Howard University in Washington DC, United States, has decided to strip rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs of his honorary degree after a CCTV video of him hitting an ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura in 2016 was published online. The university said his "behaviour as captured in a recently released video is so fundamentally incompatible with Howard University's core values and beliefs that he is deemed no longer worthy to hold the institution's highest honor," as per a report in the BBC.
"The Howard University Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to accept the return by Mr. Sean Combs of the honorary degree conferred upon him in 2014," the Board said in a statement.
"This acceptance revokes all honours and privileges associated with the degree. Accordingly, the Board has directed that his name be removed from all documents listing honorary degree recipients of Howard University," they added.
The university is also returning a $1 million contribution, terminating a 2016 gift arrangement with Combs, a scholarship in his name, and a 2023 pledge agreement with the Sean Combs Foundation. Notably, Combs attended Howard University from 1987 to 1989.
The rapper is the target of several civil lawsuits that characterize him as a violent sexual predator who used alcohol and drugs to subdue his victims, and his homes were raided this year by federal agents. The clip showed shows the rap mogul hitting, dragging and kicking Ms Ventura, who in her recent lawsuit said Combs subjected her to more than a decade of coercion by physical force and drugs, plus a 2018 rape.
Ventura sued Combs in federal court last fall in a lawsuit that was settled out of court but succeeded by a string of similarly lurid sexual assault claims against the hip-hop star, as per the AFP.
Combs posted a video on Instagram and said, "My behaviour on that video is inexcusable." He added he was "disgusted" and "sought out professional help" after the incident including therapy and rehab.
"I'm so sorry. I'm committed to be a better man each and every day," he said in the video.
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