According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Sean “Diddy” Combs will not face charges in connection with a 2016 video that appears to show him abusing then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel.

“We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch,” the office of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón posted on Instagram Friday (May 17). “If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.”

Combs appears to push Ventura to the ground near an elevator bank, kick her multiple times while she is on the ground, and pull her down a hallway in the footage, which CNN received on March 5, 2016.

According to the statement, law enforcement has not presented the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office with “a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Services.”

The video’s contents resemble an assault complaint Ventura made in a now-settled lawsuit against Diddy in November, in which she also claimed one incidence of rape and another of Combs forcing her to have sex with male sex workers while he masturbated.

“The gut-wrenching video has only confirmed Mr. Combs’ disturbing and predatory behavior,” said Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, in a statement to Billboard. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”

Ventura and Combs had an on-and-off romance for 11 years until splitting in 2018. In the lawsuit, she claimed she met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37. After signing with his Bad Boy Records company, Ventura alleged that Combs “lured” her into a sexual relationship in which he “asserted complete control” over her life.

Combs has faced four further sexual misconduct complaints after Ventura filed hers late last year. The entrepreneur resigned as chairman of his digital media business Revolt in November, and he reportedly sold his interest in the company in March. Also in March, federal officials raided Combs’ houses in Los Angeles and Miami “in connection” with a federal sex trafficking probe, CNN reported.

Combs has flatly denied all allegations of sexual assault leveled against him. “Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged,” he declared in a statement shared on social media on December 6. “I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Sean “Diddy” Combs is a multi-talented mogul who has made his mark in music, fashion, and business. Born in Harlem, he began his career as a talent director at Uptown Records. Combs later created his own label, Bad Boy Records, which launched the careers of musicians such as The Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige.

His debut album, “No Way Out,” achieved multi-platinum success, cementing his reputation as a rapper and producer. Diddy expanded his business interests, launching the apparel line Sean John and investing in beverage businesses such as Ciroc and DeLeon. With an estimated net worth of $900 million, he is one of hip-hop’s wealthiest individuals.

Combs is a presence in Hollywood, appearing in films and television series while also influencing music and society. His commercial savvy, paired with his musical talents, have elevated him to the status of rap icon.

Source: Billboard

 

More than a week after actor Steve Buscemi was punched in an apparent random attack in New York City, police arrested a suspect on Friday in connection with the incident.

According to CBS New York, 50-year-old Clifton Williams, who police had been hunting for since at least Monday, strolled into the 10th Precinct in Manhattan’s Chelsea district on Friday afternoon to file a stolen property complaint.

Officers who took Williams’ ID recognized him and arrested him.

Williams faces two counts of assault. One is a misdemeanor, but the attack on Buscemi was escalated to a felony due to the actor’s age of 66, making him a senior citizen under the law.

Police say Williams randomly attacked a 22-year-old guy on Third Avenue near 16th Street around 11:30 a.m. on May 8. He allegedly punched Buscemi, who was strolling on Third Avenue at 27th Street, less than ten minutes later.

CBS New York received exclusive camera footage of the actor, famed for his appearances in “Boardwalk Empire” and “Fargo,” heading south on Third Avenue and glancing up to greet someone before crossing the street. Police said Williams punched Buscemi a few moments later.

Additional video showed Williams seemed to be chatting to himself while going north on Third Avenue, just before the unprovoked attack.

Steve Buscemi rushed to hospital

Buscemi, a Brooklyn native and veteran FDNY fireman, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital with bruises, swelling, and bleeding in his left eye. He was released, but denied an on-camera interview a few days later.

Steve Buscemi has made a name for himself as an eccentric actor. He has a distinct appearance: protruding eyes, bald head, and crooked teeth. However, his eccentricity serves him well. Steve Buscemi began in independent films and progressed to supporting roles in major films such as “Reservoir Dogs,” “Fargo,” and “The Big Lebowski.” He stole scenes with his dry wit and strange charisma.

Buscemi is not afraid of taking risks. He played a frightening con man in ‘Ghost World’ and a depressed gentleman in ‘Trees Lounge,’ both of which he wrote and directed. His versatility extends from comedies like ‘The Big Lebowski’ to dramas like ‘Boardwalk Empire.’ That show was where he truly shined, portraying a complicated gangster with depth.

