For movie nerds like me, this is a high time on the calendar. The Cannes Film festival just wrapped up in France. Critics got their first look at some of the biggest releases of the year. But this year, the movies themselves have taken kind of a backseat to a reckoning over allegations of sexual abuse in the french film industry. France had been hesitant to fully embrace the Me too movement, but allegations brought by director Judith Godreish have prompted more women to come forward.

Just in. Producer and musician Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, is facing a new federal lawsuit.

His former. Meanwhile, the rap industry in the US has been rocked in recent months by a series of sexual assault allegations made against one of its most powerful figures, Sean Diddy combs. While he has been forceful in his denials, disturbing surveillance video obtained exclusively by CNN paints a clear picture of brutal violence. My guest this week is CNN Entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister. Shes going to walk us through Diddys downfall and why seven years after me, too, the chasm between coming forward and accountability remains wider than ever. From CNN, this is one thing. I'm David Ryan. So, Elizabeth, I must admit, the Sean Diddy combs that I remember as a teenager who was just discovering music and pop culture was someone quite different than we think of him now. He went by P. Diddy or Puff Daddy for one thing. And to me, he was just an extremely successful rapper and business mogul and just overall general celebrity. And it seemed like he was pretty well liked. So when did that image start to change?

You're absolutely right, David, because Diddy, you know, he wasn't just a celebrity. You know, this was someone who really shaped and changed culture in the nineties and then went on to become this incredibly successful businessman.

And then tonight, music mogul Shawn Diddy Combs accused of rape and abuse in a new lawsuit filed by his ex girlfriend, Cassandra Ventura, known by her stage.

Name as Cassie, November of 2023. Last year, there is a horribly graphic lawsuit that is filed against him from Cassie.

She says that she was raped in her own home when she tried to leave him, that she was often beaten, kicked, punched, stomped on, resulting in bruises and burst lips, black eyes and bleeding.

Now that was quickly settled, David. I mean, really in record time within 24 hours. But even though it was settled, the cast out of the bag, right? Everybody had heard these allegations. Well, that lawsuit then started, this domino effect breaking overnight. Sean Diddy combs now faces another sexual assault lawsuit. This is the 8th lawsuit against combs since November. And comes just, there are also allegations of drugging these victims, you know, really, really disturbing. Now, Diddy came out a month after that initial lawsuit in December. And on Instagram, he posted, enough is enough. All of these allegations are false, according to him. And he called all these allegations sickening. He said that these accusers were looking for a payday. Then you fast forward to March of 2024.

Breaking news tonight. We have some new details about why federal agents may have raided mansions belonging to musician and producer Sean Diddy Combs.

All of a sudden, two of Diddy's homes are raided on both coasts.

Video shows also shows heavily armed agents.

Entering Diddy's home in Los Angeles and homebee Hills and in Miami, Homeland Security breaking into both of his homes. HSI is the Department of Homeland Security, uh, that investigates sex trafficking. And we have law enforcement sources who tell us here at CNN, both are Josh Campbell and John Miller reporting that Diddy is the target of this federal investigation. Now, that was at the end of March, so nearly two months ago, and there are still no findings from that investigation, but that investigation is ongoing.

Tonight, silence from Sean Diddy Combs after CNN has obtained disturbing surveillance video showing the music mogul shoving, kicking and dragging his then girlfriend in a hotel in 2016.

Then you fast forward. And just last week, our team here in the Los Angeles bureau, we got our hands on a damning piece of surveillance footage. And that has really changed the conversation with this whole Diddy saga.

Right? So walk me through this video. What's in it?

