Kid Cudi testifies Sean 'Diddy' Combs broke into house

Rapper Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi has testified at Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial that the hip-hop mogul broke into his home in 2011 after discovering Mr Mescudi was dating his on-and-off girlfriend Casandra Ventura.

The incident is one of a number of violent and threatening acts that prosecutors say Mr Combs undertook during a 20-year scheme to coerce women, including Ms Ventura, to take part in drug-fuelled sex parties known as "freak offs" and prevent them from leaving his orbit.

Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Mr Combs' lawyers have acknowledged he has a history of drug abuse and domestic violence, but argue that the women who took part in freak offs did so consensually.

Testifying as a prosecution witness, Mr Mescudi told the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates in Manhattan federal court that Ms Ventura called him early one morning in December 2011 and told him Mr Combs had found out about their relationship and asked Mr Mescudi to pick her up.

Mr Mescudi said Ms Ventura sounded nervous and scared, and warned him that she had given Mr Combs his Hollywood Hills address.

Mr Mescudi, known for hit songs "Day 'N' Nite" and "Memories," said one of Ms Ventura's associates then told him that Mr Combs was in his home. After dropping off Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel, Mr Mescudi said he drove toward his home and called Mr Combs.

On the way Mr Mescudi testified he called Mr Combs. "I said, mother******, you in my house?"

Mr Mescudi said Mr Combs sounded calm and told him he wanted to talk.

When he arrived at his house, Mr Mescudi said no one else was there. He said gifts that he bought for his family were opened and his dog was locked in a bathroom. He said he reported a break-in to the police.

Cassie's testimony

Ms Ventura, known professionally as Cassie, testified on 14 May that Mr Combs in 2011 kicked her in the back after discovering she was seeing Mr Mescudi - one of many violent instances she said took place during her 11-year on-and-off relationship with Mr Combs.

She said he also threatened to release sex tapes of her and have someone hurt both her and Mr Mescudi.

Jurors earlier saw photographs of bruises on Ms Ventura's body that her mother took shortly after the incident.

Mr Mescudi testified that he and Ms Ventura ended their relationship shortly after the break-in.

He told jurors that he learned in January 2012 from his dog's babysitter that his car had caught fire in his driveway.

In a civil sex trafficking lawsuit that "Me & U" singer Ms Ventura filed against Mr Combs in November 2023, she alleged that Mr Combs blew up Mr Mescudi's car. Mr Combs denied wrongdoing, and he paid her $20 million to settle the lawsuit shortly after it was filed.

Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Mr Combs founded Bad Boy Records and turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars. He elevated hip-hop in American culture in the 1990s and early 2000s, becoming a billionaire in the process.

Mr Combs has been held in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest.