Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ latest professional and legal issues have persisted for months now, and the saga’s most recent development involved the release of 2016 surveillance footage. Said video seemed to show Combs physically abusing Cassie, his girlfriend at the time, while they were at a hotel. In time, the mogul issued an apology for his actions, which prompted a sternly worded statement from Cassie’s lawyer. Now, in the aftermath of Combs’ reaction and the video going viral, a number of people connected to him, including Slim Thug and Kelly Price, are speaking out on the situation.
After the video dropped but before the “Coming Home” shared his response, Slim Thug weighed in on the surveillance footage through an Instagram post that included a screenshot of a news article. As reported by Vibe, the performer – whose birth name is Stayve Jerome Thomas – initially called out the hip hop community for not supporting P. Diddy amid the raids on his homes and his other issues. However, the “3 Kings” rapper denounced Diddy’s actions and said that he’d “take this L” after seeing the hotel video, in which the businessman threw his ex to the ground by her neck and kicked her:
Damn, Diddy 🤦🏾♂️ I tried to ride with the [Black] man who had no charges yet but I can’t stand behind this 🤐 I’ll take this L. But I still will ride with my ppl until I see some sort of proof. I don’t believe in blogs or civil suits. Apologies to Cassie and whoever else was on the right side this time 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
This past weekend, the 54-year-old Grammy winner took to Instagram to share a video, in which he expressed his feelings on the video. Explaining that he was “fucked up” and had “hit rock bottom” at the time, he had “no excuses” and was “disgusted” by the footage. Cassie Ventura’s lawyer later chastised Puff Daddy for making the statement “more about himself.” Aubrey O’Day, who was signed to the hip hop tycoon’s Bad Boy Records label as a member of Danity Kane, expressed dissatisfaction with his response to the video as well. She shared the following sentiments on her Instagram stories (via ET):
Diddy did not apologize to Cassie. He apologized to the world for seeing what he did. He says he's 'disgusted w himself now, and he was disgusted w himself then'.. but apparently he wasn't disgusted enough w himself to not PIN this statement out calling her a liar & denying all of it… Leave God and mercy out of this, they aren't present here, and you know it.
Another person to speak out after the apology was Kelly Price. The songstress notably recorded hit songs like The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” and Mase’s “Feel So Good” under Bad Boy Records. Price initially left a comment (captured by TMZ) under the apology post, saying that Sean Combs not only has “a change of heart but a change of mind and a change of direction” while also noting how she’s seen the star at his “best” and worst.” Additionally, she expressed desire to “see” the mogul “soon” so that they can “create in the business” but also said “I need [Combs] to pray.” The message received backlash and, while she aimed to provide clarity in an additional post, she did that to a greater extent in a 12-minute YouTube video:
I don’t stand with anything that is criminal. None of us can unsee what we saw. … I was pretty much telling him, ‘Do the soul work.’ So it wasn’t like, ‘Oh my god, I’m praying for you. Why are they trying to drag the Black man down?’ You’ve not seen me out here on that. … Do the soul work. Because there’s nothing that therapy, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, whatever the case may be, they can give you steps to try and not repeat the behavior. But, if you don’t get your soul right, there will not be real change.
50 Cent also weighed in after Diddy released his apology video on social media. The actor, rapper and producer shared a portion of the Instagram clip on his X account, adding a brief and direct sentiment as his caption:
This is not going to work, who is advising him right now? SMH bad move.
Ahead of the hotel footage’s release, the “Been Around the World” was facing multiple lawsuits in which he’s accused of sexual abuse, sex trafficking and other alleged offenses. Much of the music community seemingly remained silent but a few others did speak out. One such person was Russell Simmons, who defended Diddy and asked that social media commentators not get “excited” over his issues. And, though he previously had beef with the embattled star, Suge Knight called the situation “a bad day for the culture.” Former backup dancer Tanika Ray also spoke about working with the star, saying that she just “knew to avoid him.”
Right now, Sean Combs has not been formally charged with any offenses and, per USA Today, he will not be charged for his reported actions in the video. The Los Angeles District Attorney stated that if the situation with Cassie did happen in 2016, “the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.”
