Lizzette Martinez, a victim of abuse by R. Kelly, says she “can’t unsee” the recently-unearthed video of Sean “Diddy” Combs physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie in 2016.
CNN published the footage in May, in which Diddy was seen beating Cassie, now 38, in a Los Angeles hotel. He grabbed Cassie by her neck, shoved, dragged and kicked her repeatedly.
“I knew what she was feeling, just wanting to get out of there and it just broke my heart,” Martinez said Wednesday, October 9, in Secret Life of Diddy — A Special Edition of 20/20 on ABC. She added: “When I first heard about the Sean Combs allegations, I wasn’t surprised. Nothing really surprises me these days.”
“I can’t unsee that Cassie video,” Martinez said. “You can tell me whatever you want to tell me about him. I cannot unsee the video. She helped others feel that they could come forward and that’s huge. That you put yourself on the line.”
Martinez was among the multiple victims who spoke at a 2022 court hearing where R. Kelly, 57, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. (The singer’s daughter, Joann Kelly, calls Kelly “a monster” in the upcoming TV documentary R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey.)
Diddy, 54, also faces charges of racketeering and sex trafficking as he awaits trial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The disgraced music mogul was arrested on Monday, September 16, and taken into custody in Manhattan after a grand jury indicted him following a string of sexual assault lawsuits and a federal investigation. The 14-page indictment accuses Diddy of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.”
Diddy has denied all allegations against him and pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, October 9, the rapper claimed that the Department of Homeland Security leaked the video of him assaulting Cassie in hopes to “undermine” his “right to a fair trial.” He also filed a new motion for an evidentiary hearing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Us Weekly confirmed.
“It was our team, we broke that video of Cassie being horribly, violently abused and that came up a lot during the court proceedings last week when he was indicted,” CNN journalist Elizabeth Wagmeister said during the Thursday, September 26, episode of “The Viall Files” podcast. “That, according to all legal experts who have been on CNN’s air, will be a key piece of evidence that is likely shown to the jury.”
Wagmeister, 34, further pointed out that the eight-year-old footage was already referenced in a civil suit against Diddy before her team “independently came across” it.
Hours after the outlet released the clip, Diddy apologized for his behavior without mentioning Cassie by name.
“It’s difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you gotta do that,” he said in a May Instagram video. “I was f—ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted.”
