Sean Combs trial updates: Court adjourned until Tuesday after Kid Cudi testimony
Last updated: Thursday, May 22, 2025 11:36PM GMT
NEW YORK -- The second week of testimony in the sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs began on Monday.
Combs has been accused of sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy as part of a blockbuster federal indictment originally filed in September 2024. He later faced two additional superseding indictments. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
This story may contain accounts and descriptions of actual or alleged events that some readers may find disturbing.
"Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy," a new podcast from "20/20" and ABC Audio, traces how the whispers of abuse came to light and led to the downfall of Sean "Diddy" Combs, who was once among the most influential entertainers and entrepreneurs in hip hop. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and more.
(ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
'I knew Sean Combs was violent': Kid Cudi concludes testimony
On cross-examination, Scott Mescudi testified that Cassie Ventura told him about alleged physical abuse she said she suffered at the hands of Sean Combs but that she did not mention sexual abuse.
Defense attorney Brian Steel said both Mescudi and Combs were "played" by the same woman.
"The person who played you, the person who played Sean was Ms. Ventura. True?" Steel asked.
"Yeah," Mescudi replied.
At the conclusion of cross-examination, Steel thanked Mescudi, who responded, "Yeah, no problem."
On re-direct examination, Mescudi testified that Ventura told him that Combs "would hit her, sometimes kick her."
Mescudi told the court that he and Ventura broke up because "things were getting out of hand" and that he felt concerned for his safety and her safety.
"I knew Sean Combs was violent," Mescudi testified, prompting an objection and a sidebar.
During the SoHo House social club meeting in 2012, when, according to Mescudi's earlier testimony, Combs claimed not to know what Mescudi was talking about regarding the firebombing of his car, Mescudi told the jury that he thought Combs "was lying."
Kid Cudi's testimony has concluded. The court is in lunch break.
May 22, 2025, 4:57 PM GMT
Kid Cudi testified Combs looked 'like a Marvel supervillain' in meeting after car fire
A couple of days after his Porsche was firebombed, Scott Mescudi, aka rapper Kid Cudi, testified that he called Sean Combs.
"I reached out to Sean Combs after my car had caught fire and finally told him we needed to meet up and talk," Mescudi told the court. "He had been wanting to talk to me. After the fire I said, 'this is getting out of hand.'"
When prosecutor Emily Johnson asked why Mescudi called Combs regarding the firebombing of his car, he replied, "I knew he had something to do with it." The defense objected and the judge instructed the jury to disregard the response.
Kid Cudi testifies on the witness stand during Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial in Manhattan federal court May 22, 2025.
Mescudi testified that he and Combs arranged to meet at the SoHo House social club in Los Angeles, where Mescudi testified that he saw Sean Combs "standing there staring out the window with his hands behind his back, like a Marvel supervillain." The remark earned a chuckle in the courtroom.
"We discussed the whole story about how me and Cassie first started to date to what it was to how it ended. His whole point was, you know, we were homies. She was my girl. I let him know that she told me they were broken up," Mescudi testified.
Mescudi told the court that Combs' demeanor during their meeting was "very calm," which Mescudi found "off-putting": "It was weird that he was so calm," Mescudi testified.
Mescudi testified that when the meeting ended, "We stood up, shook hands and as I was shaking his hand I said, 'What are we going to do about my car?'"
"He looked right back at me, very cold stare, and said 'I don't know what you're talking about,'' Mescudi told the court.
Mescudi testified that he withdrew his hand, whereupon Combs asked, "I thought we were cool. Do we have a problem?" Mescudi testified that he confirmed that Combs was giving his word that he didn't burn his car.
Mescudi told the court that a couple of years later, he saw Combs again at the SoHo House in Los Angeles.
"He was with his daughter and he pulled me to the side and basically apologized for everything. He said 'Man I just want to apologize for everything, all that b-------,'" Mescudi testified.
"After I got the apology I found peace with it. That was the last thing I was suspecting to get from him," Mescudi testified.
