Cassie issues a statement

Casandra "Cassie" Ventura has broken her silence following the publication of a frightening surveillance footage from 2016, which saw her ex-boyfriend, Sean "Diddy" Combs, physically beating her in a Los Angeles hotel.

“Thank you for all of the love and support from my family, friends, strangers and those I have yet to meet. The outpouring of love has created a place for my younger self to settle and feel safe now, but this is only the beginning. Domestic Violence is THE issue,” the R&B singer wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Thursday, May 23.

“It broke me down to someone I never thought I would become,” she continued. “With a lot of hard work, I am better today, but I will always be recovering from my past.”

She added, asked anybody viewing the post to believe individuals who say they’ve been abused.

“My only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims the first time. It takes a lot of heart to tell the truth out of a situation that you were powerless in.”

Ending with “This healing journey is never ending, but this support means everything to me.”