Ostensibly, the rapper Cam’ron appeared on CNN on Monday night to give his thoughts on the video of Sean “Diddy” Combs violently beating his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura and his subsequent apology.
Instead, the interview rapidly went off the rails and descended into Cam’ron using his airtime to chug a sex supplement drink, promote his podcast, and ask: “Who booked me for this joint?”
Host Abby Phillip began the interview asking Cam’ron—real name Cameron Giles—if he recognized the Diddy on display in the 2016 video showing him attacking Ventura in a hotel. Cam’ron said that everything in the clip was “egregious.” “When I seen the video, yeah, I was kind of upset with it,” he continued. “Being that I know him—he’s not necessarily a friend—but yeah, I was upset when I seen it.”
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From there, the interview turned into a farce.
“Did you recognize that kind of anger at all from your experiences [with Diddy]?” Phillip asked. “What do you mean do I be recognize—did I recognize him?” Cam’ron replied, visibly irritated by the line of questioning. “I seen him. What do you mean my ‘experiences’? I seen him, and I thought it was disgusting. I didn’t do a zoom-in to see if it was really him or nothing. But he admitted it was him, so, yeah, it was him.”
Asked for his thoughts on Diddy’s apology video, Cam’ron said it doesn’t matter what he thinks. “He didn’t do nothing to me,” Cam’ron said. “You need to ask Cassie if she accepts the apology.”
Phillip then played a 2023 clip from Cam’ron’s podcast. In the footage, Cam’ron asks rapper Mase about his decision to take Cam’ron “to Biggie Smalls and not Bad Boy,” referring to the record label founded by Diddy, Bad Boy Records. Mase answers that he saw Cam’ron as “such a good friend” and he “knew Biggie would do right” by him.
“Can you tell us a little bit more about that?” Phillip asked Cam’ron after the clip ended. “Is there something known in the industry about how Diddy treated his artists?” Cam’ron didn’t seem especially interested in the question, however, holding up to the camera a bottle of of his Pink Horse Power sex supplement—which purports to “empower man’s sexual intimacy by helping to improve stamina and libido.”
“Sorry, I’m gonna get some cheeks after this Horse Power joint,” Cam’ron said after downing the supplement. He then went on to say “I can’t really tell you how Puff moves or anything like that” before taking the opportunity to plug his podcast. “I might get some more information out of Mase from there,” he said.
“What about the industry in general?” Phillip asked, gallantly attempting to keep the interview on track. “So many people have pointed out that Diddy couldn’t get away with this stuff if there weren’t a lot of people protecting him. Do you think that’s the case?”
“Who the talent agent for this joint?” Cam’ron said in response, ignoring the question. “You think I be sitting around watching what Diddy do and all this? I didn’t know this was a Diddy joint that y’all invited me to.” Speaking to someone off-camera, he asked: “Yo, who booked me for this joint?”
Phillip then quickly wrapped it up. “All right, Cam’ron, thanks for joining us. Thank you for your time tonight,” she said. Even after Cam’ron’s video feed was cut, he could be heard saying: “Thank you for having me. You enjoy.”
Cam’ron later posted a clip of the fiasco on his Instagram account. “FUCK THEY INVITE ME ON CNN FOR?” reads one text caption on the footage. The other promoted his sex drink.