May 22, 2025, 4:06 PM GMT
Kid Cudi testifies about car being set on fire during his relationship with Cassie Ventura
"Hi," Scott Mescudi, aka rapper Kid Cudi, greeted prosecutor Emily Johnson at the onset of his testimony. "I'm an actor and a musician," he told the court.
Mescudi testified about an alleged break-in at his home in December 2011, when he was in a romantic relationship with Cassie Ventura while she was still in a relationship with Combs.
"I got a call from Cassie around 5:30-6 a.m. She told me that Sean Combs had found out about us. I was confused but she asked me to pick her up. She sounded really stressed on the phone, scared, nervous. So I went to go pick her up," Mescudi testified.
Rapper Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi arrives for the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial at Manhattan Federal Court on May 22, 2025 in New York City.
Mescudi told the court that he took Ventura to the Sunset Marquis hotel where, he testified, Combs' assistant called, informing him that "Sean Combs was in my house" and she "was forced to go along," referring to the assistant.
Mescudi testified that he drove in his Porsche 911 Cabriolet to the house in which he was living at the time and called Sean Combs while on the way.
"I said, 'm-----------, you in my house?' And he said, 'What's up?'" Cudi told the court. He testified that he asked Combs again, "'Are you in my house? I just want to talk to you. I'm on my way over right now."
When he arrived at home, Mescudi testified that he saw "some gifts I had bought for my family were opened" and that his "dog was locked up in my bathroom." He told the court that the incident left his dog "jittery" and "kind of on edge all the time."
Mescudi said he again called Combs. "I was asking him where he was and he said, 'I'm on my way.'"
Mescudi testified that he thought, "I don't know who he has with him, what his intentions are" so he opted to call the police, who came to the house and took a report about the break-in.
Mescudi also told the court that in 2012, he received an early-morning phone call that "my car was on fire." Asked for his reaction, Kid Cudi responded: "What the f---."
The jury saw photos of Mescudi's damaged Porsche, including the blackened interior door and the charred, melted driver's seat.
"The top of my Porsche was cut open. That's where they inserted the Molotov cocktail," Mescudi testified, adding that he saw the bottle from the Molotov cocktail: "It was kind of burnt up."
Arson is among the predicate acts in the racketeering conspiracy count Combs faces. Cassie Ventura previously testified that Combs allegedly threatened to have Kid Cudi's car blown up when Combs learned of her relationship with Cudi.
May 22, 2025, 3:25 PM GMT
Former employee said he was 'pushed to depths he didn't know he had'
Working for Sean Combs left quite an impression on George Kaplan, who is now 34.
"He pushed me to depths I didn't know I had," Kaplan said on cross-examination.
Recalling his time as Combs' personal assistant for a 15-month period between 2013 and 2015, Kaplan said "I'm a young man. This is a god among men."
George Kaplan departs the Manhattan Federal Court during the Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial on May 22, 2025 in New York City.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said, "You still remember Combs' birthday." Kaplan immediately responded, "November 4".
He said it occurred to him that had he still been employed by Combs Enterprises he would not have had to work yesterday because it was "Biggie's birthday."
At Combs Enterprises, the May 21 birthday of Biggie Smalls is a paid company holiday.
When Kaplan left due to the alleged violence he kept witnessing and "fixing" for Combs, he told the jury, "My friends told me this was my Harvard and I was blowing it."
Asked about the incident on the plane, Kaplan said he did not recall seeing physical injuries but heard a glass breaking and "he was holding one."
Kaplan also testified on cross-examination he did not trust housekeeping staff to clean up after Combs at hotels because he feared they were looking for a "payday."
The defense showed a note Kaplan sent Combs after Kim Porter's death "because I was heartbroken for him." Kaplan also said he has respect for Combs but the alleged violence he witnessed "shook me tremendously."
On re-direct, Kaplan said even though he saw no physical injuries to Cassie, "In my heart of hearts I knew what was happening and I felt an element of guilt that I didn't do anything to stop it."
Kaplan's testimony is over and Scott Mescudi has taken the stand.