Late last week, graphic and heartbreaking video footage showed Diddy physically abusing Cassie in a hotel hallway, confirming some of the allegations she made in the lawsuit she filed against him last November, which I wrote about here.
In the aftermath of the video being released, many celebrities, most of whom are rappers who have long sided with Diddy, spent their weekends walking back their initial remarks and issuing apologies to Cassie for not believing her in the first place.
Words can’t begin to describe just how frustrating it is that it took a video of a woman being brutalized, clearly displaying just some of what she alleged in her 35-page document, in order for her to be believed. Despite Diddy’s lengthy history of questionable behaviour, which I wrote about here back in 2022, and claims made by other women that corroborate Cassie’s allegations, people needed to see her being physically abused in order to believe it.
Since the release of the video, there’s been a lot of conversations happening online. The first conversation is about how the video became public. The second conversation is about his level of skill and vitriol. And then there’s also a conversation questioning whether we have the full story on the death of Diddy’s ex, Kim Porter.
It’s being reported that Diddy paid the hotel $50,000 for the security footage from that day, but there are quite a few theories circulating as to how the footage became public. The one that makes the most sense to me anyway is that the footage was seized during the raid on his homes and may have been leaked by law enforcement.
If that is actually the case, the most obvious question is why law enforcement would leak it, particularly if they can no longer press charges for it, according to this statement made by the LAPD. But to me, it’s very likely that this is all part of an ongoing attempt to set the public up to get a better understanding of Diddy’s character, so that when the flurry of charges, lawsuits and whatever else is to come, which Sarah hinted at in this piece from March, there’s less chance for him to paint himself out as a victim.
I mean, despite his shady past, this is really the first time we’re able to see it with our own eyes. Up until this point, he was, in a way, protected by the fact that there was no proverbial “smoking gun”, just whispers, allegations and rumours. But with that video now being seen by millions of people around the world, there is no defending him anymore, hence these rappers and their mea culpas.
One thing a lot of social media users remarked on regarding the video was Diddy’s ability to single-handedly keep his towel wrapped around his waist and still execute such a vicious assault – in a hotel hallway of all places. So what he was capable of in private?
The fact that people’s minds are going there is, in part, an indication that if this was a strategic leak, it’s working. It’s to paint the picture, clear as ever, that this man is a violent and dangerous human being. It’s an attempt to quell the inevitable cries to “protect Black men” when cases like these arise and people have a hard time separating fact from fiction. Yes, protect Black men, but not the abusive ones, no matter what race they are.
Perhaps the biggest conversation of all, though, is the conversation surrounding renewed calls to have the investigation into Kim Porter’s death reopened. Former members of Diddy’s entourage have come forward in recent years and months providing their accounts of abuse they witnessed. His former bodyguard, Roger Bonds, appeared in this interview citing times he saw Diddy assault both Kim and Cassie.
It may seem like a stretch. But these are the exact questions that start to arise when the depth and details of abuse is exposed. They may seem like farfetched conspiracy theories, but we saw similar questions come up as it pertained to Aaliyah’s experience when more of R. Kelly’s victims started coming forward with horrific anecdotes, lifting the veil on a well-orchestrated system of abuse, managed and maintained by an entire team of people. So while it may seem like a drastic jump, it’s hard to deny that the concern isn’t warranted, particularly when social media becomes the communal hub for online sleuthing.
One thing we’ve seen firsthand through the exposure of men like R. Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, Diddy and so many others is the vastness of the operation. The abuse executed by these powerhouses is very much an operation. It requires the help and assistance of so many parties who are, in a lot of cases, absolutely, categorically privy to what’s happening. And they stay quiet about it. Why?
That’s the one thing I kept thinking about over the weekend - the cost of that silence. I was stunned to find out that for a mere $50,000, reportedly, Diddy was able to bury this footage. For just shy of a decade. For your average person, $50,000 is a lot of money. But to Diddy, it’s a drop in the bucket. Which makes me think that in his case, and the case of all the other men I listed and the ones I haven’t, it’s about money, yes, but it’s even more so about power.
My heart is broken for Cassie. I can’t imagine how triggering this has all been for her. I can’t imagine how exposed she feels, but I certainly hope that there is not an ounce of shame or embarrassment for being victimized by this vile, diabolical man. While I am ecstatic that she got out, I am absolutely heartbroken for the ones who didn’t. I’m heartbroken for the women who experience what we saw in that video day in and day out. And I’m hopeful as ever that Cassie’s story reminds all of us about the importance of believing women.
