Diddy paid $100K for video of hotel beating, security guard testifies

NEW YORK - Just moments after brutally assaulting his longtime girlfriend, Cassie, in a Los Angeles hotel hallway, Sean "Diddy" Combs sought out the security guard and seemed to understand the devastating fallout that would follow if the attack was ever seen by the public, according to new testimony.

The case continues to shed light on their allegedly dark and abusive relationship that lasted over a decade. Combs’ sex trafficking trial in Manhattan is expected to last about two months.

Diddy paid $100K for video of hotel beating, security guard says

What they're saying:

Eddy Garcia, testified Thursday that the music mogul gave a brown paper bag stuffed with $100,000 in cash to the then guard, in order to buy what he hoped was the only copy of surveillance footage of the March 2016 assault.

Prosecutors say Combs’ persistent efforts to hush up the episode fit into allegations he used threats and his fortune and fame to get what he wanted.

When Garcia told Combs on the phone that he didn't have access to the server to obtain the video footage, Combs said he believed Garcia could make it happen and that "he would take care of me," which Garcia said he took "to mean financially," according to Garcia’s testimony.

Garcia said he checked with his boss and was told he'd sell it to Combs for $50,000.

When he told Combs, he said the music producer "sounded excited."

"He referred to me as ‘Eddy my angel,’" Garcia said, adding that Combs told him: "I knew you could help. I knew you could do it."

Within two days of the attack on Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, Garcia said he gave Combs a storage device containing the footage in exchange for $100,000 in cash — with Combs feeding bills through a money counter and putting them in a brown paper bag.

Garcia signed a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement, shown in court, that required he pay $1 million if he breached the deal. At the time, he said, he was making $10.50 an hour working hotel security.

Garcia said he signed a declaration swearing that there was no other copy of the video.

After signing, he said, Combs asked him what he planned to do with the money and advised him not to make big purchases. Garcia said he took that to mean he shouldn’t do anything that would draw attention.

Garcia said he gave $50,000 to his boss and $20,000 to another security officer. He pocketed $30,000 and used some of it to buy a used car, he said.

He used cash and, avoiding a further paper trail, never put the money in the bank, he said.

Diddy Trial

Dig deeper:

Cassie sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Within hours, the suit was settled for $20 million — but dozens of similar legal claims followed from other women.

In May 2024, CNN released hotel surveillance video from 2016 showing Combs attacking Cassie — grabbing, punching and kicking her in a hallway. After the video surfaced, Combs issued a public apology, admitting to the incident.

The video is serving as a key piece of evidence in the trial. 

Diddy trial: Who is Cassie?

The backstory:

Cassie is an R&B singer, model, dancer, and actress who broke into the industry in 2005. She met Combs then when she was 19 and he was 37. He signed her to his Bad Boy Records label and, within a few years, they started dating and were in an on-and-off relationship from 2007 to 2018. 

Federal prosecutors accuse Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive and entrepreneur to violently force Cassie and other women to take part in these encounters with sex workers, which he called "freak-offs." 

What is Diddy Combs charged with?

Combs denies all the allegations and has pleaded not guilty. Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.

RELATED: Former employee of Combs to testify next at Diddy trial: Details

Federal prosecutors have charged Combs with a series of crimes including:

• Count 1: Racketeering Conspiracy. Count One charges that, from at least in or about 2004 through in or about 2024, the defendant participated in a racketeering conspiracy during which he agreed with other employees and associates of his businesses to commit kidnapping, arson, bribery of a witness, obstruction of justice, drug distribution, forced labor, sex trafficking, and transportation for purposes of engaging in prostitution.
• Count 2: Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, or Coercion. Count Two charges the defendant with sex trafficking an adult female victim through force, fraud, and coercion between ~2009 and ~2018.
• Count 3: Transportation to Engage in Prostitution. Count Three charges the defendant with transporting that female victim and male commercial sex workers to engage in prostitution between ~2009 and ~2018.
• Count 4: Sex trafficking. Count Four charges the defendant with sex trafficking a second adult female victim through force, fraud, and coercion between ~2021 and ~2024.
• Count 5: Transportation to Engage in Prostitution. Count Five charges the defendant with transporting that second female victim and male commercial sex workers to engage in prostitution between ~2021 and ~2024.

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