Sean 'Diddy' Combs facing another lawsuit, criticized for apology video

'Diddy' facing PR crisis after latest lawsuit

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is facing backlash over what some have called an "insincere" apology after a video surfaced seemingly showing him attacking then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. All while the music mogul faces another lawsuit.

LOS ANGELES - Amid another sexual assault lawsuit, and what some have called an "insincere" apology video following the release of a video that seemingly shows him assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, Sean "Diddy" Combs is facing a PR crisis, and one expert says "this is just the beginning."

TMZ reported Tuesday that the hip-hop mogul is facing another lawsuit – this one from a former model alleging sexual assault. She claimed that in 2003, Diddy sexually assaulted her at a Men's Fashion Week event in New York City and that after the exchange, she was blackballed from the modeling industry.

News of this lawsuit comes just days after CNN obtained video of Diddy seemingly attacking Ventura in 2016 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City. In the video, Diddy is seen throwing Ventura to the ground, kicking and dragging her.

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He later issued an apology video, which some said seemed disingenuous. Experts said it missed the mark.

"It wasn't about her. It wasn't about what he did wrong, and I think that's where we see a lot of things go wildly off course from a PR perspective," said Hillary Povar Executive Vice President and Creative Officer of the PR firm Smithhouse.

TMZ also reported that Diddy couldn't legally name Ventura in the apology video because of the settlement of his lawsuit with her.

In the wake of all the drama, Diddy's already had some impact on his wallet. Peloton has cut ties with the music mogul, saying it won't play his songs on the popular exercise platform. But Povar said, simply boycotting his music won't have much of an impact.

"He does have such a robust portfolio that it would be near impossible to truly affect every business that he has a piece of, or a stake [in]," explained Povar. "And in terms of ‘canceling’ him, it's just ineffective in terms of really dealing with what the actual issue is, which is, what was perpetrated against this victim."

Several people FOX 11 spoke with said they didn't care whether canceling Diddy would hurt him, they just don't want to consume anything attached to him.

"It's setting a bad example," said Jason Thompson. "Because if he gets away with something like that, then as a role model to the young people, you're setting a default setting for people to go, ‘I can do that, and I’m going to get away with it."

After all of this, Povar said consumers will ultimately have to make a choice.

"Consumers and audiences and fans should absolutely make decisions with regard to what they will consume that does have his name on it," Povar said. "His legacy will be forever tarnished, and I think that is going to be something that will be hard for him to reconcile."

Are you or someone you know a recent survivor of domestic violence? Help is available. You can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.

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