NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Eric Adams told 1010 WINS' Lori Madden Wednesday that the city is still reviewing revoking Sean "Diddy" Combs' key to the city, following the release last month of hotel surveillance video of the hip-hop mogul physically assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura -- beating and dragging her through a now-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
"As I indicated earlier, after the horrendous video came out -- it was disturbing to everyone -- that we've never removed the key from anyone before," Adams said. "The committee that decided who received keys, are convening and they're going to come out and determine what the next steps are."
He explained, "We want to make sure that once we set precedent, that we do it correctly, but I have a lot of faith in the committee and they will come and give me their recommendation. Once you put a process in place, you don't want to make arbitrary decisions because now we're setting precedent and we, I, want them to be smarter decision."
The decision to take back a key to the city -- which Combs received from Adams in a Times Square ceremony in Sept. 2023 -- cannot be taken lightly, he stressed. "Are you going to look and make a determination, removing the key based on certain actions? Based on if a person commits a crime? So we want to do it right, because that's the precedent that we're gonna set in the future."
He reiterated, "But again, we all are disturbed by what we saw and I have a lot of faith in this, in the group that was put together to determine who received a key. And I have faith that they're going to make the right decision in this case, as well."
When WINS' Scott Stanford spoke with Adams on May 20, just three days after CNN released the surveillance video, the mayor said, "all of us who looked at the video, we just … it was … we were probably sick to our stomach, and our team is doing an analysis. We never have taken a key back from anyone, but the team is doing an analysis of what the next steps are."
Combs previously denied Ventura’s allegations of assault, which were the basis of a federal lawsuit filed by Ventura in November, which has since been settled.
But in an Instagram video he posted after the surveillance video was released, he said, "My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video."
Ventura also took to Instagram, writing, "This healing journey is never ending, but this support means everything to me. Thank you."
Meanwhile, CNN reported Wednesday that federal investigators are preparing to bring Diddy's accusers before a federal grand jury, according to two sources familiar with the probe. This could mean that the Department of Justice is moving toward seeking an indictment of Combs.