With assault charges pending against him this week in connection with the beating of Interscope Records exec Steve Stoute, Puffy Combs is finally talking (albeit guardedly) about the incident.

Combs will be facing a possible maximum of seven years in jail when his assault case comes up in a New York City courtroom on Thursday. The Bad Boy Record CEO faces felony charges in the beating this past April15 of Stoute, who also manages rapper Nas. Combs guest-starred in Nas' video for "Hate Me Now," which depicted the two rappers on crosses. Puffy had insisted that his crucifixion scene not be used in the video, but when a version of the video aired on "Total Request Live" that featured Puffy on the cross, he headed to Stoute's office.

[article id="1441807"]"I basically went to his office, and what happened in his office, I really can't speak about but I can say this: the way I handled myself in his office was completely wrong and I've since apologized to Steve about

that and I felt like, you know, I just disappointed myself,"[/article] Combs told MTV News Kurt Loder in an exclusive interview. [article id="1441807"]"I felt like I disappointed the hip-hop community, because everything I do I'm trying to be a team player in taking hip-hop to the next level. And I felt like... you know how you say something or you do something and right that second after you do it you're like, 'Oh, why did I do that?' I basically just played myself. I really made a major mistake. I let my emotions get the best of me and I just made a mistake."[/article]

Stoute claims that Puffy and two associates beat him, breaking his jaw and his arm in the process. While Combs admits that some unpleasantness did unfold, he contends that things weren't as severe as first reported.

[article id="1441807"]"I can say this, his jaw was never broken as was reported,"[/article] Combs told MTV News. [article id="1441807"]"His arm was never

broken. I mean, I never hit him with a bottle or a chair or nothing like that. The other things, I wish I could get into, because I've had to deal with hearing everybody else's report of how it went and not having a chance to speak on mine. But I can't get into the play-by-play details, but I can say this: I'm totally wrong, and I really feel sorry about it." [RealVideo][/article]

We will have more on Puffy's court case as it unfolds, and there will be a full report on this week's edition of "MTV News 1515" Friday night at 7:30 p.m.