On Sunday, Sean “Diddy” Combs posted a video apology that followed CNN’s bombshell release of 2016 hotel surveillance footage in which the rapper and mogul could be seen throwing his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, to the ground and kicking her. Combs said he was “disgusted” by his behavior, for which he “sought out professional help.” And yet even The Breakfast Club co-host Charlamagne Tha God—who has in the past expressed displeasure over Diddy’s legacy being ruined—was, in this instance, unmoved.
“Can’t believe anything that comes out of Diddy’s mouth,” Charlamagne began, after his co-host played a clip of Diddy’s apology. “He’s not sorry, he’s sorry he got caught. He’s sorry that the video leaked, OK? If that video hadn’t come out, he’d still be lying right now.” On Monday, Charlamagne also crowned Diddy the “donkey of the day.”
In the past, Charlamagne has sung a slightly different tune. Just last month, in response to the news that Diddy’s homes were being raided, the host said on another podcast, “I don’t know, man, I just don’t like it. I don’t like it because it’s sad. How many peoples’ legacies have we watched burn to the ground? From Russell Simmons, Diddy… These guys fucking provided the soundtrack to our lives. They contributed to the culture in real ways before we knew any of this shit. You have feelings, you have mixed emotions.”
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In 2013, Diddy launched the cable channel Revolt TV, and Charlamagne Tha God signed a deal in 2014 with the network to televise The Breakfast Club, but the partnership concluded in 2021. In other words, until a few years ago, Diddy was technically Charlamagne’s boss. (Diddy reportedly sold off his stake in Revolt earlier this year after his homes were raided in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation.)
As of this week, Charlamagne isn’t the only big celeb who’s taken shots at Diddy’s apology tour. Singer Aubrey O’Day—formerly a member of the group Danity Kane, which came together via Diddy’s Making the Band—mirrored Charlamagne’s take, writing on X, “Diddy did not apologize to Cassie. He apologized to the world for seeing what he did. He says he’s ‘disgusted w himself now, and he was disgusted w himself then’.. but apparently he wasn’t disgusted enough w himself to not PIN this statement out calling her a liar & denying all of it.. leave god and mercy out of this, they aren’t present here, and you know it.”
“This is not going to work, who is advising him right now? SMH bad move,” rapper 50 Cent wrote on Instagram, re-posting Diddy’s video.
50 Cent also ripped the same statement from Diddy that O’Day had tweeted. “The lie detector test has determined this was a lie…. Maury vibes,” 50 Cent commented.
And Ventura’s lawyer Meredith Firetog also got in on denouncing Diddy, saying in a statement to People, “Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt.”
“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday,” Firetog continued. “That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”
Perhaps most notably, former Bad Boy Records artist Shyne, who recently labeled himself as the “fall guy” for Diddy’s 1999 shooting incident, denounced the surveillance video footage.
“I vehemently denounce the repugnant behavior of Sean Diddy Combs captured on the video in which he is seen physically assaulting Mrs. Cassie Ventura-Fine,” Shyne wrote on Instagram. “There is no place for Violence against Women anywhere on the planet. As a father of a precious daughter, a global citizen and the next Prime Minister of Belize I want absolutely nothing to do with people who engage in this pattern of diabolical behavior.”
