Diddy returns Key to the City following request from mayor after Cassie-attack video

NEW YORK (AP):

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has returned his key to New York City after a request from Mayor Eric Adams, in response to the release of a video showing the music mogul attacking R&B singer Cassie, officials said on Saturday.

The mayor’s office said Combs returned the key after Adams sent letters to the embattled musician’s offices in New York and California on June 4, rescinding the key and asking for it to be sent back to City Hall. The city received the key on June 10.

In his letter, Adams wrote he was “deeply disturbed” by the attack, adding, “I strongly condemn these actions and stand in solidarity with all survivors of domestic and gender-based violence.”

Combs’ career has been derailed by numerous accusations of sexual abuse, as well as a federal criminal sex-trafficking investigation that led to raids of Combs’ mansions in Los Angeles and Miami.

In May, CNN aired security video of Combs attacking Cassie in a hotel hallway in Los Angeles in 2016. Combs has said he is “truly sorry” for the attack on Cassie and called his actions “inexcusable”. Cassie, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, sued Combs last year, setting off a wave of increased scrutiny on Combs. That case was settled a day after it was filed.

Adams awarded Combs with the key at a ceremony last year that coincided with the release of a new album.

Howard University this month rescinded an honorary degree awarded to Combs, and ended a scholarship programme in his name, following the release of the video involving Cassie.

Combs, founder of Bad Boy Records, is one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives in the last three decades, turning musical success into a business empire.

An email sent to a representative listed online for Combs was not immediately returned.