NEW YORK — (AP) — Rapper Kid Cudi testified Thursday that Sean "Diddy" Combs broke into his Hollywood Hills home in 2011 after finding out he was dating Combs' ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, and that someone set fire to his car weeks later.
Speaking at Combs' federal sex trafficking trial in Manhattan, Cudi said that while he and Cassie briefly dated, he took her to a hotel to get her away from the seething Combs. While there, he said, he got a call from Combs’ assistant, Capricorn Clark, who told him Combs and an affiliate were in Cudi's house and that she had been forced to go with them.
Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, said he called Combs while driving home and asked 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. Cudi said he wasn’t sure what was going on, so he called the police.
A few weeks later, Cudi testified, his Porsche 911 convertible was destroyed by fire while parked in his driveway. Cudi said he was at a friend’s house when his dog-sitter 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. A Molotov cocktail was found on the passenger seat, Cudi said.
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, testified last week that Combs had threatened to blow up Cudi’s car and hurt him after he learned she was dating the Grammy Award-winning rapper, who is known for his alternative hip-hop style.
Cudi told jurors that Combs denied involvement in the car fire when they met to try to smooth things over the next day at a Los Angeles hotel. He said he sought the meeting because “after the fire, I said this is getting out of hand. I need to talk to him.”
Cudi said he didn’t have conflicts at the time with anyone other than Combs.
“I knew he had something to do with it,” Cudi said, leading Combs’ lawyers to object. Jurors were told to disregard the remark.
At the end of the meeting, as they stood and shook hands, Cudi said he asked Combs: “What are we going to do about my car?” Cudi said Combs gave him a “very cold stare” and responded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Cudi said he was annoyed by Combs’ answer but let it go, and there were no more episodes at his house.
A few years later, Combs apologized “for everything” when they ran into each other at a hotel, Cudi testified.
Combs seemed subdued as Cudi testified. Although he looked toward the witness stand, neither man seemed to react to the other. Cudi didn’t look at Combs when he left the stand. Wearing jeans and a black leather jacket, Cudi arrived at the courthouse smoking a cigarette while someone held an umbrella over him in the rain. He didn’t stop to speak to reporters while leaving.
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges. He denies using threats or his music industry clout to abuse women and others, and denies forcing Cassie or anyone else to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances called freak-offs.
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.”
Cudi testified that when he started dating Cassie in late 2011, she led him to believe she and Combs had broken up.
In reality, Cassie testified earlier, she was still seeing Combs for freak-offs and using a burner phone to contact Cudi and keep their relationship secret from Combs.
“Ms. Ventura was living two different lives, is that true?” Steel asked.
“Yes,” Cudi replied.
Cudi said he was upset to find out she later decided to go back to Combs.
The federal investigation of Combs began in November 2023, a day after Cassie sued him alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. The lawsuit was settled by Combs for $20 million the next day.
In four days of testimony last week, Cassie said Combs physically abused her during most of their relationship from 2007 through 2018.
She said she ended her relationship with Cudi in late 2011 after only a few weeks because Combs learned about it.
George Kaplan, Combs' personal assistant from 2013 to 2015, testified earlier Thursday that he saw Combs be violent with Cassie once, on a 2015 trip to Las Vegas on Combs' private jet. He said no one helped her as she screamed: “Isn't anybody seeing this?” Kaplan said he didn't intervene because he feared losing his dream job, but quit after that attack and a later episode in which he saw Cassie with a bruised eye.
After Cudi, jurors heard from makeup artist Mylah Morales, who’s worked for Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and other stars. She said Combs stormed into Cassie's bedroom at a hotel on the weekend of the 2010 Grammy Awards. Combs shut the door, and she heard “yelling and screaming." Then she saw Cassie with a “swollen eye and a busted lip, and knots on her head.”
Later, the general manager of the ritzy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills hotel testified that Combs frequently stayed there using aliases such as Frank White and Frank Black — names Cassie said he used when checking in for freak-offs.
Frédéric Zemmour said Combs’ guest profile noted 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.”
The trial is set to resume Tuesday.
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Associated Press writer Julie Walker in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
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