John Legend is speaking out against Sean “Diddy” Combs following several abuse and sex trafficking allegations levied against him — and is opening up about the abuse of women in general.
In an interview released Thursday, Legend, 45, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he was “horrified” at the accusations made by Combs’ ex-girlfriend Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura and several other women.
“I was horrified by the descriptions that I read before the video evidence came out,” Legend said during the interview on May 30. “And it’s something that needs to be brought to light when it happens.”
The “All of Me” singer added that he was “horrified by the allegations” as well as “by the video evidence that was released after that,” referring to the security camera footage from March 2016 released by CNN earlier this month that shows Combs physically attacking and throwing things at Ventura in a hotel hallway.
Ventura also referred to this same incident in her now-settled lawsuit filed last November, in which she also claimed that the music mogul raped and sex trafficked her over an abusive 10 years.
“My default stance is to believe women when they make these accusations and to make sure that we do whatever we can to support women,” Legend continued, adding that he hopes these women are “heard and that any kind of accountability and reparations can be made to make these women whole again.”
“It’s quite a shame,” he finished. “I just want accountability and hopefully some healing for all of his victims.”
Legend and Combs previously collaborated on his 2023 track “Kim Porter,” which also featured Babyface. The song is named after Combs’ late partner who died in 2018.
After the video obtained and published by CNN was made public earlier this month, Combs spoke out about the clip and seemingly apologized to Ventura.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life,” Combs said after the release of the video, sharing a statement via an Instagram video. “Sometimes you gotta do that. I was f—ed up. I mean I hit rock bottom but I make no excuses. My behaviour on that video is inexcusable.”
He continued, “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.”
“Disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help, going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry, but I’m committed to being a better man. Every day,” Combs added.
