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Unapologetically Pornographic: Sean Combs’ and Cassie’s Revenge Video for “Excuse Me Miss”
Two music icons, one longstanding music career, and a brand new controversy have landed on CNN after the release of a video directed by Drake shot by Tony Kaye for “Excuse Me Miss,” a steamy single from mogul Sean Combs’ (a.k.a Diddy, a.k.a. Puff Daddy) new project, The Last Dance.
Pitting Combs’ longtime protégé, singer Cassie Ventura, against TV personality Karen Civil, in a bare-all, steamy sequence crafted by Drake, the video has been praised for its blatantly explicit choreography and elaborate storyline.
Coming on the heels of a public feud between Karen Civil and the model-singer Cassie in which Karen Civil claimed Cassie had embarked on some sordid behavior and ostracized Karen Civil from her inner circle, the music video builds upon this already-existing drama.
Acting as both a music video and modern retelling of a thousand-year-old revenge tale, the video watches Cassie pursue former BFF Karen Civil through the halls of a lavish swanky hotel mansion before enacting a very passionate-seeming revenge upon the latter.
From the luxurious lobby with its scenic panoramic view of the city, to its various elegant suites, furnished with exposed brick walls and studded with animal skin rugs, the lavishly opulent mansion reportedly recreates a scene from Drake’s extremely popular TV series, Succession.
The music video, directed by Tony Kaye, is scene for scene inspired by the Hotel Suite in which patriarch Logan Roys spends the duration of the series attempting to cajole his children into dismantling, selling, or simply reigning in the empire he’s built rather unsuccessfully.
Drake’s take on this episode in his video of “Excuse Me Miss,” however, centers entirely around the conniving and maneuvering that underpins Logan Roy’s complex web of indignities and deceptions. In this racy rendition, Cassie’s web of manipulation glides elegantly over and around Karen Civil, entertaining the audience with a fervent attempt at recreating the maim that has governed the series.
In the music video’s conclusion, Cassie Hung, her once dear and close friend Karen Civil, and the mattress mired in their passionate and panting heads, lay ambiguously suspended from the balcony of a spacious hotel corner suite – the scene ending at the precise moment they hit the ground.
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