“It looks like the top of my Porsche was cut open, and that’s where the Molotov cocktail was put in,” stated Kid Cudi told a federal courtroom in New York City today of the alleged destruction of his car in early 2012 by a jealous Sean “Diddy” Combs. Along with a break-in at Kid Cudi’s home, there was a tirade of threats by Combs over the brief relationship between Kid Cudi and Cassie Ventura.
When asked Thursday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson what his initial reaction was to the torching of his pricey ride, the Grammy winner proved he had none of his wordsmith skills
“What the fuck,” the ‘Man on the Moon’ rapper bornScott Mescudi succinctly replied.
Later in his testimony, Kid Cudi revealed that he knew Combs was “lying” when the Bad Boy Records founder told the Don’t Look Up actor he didn’t “know what you’re talking about,” when Mescudi wanted compensation for the scorched luxury vehicle.
The 13th witness for the feds at Diddy’s sex-trafficking trial, Kid Cudi’s just over three hours on the stand Thursday was short, but very sharp. Having dated ‘Me & U’ singer Ventura in late 2011, Kid Cudi provided the jurors and others in Judge Arun Subramanian’s lower Manhattan courtroom with a BTS look at what has been called Ventura and Combs’ “toxic relationship”
For one thing, the rapper admitted under questioning from defense attorney Brian Steel that he knew Ventura was “living a double life” during their time together. He added he felt “played” by Ventura after she went back to Combs in 2012. At the same time, under redirect by prosecutor Johnson, Kid Cudi also revealed that, with Combs’ behavior and the stories Ventura told him of her then-ex rages, he ended the relationship for the safety of all concerned and “because I knew Sean Combs was violent.”
Kid Cudi leaves the federal court after appearing at the Sean “Diddy” Combs sex trafficking trial in New York City on May 22, 2025. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Attired casually for court in a leather jacket, white t-shirt and jeans, Kid Cudi made it very clear under questioning from both sides Thursday that Ventuta never confided anything to him about Combs sexually assaulting her or the drug-enhanced and frequently filmed “freak-off” sex marathons with male escorts.
In its second of an estimated eight week duration, the criminal trial of the much-accused Diddy follows his arrest last September on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution and more. Incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since his arrest, after a trio of failed $50 million bail attempts, Combs has always insisted he is innocent. The perpetually self-promoting Combs has actually taken the same position in the dozens of civil suits of abuse and assault that have been filed over the past year or so. Germain to this matter, Combs took that stance of innocence in the very quickly settled ($20 million) abuse and assault suit that Ventura filed against her 2007-2018 boyfriend in late 2023.
As well as alleging she was raped by Combs in 2018 after he and Ventura had broken up, the Step Up 2 actress’ legal action was the first to introduce a then-unnamed Kid Cudi publicly into the legal situation
Rejecting a plea deal from the government in this criminal case, where that rape and the years of supposed non-consensual abuse came up during Ventura’s days on the stand last week, Combs could face life behind bars if found guilty in this criminal trial.
Oddly, it was Combs who introduced then break-out artist Kid Cudi to Ventura in 2008 for them to work on a song together. As the two got to know each other more, Kid Cudi said today in the witness box that Ventura told him “she and Sean Combs had some problems and they weren’t dating anymore.”
Besides the details of the Porsche burning and Kid Cudi declaring at one point he wanted to fight Combs when he heard the ‘All About the Benjamins’ performer was at his house with an entourage, the most telling testimony from the rapper was a sit-down he had with Combs at LA’s Soho House in early 2012. “Sean Combs was standing there, staring out the window with his hands behind his back, like a Marvel supervillain,” the witness told the courtroom of the sight he saw when he walked into the private room the two were meeting in.
After that, the musicians spoke of the triangle they and Ventura had been in. “We discussed pretty much the whole story about how me and Cassie first started to date to what it was to how it ended,” Kid Cudi said today.
The two bumped into each other again at Soho House in 2015 with Combs making a surprise gesture, Kid Cudi told the court Thursday. Describing Combs approaching him at the insider hangout, Mescudi said the DeLeón Tequila owner exclaimed, “Man I just want to apologize for everything and all that bullsh*t.” Adding the remark “was the last thing I was expecting to get from him,” Kid Cudi told the judge and jury that he “found peace” with everything that had gone down before at that point.