What distinguishes Buscemi is his ability to disappear into roles. He’s not the ordinary Hollywood star. He embraces the unusual, the flawed, and the human. That authenticity resonates. Buscemi is an actor’s actor, appreciated for his craft rather than his appearance. He demonstrates that you don’t need movie star good looks to become a renowned talent.

NEW YORK — To say Cage the Elephant’s latest album had a rocky start would be an understatement. The band coped with loved ones’ deaths, the pandemic, and its lead singer’s arrest and illness.

“It’s no secret that I had a medical crisis,” Matt Shultz tells The Associated Press from Nashville on the eve of the Friday release of the 12-track album “Neon Pill.” “I am fully recovered. It does leave a scar, but it is one that can be ignored.”

The Kentucky-born singer-songwriter was charged with criminal possession of firearms in January 2023 after police discovered his guns inside his Bowery Hotel room in Lower Manhattan.

Shultz claims that in the aftermath, he discovered that for the past three years or more, he had been experiencing a negative reaction to a set of prescribed medications (Shultz did not specify which), resulting in episodes of psychosis.

Rock Band Cage The Elephant Emerge From Loss And Hospitalization With New Album ‘Neon Pill’

“It’s shocking how night and day the difference is from being on whatever medication is causing psychosis and being off of it,” he continues. “Once I got off the drug, I returned to my normal self. And that was strange because it felt like someone else had taken over your life.”

That so-called other person had contributed to the five-year recording of “Neon Pill,” and it was up to Shultz — who was hospitalized for two months and underwent around six months of outpatient therapy — to unravel the music.

“I went back to the lyrics, obviously to finish the album, and it was like reading the words of a totally different person and trying to decode what they meant,” he recalls. “A lot of it was going back and trying to find the sentiment of what I was trying to communicate.”

Shultz escaped jail time after pleading guilty to three firearms offenses.

“I’m so blessed it wasn’t worse than it was,” adds the man. “And grateful that I received the medical attention I required. I’m extremely fortunate to be surrounded by my family and my wife. God got me through it. I’d be dead numerous times over.

“Neon Pill” reunites the band with producer John Hill, who worked on their previous 2019 Grammy-winning album, “Social Cues.” It presents a kaleidoscope of rock, from the strutting glam of “Ball and Chain” to the piano ballad of “Out Loud” and the breezy alt-rock of “Float Into the Sky.” One song, “Rainbow,” is infectiously poppy, as if Cage covered a Dead or Alive tune.

“It was like a culmination of all the Cage records combined,” claims Shultz. “John Hill had a greater impact on this album, without a doubt.” Not that he didn’t impact ‘Social Cues,’ but with this one, he pushed us harder to go within ourselves and compose the greatest material we could.

Rock Band Cage The Elephant Emerge From Loss And Hospitalization With New Album ‘Neon Pill’

The album explores Shultz’s experiences, including the lyrics “Double-crossed by a neon pill/Like a loaded gun, my love,
I lost control of the wheel.” The song is the band’s 11th number-one hit on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay list.

“We definitely felt like that was the title track once everything came to be,” adds Shultz, who is joined by his guitarist brother Brad, bassist Daniel Tichenor, drummer Jared Champion, guitarist Nick Bockrath, and pianist Matthan Minster.

Two songs are about Matt and Brad’s father, Brad Shultz Sr., one of which is “Out Loud.” It is about the day the older Shultz and his father had a violent dispute, and their father fled to Florida, hitching the entire way. After a year, the younger man felt sorrow and created an apology song, which he hitchhiked back to Kentucky to play for his father.

Matt Shultz says the narrative inspired him, “so I wrote a song about the song he wrote.” The lyrics to that song are: “Man, I really messed up now/ Clipped those wings and I came back home/Tried my best just to carry on.”

The album’s final tune, “Over Your Shoulder,” laments his father’s death in 2020. The Shultz brothers inherited milk crates containing hundreds of their father’s tunes on ancient cassette recordings. A new original Cage song appeared, similar to their father’s style, with the lyrics: “Don’t look back over your shoulder/I’m not saying don’t ask/When it feels like it gets colder/Every season will pass.”

Rock Band Cage The Elephant Emerge From Loss And Hospitalization With New Album ‘Neon Pill’

Matt Shultz thinks the entire record is a departure for a band that had previously worn its influences on their sleeves.

“We’d be in the studio, trying to replicate and emulate. But with this record, I believe we were simply relaxed into ourselves and striving to create something we loved.”

SOURCE – (AP)