Violence cropped up in the hip hop world in stunning fashion on Thursday afternoon, as New York police are looking for three suspects -- one of them who may be Sean "Puffy" Combs -- whom they believe walked into the office of Interscope Records around 4:30 and attacked label executive Steve Stoute, who is also the manager of rapper Nas.

Sources say the beatdown came as a result of a video which aired on MTV's "Total Request Live" earlier in the day. In the video, for Nas' track "Hate Me Now," Puffy Combs appears in a number of scenes, including one in which he is being crucified. According to sources within Bad Boy, Columbia Records, Nas' label, submitted to MTV a version of the video that had not been approved by Bad Boy, one which contained the crucifixion scene that Puffy is alleged to have objected to.

That version aired on Thursday's "Total Request Live." Puffy was reportedly watching Total Request Live at the time, and was extremely unhappy to see the crucifixion scene

in the video.

But while Bad Boy is confirming that there was a dispute between the two labels over the airing of the video, they have not confirmed that Puffy or any representatives from Bad Boy took part in the assault. Police say Steve Stoute sustained an arm injury in the fracas, but was "removed from the scene" in stable condition. At press time, there was no comment from Columbia Records.

MTV has pulled the Nas video from the air until both Bad Boy Entertainment and Columbia Records have settled their apparent differences. We'll keep you posted as this story develops.