So in Cassie's lawsuit, which I mentioned she filed in November of 2023, it's the lawsuit that was quickly settled. She detailed an alleged event that she said happened in March of 2016 in a Los Angeles hotel. She said that she was assaulted by Diddy. She said that she was hit inside the hotel room and she suffered a black eye from that. So that when he was asleep, she tried to escape her hotel room as she was in the hallway. Then she alleged in this complaint from November that she was followed by him into the hallway and he continued to beat her. That is exactly what we see in this surveillance footage, David. So we see her barefoot, coming down the hallway and she's putting on her shoes, and that's when he comes to get her. It's very clear. This is Sean Diddy combs on camera, dragging her, throwing her to the floor, her, I mean, treating her like an animal, you know, dragging her by her sweatshirt and across the floor in an attempt to bring her back to her hotel room. Now, we, of course, reached out to Diddy's team before we released this video and we didn't hear back from our publication time.

But then two days after we released this footage, he went onto his instagram and he delivered an apology video.

So difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, sometimes you gotta do that.

I was where he did not say sorry to Cassie, but he said that he was sorry for his actions. He said he was disgusted then and that he's disgusted now.

I went and I sought out professional help after going to therapy, going to rehab, had asked God for his mercy and grace. I'm so sorry.

You can't believe anything that comes out of Diddy's mouth.

Absolutely.

He's not sorry. He's sorry he's got caught.

Now, this video didn't go over so well. A lot of people saying, if you were disgusted, then why did you do it?

If that video hadn't come out, he'd still be lying right now.

Charlemagne, the God said that he's only sorry that he got caught. Stephen A. Smith, you know, the sports broadcaster had an incredibly powerful reaction, saying that Diddy is done in the worst possible of ways.

I want to know first and foremost, who the hell was the PR person or the advisor or somebody who was dumb enough to tell him to do that bull video.

And Eric Adams, the mayor in New York City, said that the city might rescind the key to the city that they gave to him.

And what did Cassie have to say about this?

You know, Cassie actually just spoke out. It was a few days after Diddy's apology. And I do want to note, David, I have reporting that Diddy and Cassie, per their settlement agreement that was signed in November, they are not allowed to talk about each other. They can't say each other's names. They can't talk about anything related essentially to their relationship that was played out in this lawsuit.

So that would at least explain to some extent why Diddy's apology was so vague.

It would. But, you know, a first impression is a first impression. So when people watch this video and they see that he hasn't even addressed her, you know, that that seemed to be a glaring omission. But then we have Cassie's statement and she also has not addressed diddy. She has not addressed the surveillance tape. So they both, you know, do appear to be abiding by the terms of the settlement. You know, Cassie's statement was very powerful. You know, she thanked, you know, her family, her friends, strangers, and people that have just really been outpouring with love to her. But aside from addressing how she is doing she really made this statement about the bigger picture of the issue of domestic violence. She says, quote, domestic violence is the issue. It broke me down to someone I never thought I would become. Later on in her statement, she says, thank you to everyone that has taken the time to take this matter seriously. My only ask is that everyone open your heart to believing victims the first time.

Well, so where does this leave us now? Because like you said, we'll see what happens with that human trafficking investigation. But as of now, authorities in Los Angeles are signaling that the incident on the video happened too long ago to bring any charges. There's no kind of open investigations there. So it seems like at least for that incident, he's not going to be punished for that. And I guess my question is, like, wasn't the point of the whole me too movement that powerful men would be held accountable even if these alleged bad acts occurred? Well, in the past, like, what does this incident kind of tell us about where we are in that progress?

You know, there, there's the court of public opinion, and then there's a court of law. Right. And we're dealing with two different things here. So did he in the court of public opinion. I think it's abundantly fair and clear to say he has an uphill battle that he is facing. Right. But to your question about the larger picture with the me too movement, you know, I mentioned the statute of limitations. A lot of people saying, you know, the statute of limitations protects abusers more than it protects victims. You know, there are a lot of activists who are working towards legislature that helps protect victims more. You know, one is the statute of limitations. Another is the issue of consent and how you define consent. And then another, which brings us to an entirely different story, is the issue of supporting witnesses used in trial. Harvey Weinstein, which was really the biggest story that set off the MeToo movement in 2017. His conviction in New York in 2020 was historic. And that conviction, David, as we know, was just overturned. Now, it's not overturned because the court of appeals is saying he's guilty or he's innocent.

