giles took a brief pause to sip on Pink Horse Power – a so-called natural supplement designed to boost a man’s libido. The rapper is said to own the company.
Ms Phillip then asked him for his thoughts about Mr Combs’ apology video. On Sunday, Mr Combs took to Instagram and called his behavior “inexcusable” and said he “takes full responsibility for his actions in the video”.
“So difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you got to do that. I was f***ed up,” he said.
Mr Giles noted that the apology wasn’t for him, it was for Ms Ventura, so it’s not his place to pass comment.
“He ain’t do nothing for me. What I think about it don’t matter. You need to ask Cassie if she accepts the apology. I said what I said,” he said.
The anchor desperately tried to claw back the interview with a question about rapper and close friend Mase, but it appeared by that point it was all too late.
Near his wits’ ends, Mr Giles made a lewd remark related to his supplement company.
“Sorry, I’m gonna’ go get some cheeks after this horse power drink,” he said.
The CNN host’s question about whether anybody in “the industry in general” was shrouding Diddy’s behavior marked the last straw.
“Who’s the talent agent for this joint? You think I be sitting around watching what Diddy do? I didn’t know this was a Diddy joint that y’all invited me to. Who booked me for this joint?” he added.
Later, the rapper took to Instagram, and wrote: “F*** they invite me on CNN for?”
