'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Natania Reuben, who alleged that rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs shot her in the face in Club New York in 1999, came forward to respond to the rapper's apology regarding the Cassie Ventura video.
Disclaimer: The following article contains mentions of gun violence, abuse, physical assault and r*pe which can be triggering for some. Readers' discretion is advised.
In an exclusive interview with NewsNation on May 21, 2024, Natania Reuben heavily criticized Diddy's apology video, claiming it has "zero value" as it was a "classic scripted publicist apology" that has been heard innumerable times.
“It has zero value to me. First and foremost, it is the classic scripted publicist apology. ‘I take accountability. I was disgusted. I went to rehab.’ I mean, how many times have we heard this narrative through the annals of time?” Reuben said.
Trending
Natania Reuben was one of three people injured during a shooting that occurred at the now-closed Club New York just off Times Square in the early hours of December 27, 1999.
She has spent the past 25 years of her life trying to get Diddy charged for allegedly shooting her. In an interview with NewsNation on April 1, 2024, she emphasized her willingness to undergo surgery to remove the 9-mm bullet fragments embedded in her face to prove that the rapper was the alleged shooter.
Diddy was not charged as a suspect in Natania Reuben's shooting
According to the New York Post, Diddy, aka Puffy, his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, and rapper Shyne Barrow were all in Club New York on the day of the shooting. An altercation reportedly broke out between Diddy's crew and a Brooklyn drug dealer named Matthew “Scar” Allen, which left three people shot and injured.
A New York Times report stated that the victims were innocent bystanders who didn't suffer any life-threatening injuries. Puffy, Lopez, and Barrow were all arrested in connection with the shooting. Only the latter was charged with the shooting, while the former two were arrested on possible weapon charges.
After a six-week trial in 2001, Barrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while Diddy was acquitted on weapon charges. However, Reuben's retelling of the story portrayed a different version, as the mother of three testified that it was Diddy who shot her.
“I saw Mr. Combs … pull out a black gun with his right hand. I blinked and when I opened my eyes up I just felt like a sledgehammer hit my face. Blood began pouring out of my face. I just looked up to the sky and I said, 'Oh, God, Don't take me.' I heard … Bam-Bam’,” Reuben said in her testimony at the time.
Reuben, who was shot in the face with a 9 mm gun, still has seven bullet fragments lodged in her head and is willing to undergo surgery so the fragments can be used as evidence against the rapper.
“I’m willing to have a doctor remove a part of the 9 mm bullet in my face so that they can use it as evidence if need be for this trial,” she said.
Despite the trial being over, Reuben remained steadfast that it was Puffy who shot her. According to Billboard, she sued the rapper for $130 million in 2008, and the case was settled for $1.8 million in June 2011.
"It was all about him" — Natania Reuben on Diddy's apology video
Speaking to NewsNation, Natania Reuben sympathized with Cassie Ventura for being "revictimized" in light of the resurfaced 2016 assault video. She also criticized Diddy for making the apology video "all about him" and not apologizing directly to Ventura.
"It [the apology] carries no weight to me because he never apologizes to Cassie directly. It was all about him. ‘I’m disgusted,’ ‘I hit a hard time.’ It was all about him," she told NewsNation.
On May 19, two days after CNN publicly released the assault video, Diddy uploaded an apology video on Instagram, addressing his "inexcusable" actions.
“My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into 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 be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
On May 17, 2024, CNN released an exclusive video of Diddy assaulting Ventura, his ex-girlfriend, in a now-defunct InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, in March 2016. The video showed the rapper, clad in only a white towel, running after Ventura and repeatedly hitting, kicking, throwing things, and dragging her down the hotel corridor.
According to CNN, the rapper had previously denied all abuse allegations that Cassie Ventura brought forth against him in her 2023 lawsuit. The R&B singer sued Diddy in federal court on November 16, accusing him of rape and a decadelong pattern of abuse that began when she was 19 years old.
The case was settled the next day for an undisclosed amount of money.
