Cassie Expects $10 Million Settlement From InterContinental for Diddy Hotel Assault
Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura revealed Friday that she is expecting a $10 million settlement from InterContinental in relation to the 2016 hotel incident at the heart of the Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial.
Surveillance footage from the Century City hotel that was first published by CNN in May 2024 and is now being shown in court depicts Combs violently assaulting Ventura in a hallway and dragging her across the floor by her hair. The footage has been used by federal prosecutors as evidence of Combs' physical abuse.
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During the final day of Ventura's cross-examination, Combs' lawyers asked if she had any pending lawsuits. (Ventura filed a civil lawsuit against Combs in 2023, revealing yesterday that she received a $20 million settlement.) Ventura said no, later clarifying that she is expected to receive a settlement from InterContinental after filing a demand against the hotel. She said she has reached the end of settlement discussions and has not yet received the settlement, which she estimated at $10 million.
Ventura said the settlement discussions concluded sometime this month, but emphasized that she has no financial stake in the results of Combs' criminal trial. Asked on Thursday why she chose to testify against her longtime ex-boyfriend, Ventura said, 'I'm here to do the right thing. I can't carry this anymore … the shame, the guilt.'
The news of Ventura's settlement with InterContinental came as a shock to the courtroom, with many people in the overflow room audibly gasping and wondering why the prosecution did not introduce the settlement in their initial questioning.
The 2016 hotel assault has been referred to by Combs' lawyers as 'indefensible' and 'dehumanizing.' They do not, however, believe it is evidence that Combs engaged in sex trafficking and racketeering, which is what he is charged with.
Recounting the events of that day, Ventura said she was in a hotel room with Combs and a male escort participating in a 'freak-off,' one of Combs' drug-fueled sex parties that could last days on end. Attempting to leave the 'freak-off' before Combs decided it was over, Ventura grabbed her bags and headed to the elevator. Combs then followed her out of the room wearing only a towel and began beating her, before he returned to his room and Ventura exited the property.
On Monday the court heard testimony from Israel Florez, a security guard at the InterContinental in Century City who witnessed Combs' assault on Ventura. Florez said that when he arrived at the scene of the attack, he escorted Combs back to the room and asked Ventura if she wanted him to call the police. Florez testified that Ventura said no and 'I just want to leave' without pressing charges or notifying the authorities. He filed an incident report that seemingly omitted important details of the assault, as revealed in the defense's cross-examination. And, later, Florez took a video of the surveillance footage with his cell phone, showing it to other staff members, who also did not call the police.
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Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
DAN GAINOR: 7 of the liberal media's craziest LA riots moment
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And they've only just begun. "The View" returns to the list, whining about the dangers of "militarizing" the protests by sending in the National Guard. Host Whoopi Goldberg repeatedly called for "states' rights" like Democrats did in the 1860s. Typically unhinged Sunny Hostin warned about policing "Americans' protest activity." She neglected to note that the Guard was sent in because of the actions of non-citizens. Then came the kicker. Hostin continued that, "an army turned inside to police its citizens can cause chaos and fascism." Goldberg added, "Civil war." Hostin responded, "And civil war." The idea that enforcing the law could lead to civil war is the kind of threat Marxists make. If you try to make me obey the law, I will break more laws. Every protest, it seems, has one memorable quote. This time it comes from ABC7 Los Angeles. They were getting a live report and watching scenes of cars burning, when anchor Jory Rand cautioned not about rioters, but about police. 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They're so bad that Waymo had to suspend ride service in the area after five of its cars were burned. That should be the kind of arson Bash was criticizing. Of course, it wasn't. CNN's tiny voice of the resistance, Brian Stelter, did his best to try and minimize the violence and arson. He tweeted, "Offline, in real-world Los Angeles, most Angelenos are having a perfectly normal day. But online, the fires and riots are still raging. Seeking clicks, clout and chaos, unvetted social media accounts are preying on fears about where last weekend's clashes will lead…" He's almost rejecting the concept of journalism. (Well, it is CNN.) Don't report on that triple murder, most people nearby weren't harmed. Don't report on the Ukraine war, most of Europe isn't under attack. Skip your COVID-19 coverage, most people didn't die. It's like an English 8000 level class in rationalization. The media never ignore the narrative. The one they are pushing this time is that absentee Democrat Gov. 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Not the rioting, looting, burning and violence, but trying to stop it. The Post ran a letter headline claiming, "'He's waging a war on us': As Trump escalates, Angelenos defend their city." Yes, blame Trump. Except he's not the one burning Waymos, looting an Apple store or throwing stones off an overpass at police.
