NOTE: The following article contains disturbing details and video footage. Please read at your own discretion.
Grammy-winning rapper Kid Cudi (real name Scott Mescudi) testified at the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Thursday, telling the courtroom about his brief relationship 14 years ago with Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
Prosecutors say Combs was so upset about the relationship that he arranged to have the rapper’s convertible firebombed, according to court filings.
Ventura testified last week that Combs arranged for her to meet Mescudi several times in 2011 to work on music. She said her relationship with him began late in the year and she got a burner phone so the two could communicate without Combs learning about it.
She said Combs became enraged when she left him, and he kicked her in the back hard enough to leave a bruise as she was exiting his Los Angeles home for the last time that year.
Ventura said that although she and Combs broke up, they still engaged in so-called freak-offs. It was during one of those episodes that Combs picked up her regular phone and noticed communications that revealed Ventura was seeing Mescudi, Ventura said.
Day 9
Wearing a leather jacket, a white T-shirt and jeans, Mescudi entered the courtroom around 10:45 a.m. He identified himself as an actor and musician and noted he’s known by another name: Kid Cudi.
Prosecutor Emily Johnson began her questioning by showing Mescudi a photo of Ventura and asking him if he knew her.
“We were friends and we dated briefly,” he replied.
He said they first met in 2008, recorded some music together and dated in 2011.
Asked if he knew who else Ventura was involved with around the time they dated, Mescudi replied: “Sean Combs.”
Mescudi said that in December 2011, he received a phone call from Ventura around 6 a.m. and she told him that Combs had found out they were dating.
He told the court that he was confused when she said that because he didn’t think she was still dating Combs.
“She asked me to pick her up,” Mescudi said. “She sounded really stressed on the phone, nervous, scared, so I went to go pick her up.”
Mescudi testified that after he picked up Ventura, they went to a hotel and spoke with one of Combs’ employees, Capricorn Clark, on the phone.
He said Clark seemed “very scared, sounded like she was on the verge of tears.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
He said Clark told them that Combs and an associate were inside Mescudi’s house and she was in the car outside waiting for them.
“She was forced to go along with them over there,” he said.
On the way back to his house from the hotel, Mescudi said, he called Combs and asked him if he was inside his house.
Mescudi said Combs told him that he just wanted to “talk to you” so he told him he was on his way to meet him.
“I’m over here waiting for you,” Combs responded, according to Mescudi, adding that he wasn’t sure what was going on so he decided to call the police.
Mescudi described returning to his house in December 2011 after meeting with Ventura, and said that the outside of his home seemed normal. He said he later realized that his security cameras had been moved.
He testified that when he entered his home, he found a gift he had bought his family open and on the kitchen counter. He also said his dog was locked inside a bathroom and claimed he did not shut the dog in there before he left to meet Ventura.
“I wanted to confront him. I wanted to fight him,” Mescudi told the court, adding that he didn’t know who Combs was with and “what his intentions are.”
Mescudi said he filed a police report that day following the alleged break-in.
He told the court that he spent the Christmas holidays with Ventura at her family’s home in Connecticut and Combs texted him a few times while he was there.
“I guess he was in the dark about things and wanted to talk, but at that point, post break-in, I didn’t want to talk,” Mescudi said.
“You broke into my house, you messed with my dog, I don’t want to talk to you.”
In January 2012, Mescudi said that his dog watcher called him from his house to let him know that his car was on fire. He said he was at his ex-girlfriend’s sister’s house about 45 minutes away.
His friend sent him photos of his damaged car in his driveway and those photos were shown to the jury.
Mescudi described the photo as “the damage of the Molotov cocktail in my Porsche.”
“It looks like the top of my Porsche was cut open, and that’s where the Molotov cocktail was put in,” he added.
He said law enforcement found a Molotov cocktail in his driver’s seat but once he arrived back home, it was “kind of just burnt up.”
When Mescudi was asked about his reaction to the fire, he said, “what the f—.”
After his car was set on fire, Mescudi requested to meet with Combs. When asked in court why he wanted to meet with him, the rapper responded that he reached out because he claimed he knew Combs was somehow involved in the fire.
Combs’ lawyer objected to Mescudi’s speculation, and his answer was struck from the record. Combs has not been proven responsible for the car fire, and his involvement in any way has not been confirmed.
Mescudi said when he went to meet Combs, the music mogul was staring out the window standing with hands behind his back “like a Marvel supervillain.”
He said that Combs remained calm throughout the one-on-one meeting and even offered him water on a couple of occasions.
They eventually stood and shook hands. Then Mescudi said he asked Combs: “What are we going to do about my car?”
Mescudi said Combs gave him a “very cold stare” and responded: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mescudi said he decided to let it go, but recalled Combs noticing his hesitation. “I thought we were cool, is there a problem?” Combs asked.
The Day ‘n’ Nite rapper said he told Combs he would take him at his word, and he eventually made peace with the situation. After that, there were no more break-ins at his house and no more trouble with his car.
What Combs is on trial for
U.S. prosecutors allege that for 20 years, behind the scenes, Combs was coercing and abusing women with help from a network of associates who helped silence victims through blackmail and violence.
Combs faces an indictment that includes descriptions of freak-offs, which are defined in the court doc as “elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.”
Numerous witnesses have come forward to accuse Combs of terrorizing people into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, according to prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Combs dangled someone from a balcony.
Although dozens of men and women have alleged in lawsuits that Combs abused them, this trial will highlight the claims of four women.
Combs is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied all the charges against him and has rejected a plea deal, choosing to go to trial instead.
If found guilty in the New York court, he could face life in prison.
—
Day 8 testimony
Day 7 testimony
Day 6 testimony
Day 5 testimony
Day 4 testimony
Day 3 testimony
Day 2 testimony
—
Global News will be covering the Diddy trial in its entirety. Please check back for updates.
— with files from The Associated Press
