Diddy trial: Ex-security guard of InterContinental hotel testifies rapper paid $50K to obtain 2016 Cassie assault video

Eddy Garcia, an ex-security officer at the InterContinental Hotel, took the stand on day 15 of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s trial to testify about a surveillance video that captured the rapper assaulting Casandra "Cassie" Ventura in 2016. During his testimony, Garcia revealed that Combs paid him $50,000 to obtain the video from the hotel’s security system, as reported by CNN.

According to a TMZ article dated May 14, 2025, the video in question was recorded on March 5, 2016, and featured Diddy pushing Cassie to the ground and kicking her in the hotel hallway of the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The unedited video was released on the night of May 13, 2025, following the second day of testimony in Diddy’s federal s*x trafficking trial in New York City.

This video was a critical piece of evidence in the federal case because it supported the prosecution's claim that Cassie was forced by Diddy to have s*x with male escorts as part of "freak-offs" held at various hotels, as per the Washington Post.

As per CNN’s latest report, Eddy Garcia, who was 24 years old in 2016, worked as a security employee at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles.

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Eddy Garcia details Diddy’s alleged attempts to retrieve assault video of Cassie Ventura during testimony

Sean "Diddy" Combs (Image via Getty)

On June 3, 2025, during the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, former hotel security officer Eddy Garcia delivered detailed testimony regarding the events surrounding the now-infamous video of Combs assaulting singer Cassie Ventura. According to his testimony, Combs and his team tried to retrieve the video before it became public.

Garcia revealed that about 90 minutes into his 2 pm shift on March 5, 2016, he received a call from Kristina Khorram, Combs’s personal assistant, as per CNN. She asked if he was "familiar" with an incident that "occurred earlier that day", referring to the assault involving Cassie.

When Garcia confirmed that he was familiar with the incident, Khorram shared that Combs "had been intoxicated and didn’t remember" what had happened. She then asked Garcia if there was any "possible way to get a copy of the video or see the video".

"I told her that she would have to reach out to hotel management or get a subpoena," Garcia testified.

As per the CNN report, Khorram contacted Garcia a second time—this time in person—and again asked to view the footage, saying she "wanted to know what they were dealing with". Without revealing too much detail, Garcia recalled telling her, "off the record" that the video was "bad", while once again apologizing and reiterating the legal protocol.

Shortly afterward, Garcia testified that he received a call at the security desk—this time from Diddy himself.

"Mr. Combs sounded very nervous, just was talking really fast, was just saying that he had a little too much to drink and that I knew how things was," Garcia stated.

The conversation escalated when Combs allegedly offered money in exchange for the footage, fearing its release would be damaging. Garcia relayed the request to his boss, who agreed to “do it for 50 ($50,000).”

Garcia further shared that when he contacted Combs to confirm the video could be retrieved, the rapper responded by saying:

"Eddy, my angel, I knew you could help. I knew you could do it".

As per the report, the following day, Garcia’s boss accessed the server and downloaded the footage of Combs assaulting Cassie onto a thumb drive. Garcia then contacted Khorram to arrange delivery and handed over the video at the address Combs had provided.

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Cassie Ventura, one of the key witnesses in the case against Sean “Diddy” Combs, recently welcomed her third child—a son—with her husband, Alex Fine.

Meanwhile, Combs is facing serious charges, including five counts of s*x trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution. His trial began on May 5, 2025, and is scheduled to last six to eight weeks.