Yahoo
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A protest over immigration broke out next to a Compton restaurant. The owner, an immigrant, offered help to both protesters and cops
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It was so strong at one point that we all felt like we were suffocating,' Mendoza told CNN. 'Then they came in. It wasn't something planned, it wasn't something I was thinking about, but it just happened,' she said. Inside the restaurant, video at 5:30 p.m. shows Mendoza and her employees getting water for LA County Sheriff's deputies, fanning their blinking, watering eyes and applying wet towels to their faces. An employee guided one of the officers toward the walk-in refrigerator at the back of the store after wiping off his face, surveillance video shows. In a video Mendoza uploaded to TikTok, three of her employees can be seen taking care of two officers: One employee holds a cloth to the face of an officer while another fans his face. 'I looked for masks and gave them to different people … The only thing I managed to grab for some protesters were towels, towels we use to clean. And I told them to cover yourselves with this. And then they covered themselves,' Mendoza said. 'I also offered them milk. I ran out of milk.' Clashes between protesters and law enforcement have resulted in hundreds of arrests in Los Angeles, and Trump invoked a rarely used law to federalize the National Guard over the objection of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials, which further inflamed the response. The Trump administration also mobilized 700 Marines to the Los Angeles area on Monday, though it is not yet clear when they will be deployed onto the streets to help with protests, according to a US Northern Command spokesperson. Mendoza said she never directed her staff to help the people suffering after the confrontation just outside the restaurant – they acted of their own accord. 'I was at the door, just letting everyone in,' she said. 'They just acted the way they felt they should have done to other people themselves.' Almost half of Los Angeles County's nearly 10 million residents are Latinos or Hispanics, according to US Census data. Over one-third of Angelenos are immigrants. Mendoza came to the United States without her family – 'without a father, without a mother, without siblings,' she told CNN, and first found work at a restaurant. She opened her own restaurant 15 years ago and has since found her place in the community. 'I was afraid something bad would happen and they would destroy my restaurant, which you hear about,' Mendoza said. 'So I decided to stay there, and looking at that whole situation, thank God, I sympathize with many protesters. I live in the area, and I can practically tell you that I know several of them, and they are good people and are my clients.' Multiple friends contacted Mendoza and urged her to close her restaurant for the day after seeing all of the chaos surrounding the protests in her neighborhood. Mendoza felt that she had to stay open to provide for her clients that had stayed with her 'through the good and the bad.' 'I have to take care of them and, above all, of my clients, who have always been with me through thick and thin, and who are my Latino people and people of any other race,' she said. While the restaurant workers' compassion has been praised by many, Mendoza said some have criticized her for helping both demonstrators and authorities. 'I just want them to know that we did it as human beings,' she said. 'I'm happy to have helped those people, just like I did with the people who were there for the protests.' Mendoza said the world could use more 'empathy and humanity for all people,' and that as an immigrant, she wants people to know most immigrants who come to the United States do so to work hard and make a better life for themselves and others. 'Sometimes we're treated like aliens; we're not like that. The fact that we're darker-skinned doesn't make us different,' she said. 'We've all seen it as a wonderful country, and we've all seen a country with better opportunities for our lives. Yes, and maybe that's why we decided to come here, and maybe some of us haven't done it the right way. But in the same way, we've all come with a purpose, which is to work and put in the effort. And often, I think they don't realize that it's us Latinos who come to do the most difficult jobs.' More demonstrations are planned nationwide this week and weekend, when the military parade honoring the Army's 250th birthday is planned in Washington, DC.
CNN
9 hours ago
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See moment projectile strikes near key military facility in Tel Aviv
Video verified by CNN captures the dramatic moment a missile struck in vicinity of the Kirya, an area of Tel Aviv that's home to an urban military base housing Israel's Defense Forces.
