On Friday, CNN obtained disturbing security camera footage of Sean Combs physically abusing his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura during a stay at the now-defunct InterContinental Hotel in Century City. The incident took place in 2016 and aligns with an altercation the 37-year-old dancer detailed in her November lawsuit.

As Perezcious readers know, Cassie was the first to sue Puff Daddy, accusing him of rape, sex trafficking, domestic violence, and more throughout their relationship (from 2007 to 2018). They settled one day later, though the rapper maintained he was innocent. In the time since, several more people have come out with allegations against him and he’s even at the center of a federal investigation after his homes were raided!

So, it’s been super messy — and it would seem the musician’s been trying to avoid this kind of legal fallout for a long, long time! Because he allegedly had a hand in making sure nobody saw this video until now!

In Ventura’s lawsuit, according to People, one of her many claims is that she was at a hotel with the A-lister “in or around March 2016” when he became “extremely intoxicated and punched [her] in the face, giving her a black eye.” The docs continued:

“After he fell asleep, Ms. Ventura tried to leave the hotel room, but as she exited, Mr. Combs awoke and began screaming at Ms. Ventura. He followed her into the hallway of the hotel while yelling at her. He grabbed at her, and then took glass vases in the hallway and threw them at her, causing glass to crash around them as she ran to the elevator to escape.”

Basically, exactly what went down in the newly released recording. It’s a tough watch, but can be see here:

According to the suit, Cassie managed to escape the hotel and grab a cab to her apartment, but she later decided to return. However, upon her arrival, hotel staff warned her against engaging with the Grammy winner again — because they saw what went down! The court papers claimed:

“Upon realizing that her running away would cause Mr. Combs to be even angrier with her, and completely stuck in his vicious cycle of abuse, Ms. Ventura returned to the hotel with the intention of apologizing for running away from her abuser. When she returned, hotel security staff urged her to get back into a cab and go to her apartment, suggesting that they had seen the security footage showing Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her in the hotel hallway.”

That’s not even the most shocking part!

Despite the hotel trying to do the right thing at first, they allegedly wound up accepting $50,000 from Diddy for the hallway footage from that incident! Jeez! They sided WITH the abuser after all that? WTF. Just think about what may have happened if the hotel had handed this footage off to authorities at the time instead of taking this alleged hush money?? They could’ve prevented so much abuse! Sigh.

In a statement to People on Friday, IGH simply said:

“This hotel is no longer under IHG management, and we do not have any access to prior incident records or footage.”

At least the footage is out now. While we never doubted Cassie, this certainly makes it a lot harder for anyone to believe a word Diddy has to say about all the allegations against him. Thoughts? Let us know (below).