Stevie J says Diddy had an emotional reaction to his Cassie assault video leaking to the media.
The clip surfaced via CNN earlier this year and caused a lot of falling out for Diddy, who was already under scrutiny for numerous allegations. Stevie J was among a few of the rap mogul’s celebrity friends defending him from public backlash after Cassie sued him last year. However, the Love and Hip Hop star admitted that the video threw him in a loop after watching it along with millions of people around the world.
Stevie J sat down with TMZ for an interview for the media outlet’s new documentary, The Downfall of Diddy: Inside the Freak-Offs, their second documentary on Tubi this year. Stevie, a longtime friend and collaborator of Diddy, says he visited the Bad Boy Records founder at his home in the aftermath of the video surfacing, recalling seeing the billionaire mogul in a low state.
“After I saw the video, I went and saw him in Miami and we had a conversation,” Stevie said. “I let him know how affected I was by that. I didn’t know he had that in him to do that. My conversation with him was basically like, ‘You’re one of my heroes out here, you hurt me with that.’”
Stevie J continues, “It was a real emotional moment […] He was hurt that that video came out. It crushed him because he was like, ‘My daughters and my moms gotta see this.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, and your friends gotta see it too!’”
The music producer says Diddy was hurt by both his actions in the video and that the clip made it into the public space. “I believe both hurt him. What he did on the video, he couldn’t believe that that was the darkest point in his life and he had to re-live that and see that again with his ex-girlfriend of 10 years,” the former LHH: ATL cast shared.
Diddy issued a video apology to Cassie and his family and friends after the video came out, describing what happened as a dark period in his life. He stated in the since-deleted video that he took full responsibility for his actions and shared that he has been getting help for his anger by going to therapy and rehab.
"He was doing a lot of drugs."
Stevie J shares details from his private in-person conversation with Diddy after the hotel video of Diddy beating Cassie came out and says he told Diddy he was hurt when he saw it.
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His attack on Cassie reportedly went down at a hotel in Los Angeles on March 5, 2016. The disturbing clip shows Combs chasing down and attacking Cassie Ventura, who he was dating at the time, as she waits on an elevator while trying to flee from him. He threw her to the ground before stomping on her as she curled up in a ball. The Bad Boy mogul allegedly paid off hotel employees to get rid of the video, but apparently, someone kept a copy and leaked it to CNN.
