The disgraced hip-hop artist Sean Diddy Combs lost another prestigious honor this week.
The City of Miami will no longer celebrate “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Day” as the media mogul continues to face fallout from the release of a video showing him attacking his then-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura.
The Miami Beach Commission voted Wednesday to revoke the proclamation that declares October 13 “Diddy Day” without discussion, according to The Miami Herald. Mayor Philip Levine presented the “Bad Boy 4 Life” singer with the honor during his third annual REVOLT Music Conference in the city in October 2016.
Combs owns a mansion in Miami, which along with his Los Angeles home, was raided by federal agents in March as he faces a federal investigation for connections to alleged sex trafficking. He has not been arrested or charged in those raids.
On November 16, 2023, Ventura was the first of many women to file a lawsuit against Combs claiming sexual assault and trafficking. Ventura and Combs settled the lawsuit a day later, but the rapper’s lawyer emphasized the settlement was “not an admission of guilt.”
The former couple dated on-and-off for a decade before finally splitting in 2018.
Combs has denied all accusations of wrongdoing but issued a public apology to fans in May after CNN released surveillance footage of him physically attacking Ventura at an LA hotel in March 2016. Due to the statute of limitations, Combs cannot be charged for the assault.
“I was f—ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses,” Combs said in a video posted to Instagram before wiping his account last week. “My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I’m disgusted now.”
Ventura addressed the video on Instagram on May 23, writing, “Thank you for all of the love and support from my family, friends, strangers and those I have yet to meet.”
“The outpouring of love has created a place for my younger self to settle and feel safe now, but this is only the beginning,” she added.
Howard University subsequently stripped Combs of an honorary degree which he was awarded in 2014.
“Mr. Combs’ behavior as captured in a recently released video is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University’s core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution’s highest honor,” the school’s board of trustees said in a statement. “The University is unwavering in its opposition to all acts of interpersonal violence.”
Combs, a Harlem native, also returned his key to New York City earlier this month at the request of Mayor Eric Adams.
“I strongly condemn these actions and stand in solidarity with all survivors of domestic and gender-based violence,” Adams wrote in a letter requesting the key be returned.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, please contact the National Domestic Abuse Violence hotline: 800-799-7233.
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