Stephen A. Smith Says Diddy's Career Is 'Over in the Worst Possible Way'

Smith, a longtime sports journalist, compared Diddy's abuse of his ex-girlfriend Cassie, to former NFL player Ray Rice assaulting his now-wife on an elevator.

May 18, 2024

Kristina Bumphrey / Variety via Getty Images

In agreement with countless others, Stephen A. Smith believes that the career of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, as we know it to be, is over.

The sports journalist and media personality enlightened viewers of The Stephen A. Smith Show on Friday (May 18), shortly after footage of Diddy physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, surfaced via CNN. Before the disturbing video aired yesterday afternoon, Ventura had only referenced the abuse in her 2023 lawsuit against Combs, which the former couple settled shortly after it was filed.

Describing the video in full, Smith gave a frank prediction about Combs' downfall. "I wanna declare, right here, over these digital airwaves of YouTube, that the career of Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, as we know it, it's over," Smith said in the video below.

"This shit is over," he continued. "It's over in the worst possible way...One of the worst possible ways you can imagine."

Stephen A. also likened the clip to the 2014 video of former Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, assaulting and dragging his now-wife, Janay Rice, in a hotel elevator.

"Remember Ray Rice? Remember what happened?," Stephen A. asked. "Late 2014 when his girl was in the elevator and she either shoved him or hit him and then he check-left-hooked her? And hit her, and knocked her face into the bar inside the elevator? She hit her head to it and then she laid on the floor, unconscious? In the elevator, straight up, knocked out."

But since the video of Combs and Ventura is so damaging–the Bad Boy Records founder is seen grabbing, dragging and even kicking Ventura repeatedly–Stephen A. called it "worse" than Rice's incident.

Stephen A. also suggested that the assault likely isn't Combs' first time being rough with a woman. "There's no way around this. This ain't funny at all," the media personality said. "And yes, this was 2016, but you acting like that in 2016, who's to believe you didn't do it in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023! Why would we believe otherwise?"

Some artists formerly associated with Combs commented on the video, including 50 Cent, who's continuously trolled the music mogul on social media since late last year. "Now I'm sure puffy didn't do it, he is innocent this proves nothing ! This is what his lawyers are gonna say, God help us all," 50 Cent sarcastically wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post from Friday.