They're not saying one way or another. What they are saying is there was too much evidence let in because these supporting witnesses, which means women who are not directly tied to charges, but that the prosecution brought in front of a jury to help establish a pattern of behavior. The Court of Appeals in the state of New York, which is the highest court in the state of New York, they said that they should have not been allowed. So now they have said that they plan to move forward with another trial for Harvey Weinstein, that could be as soon as this fall and there will be less women. And then, of course, if we're going back a few years, Bill Cosby, his conviction was also overturned. So both Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, these convictions have been overturned based on legal technicalities, not because, again, the court is saying one way or another that they're guilty or innocent.

Right. That's got to be so frustrating for these women that have come forward and for activists who see these cases be overturned on, you know, basically the fine print rather than the actual accusations of wrongdoing here.

Absolutely. And I have interviewed many accusers of high profile men over the years. I covered both Harvey Weinstein trial sitting in court every day, both in New York and Los Angeles. Thank you for coming in.

Yeah, no, of course. Absolutely. I'm happy.

And I actually just recently sat down with one of Harvey Weinstein's original accusers. Her name is Ambra Batalana Gutierrez. And if this rings a bell, she was the accuser who wore a wire and participated in an NYPD sting operation and caught him on tape admitting to groping her. And after that, the New York district attorney's office still did not prosecute her case. And ever since then, she has been searching for answers. Harvey Weinstein's conviction from the 2020 trial was recently overturned. What was your first reaction to that.

The overturn of the conviction? For me, it was almost not a surprise.

And now with his conviction being overturned, we just sat down together. And she says she is still searching for answers.

Of course, it was almost like a gut punch. I felt like, why is that happening?

But Ambra is working, along with other activists and other survivors of sexual assault, to change the laws around those supporting women so that they can be admitted into court as evidence.

Coming from another culture. Growing up in Italy, the system is different. I don't know, but I do not understand of how it's allowed to bring prior victims or witnesses that would talk about a serial killer and the behavior that he has to understand that he has done something before to somebody and not allow it in the same way into the sexual abuse and the sexual assault.

They are frustrated and they are saying, how can someone like Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused by over 100 women, how is it this hard to get this case into a court of law? And that really all boils down to the larger point. Sex crimes are incredibly, incredibly difficult to prosecute.

It seems like there's a through line from Ambra to Cassie, the idea being, if you would just believe me, at the start, we wouldn't get all this way down the line where the legal barriers become that much higher.

Absolutely. And that is exactly what Ambra said in our interview.

It just is ridiculous. I remember I was asking her repeatedly, did you hear the recordings? Because even if I am not a lawyer or I'm not a judge or I'm not, like, working in the system, you know, hearing those recordings still makes me sick.

She said that had this just been able to be resolved in 2015. And, you know, when she says that she was assaulted by Harvey Weinstein, she went to the NYPD that night immediately, which is very rare statistically for victims of abuse. You know, there's so many reasons why you may not come forward. And she did. And now, nearly a decade later, she is still fighting this fight, and that is why she is speaking up.

It seems crazy that you have to work so hard still now to, you know, to get to the point that that's the point that I wanted to have in 2015.

But I do want to make sure that all of our listeners on this podcast do know that there is help available. So for any of our listeners who may be experiencing domestic violence in their own lives, there is a hotline. And help is available by calling 1807 nine nine safe or texting the word start to 88788.

Yeah, we're going to put a link to the hotline in our show notes for anyone who needs it. Elizabeth, thanks so much.

Thank you, David.

One thing is a production of CNN audio. This episode was produced by Paulo Ortiz and me, David Rind. Our senior producer is Fez Jamil. Our supervising producer is Greg Peppers. Matt Dempsey is our production manager, Dan Dzula is our technical director. And Steve Laktai is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Hailey Thomas, Alex Manassari, Robert Mathers, John Dianora, Lainey Steinhardt, Jamie Sandras, Nicole Pessarou, and Lisa Namurau. Special thanks to Katie Hinman. Thank you, as always, for listening. Well be back next week. Talk to you then.