Diddy trial: Kid Cudi recalls car fire, alleged threats over Cassie romance

NEW YORK (TNND) — Rapper and actor Kid Cudi took the witness stand on Thursday in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial to tell the jury about his brief relationship with Cassie Ventura, Combs' ex-girlfriend, 14 years ago.

Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, told the jury he understood Combs and Ventura had "some problems" and "they weren't dating anymore" when he first started a relationship with the singerin 2011, CNN reported from the courtroom.

He then went on to describe an incident where his car was set on fire and a call from Combs' assistant at that time, Capricorn Clark, telling the rapper Combs was at his home.

Cudi testified he picked up Ventura in December 2011 and took her to a hotel after Combs found out they were dating. While there, he said he got a call from Clark who told him Combs and an affiliate were in his house and that she had been forced to go with him.

When he left the hotel to drive home, Cudi said he called Combs to ask why he was in his house. He said Combs calmly replied, "I want to talk to you."

But Combs wasn’t there when he arrived, Cudi said. Instead, he found that someone had opened Christmas presents he’d bought for his family and locked his dog in a bathroom.

According to Cudi, his Porsche 911 convertible was destroyed in a fire a few weeks later while parked in his driveway. Cudi said he was at a friend’s house when his dogsitter called and told him his car was on fire. Jurors were shown photos of a hole that had been cut in the car's fabric roof and a Molotov cocktail that had been found on the passenger seat.

Ventura testified last week that Combs had threatened to blow up Cudi's car and hurt him after he learned she was dating the rapper. She added that she even got a burner phone so the two could communicate without Combs learning about it.

Shortly after, Cudi and Combs met in person to discuss Cudi's relationship with Ventura from start to finish. The musician testified, “Combs was standing there, staring out the window with his hands behind his back, like a Marvel supervillain,” according to CNN.

In 2015, Cudi said the two ran into each other at a club and Combs pulled Cudi aside to apologize. He added that he "found peace" with the situation after that.

When Ventura took the stand last week, she said she and Combs had broken up at the time, although they still engaged in “freak-offs” that involved sexual performances with male escorts that Combs watched and sometimes participated in. It was during one of those “freak-offs” that Combs picked up her regular phone and noticed communications that revealed Ventura was seeing Cudi, Cassie said.

Ventura testified that Combs left a large bruise on her back where he kicked her as she left his Los Angeles home for the last time that year, CNN reported. Regina Ventura, Cassie's mother, helped her take photos of the bruises to keep as evidence.

Regina told the jury on Tuesday that she received an email in December 2011 from her daughter saying that Combs was so angry about the relationship with Cudi that he planned to release sexually explicit videos of her and send someone to hurt them.

She then said she received a demand from Combs for $20,000 “to recoup money he had spent on [Ventura] because he was unhappy she was in a relationship with Kid Cudi," according to CNN.

“He was angry that he had spent money on her and she went with another person,” she told the jury.

Regina said she used a home equity loan to make the payment because “I was scared for my daughter's safety.” Days later, she said, the money was wired back to her, and before long, her daughter was dating Combs again. CNN reports that the government had bank records that showed both transactions.

During the defense cross-examination of Cudi, Combs' lawyer Brian Steel painted Cassie as the villain in her relationships with Combs and Cudi, suggesting she had played both of them and had been living a “double life.”

“Ms. Ventura was living two different lives, is that true?” Steel asked.

“Yes,” Cudi replied.

Cudi said he was upset to find out that she had later decided to go back to Combs.

The extent of Combs’ involvement in his defense was illustrated at the end of Cudi’s testimony when prosecutor Emily Johnson asked if he believed Combs when he said he didn’t know what he was talking about when he brought up the car fire during a meeting.

Cudi said he came away from his meeting with Combs thinking “that he was lying.”

At that point, two defense lawyers on either side of Combs consulted whether they should get the last word in and ask any follow-up questions. Combs told them no and shook his head. Both lawyers then shook their heads, too, and the judge was informed that there would be no more questions from the defense.

With that, Cudi, who yawned several times as he testified, was permitted to leave. He left the courtroom without looking in the direction of Combs.

Combs' one-time personal assistant, George Kaplan, continued testifying Thursday after telling the jury Wednesday that he was in charge of cleaning up hotel rooms after the hip-hop mogul’s sex marathons — tossing out empty alcohol bottles, baby oil and drugs, tidying pillows and making it look as if nothing had happened.

An implied part of the job was that "protecting him and protecting his public image were important to him," Kaplan told jurors during the trial, according to CNN. "That’s what I was keen on doing."

The former assistant said he would sometimes work 80 to 100 hours a week and was paid around $125,000.Kaplan, 34, was granted immunity to testify after initially telling the Manhattan court that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Prosecutors contend Combs leaned on employees and used his music and fashion empire to facilitate and cover up his behavior, sometimes making threats to keep them in line and his misconduct hush-hush.

Frédéric Zemmour testified that Combs frequently stayed at the L’Ermitage Beverly Hills using aliases such as Frank White and Frank Black — names Cassie said he used when checking in for “freak-off” sexual encounters.

Zemmour said Combs’ guest profile noted that he “ALWAYS spills candle wax on everything and uses excessive amounts of oil.” The profile instructed staff to “place the room out of order upon departure for deep cleaning.”

“Please authorize an extra $1000 when a guest stays with us to cover any room damages,” Combs’ guest profile said.

Prosecutors highlighted several complaints about Combs’ stays in the hotel’s internal files, including one from January 2010 in which the housekeeping staff said it observed “large deposits of candle wax on carpets in the living room area, and on the nightstands in the bedroom area.” Combs was charged $500 for the damage.

Makeup artist Mylah Morales testified that she saw injuries on Cassie’s face only once while doing makeup for her between 2007 and 2021.

She said it happened in 2010 during Grammys weekend after Combs stormed into Cassie’s bedroom at a hotel and she heard “yelling and screaming.”

After an angry Combs left the room, Morales said, she went in and saw Cassie.

“She had a swollen eye and a busted lip and knots on her head,” she said.

They’d met on a photoshoot when Cassie was a teenager, and Morales said they’d worked together regularly from 2007 to 2021.

Morales said Combs, who was also a client, wanted the final say on Cassie’s makeup looks.

“Sean always made sure that the look was perfect,” Morales testified. “You’d have to report back to him,” sending him cell phone pictures for his approach.

Morales testified that she was sleeping on a hotel room couch when Combs came storming in after Cassie on the weekend of the Grammy Awards in 2010.

Combs went into the bedroom where Cassie was and pulled the door closed before shouting started, Morales said.

When she saw Cassie with a swollen eye, busted lip and knots on her head, Morales said she immediately packed up her things and got her out of the hotel.

Cassie testified last week that Combs “beat me up in that room.” Cassie said she ended up staying at Morales’ nearby home for three or four days.

Morales said her doctor friend checked Cassie out the next day and recommended she go to the emergency room, but Cassie didn’t go.

Combs, 55, was arrested in September 2024, about roughly six months after federal authorities raided his homes in Los Angeles and Miami. He has been jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest.

He has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment and faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all charges. He is facing charges of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, transportation for purposes of prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.

On Tuesday, prosecutors say they’ll call Capricorn Clark, who was an assistant to Combs and a member of his marketing team. They said they also expect to call witnesses from the Los Angeles police and fire departments.

Editor's Note:The Associated Press contributed to this story.