Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ high-profile trial continued on Thursday with bombshell claims made by Scott Mescudi – better known as Kid Cudi. The Just What I Am rapper, who dated Cassie Ventura in 2011, took to the stand on May 22, with dramatic photos of his burned car being shown to the jury.
Disgraced music mogul Diddy, 55, is currently facing a number of serious charges, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arrested in September and strongly denies all allegations made against him. He has been in prison since his arrest, and a number of bail requests have been rejected.
Since the trial started, the likes of Cassie Ventura, Homeland Security Investigations special agent Gerard Gannon, Cassie’s mother, Regina Ventura, Diddy’s former assistant, David James, took to the stand to share their testimonies. Cassie’s former friend Kerry Morgan and former makeup artist for Diddy and Cassie, Mylah Morales, were among others who testified so far.
The trial on Thursday continued after Homeland Security Investigations special agent Gerard Gannon returned to the stand on Wednesday to speak about the raid on the disgraced rapper’s home. During his testimony, Gannon said he was responsible for the overall planning of the raid on the rapper’s home in Miami, Florida, in March of last year.
On Thursday, the trial resumed with Diddy’s former assistant George Kaplan returning to the stand. Kid Cudi took to the stand after.
Here are the biggest bombshells from Thursday…
George Kaplan claimed he was given a bag of cash, which he was told was worth $50,000 (£37,200), by the rapper’s security staff. He also said that he was asked on several occasions to pick up thousands of dollars at a Western Union office.
He also claimed he only witnessed Diddy being violent towards Cassie once during a trip to Las Vegas on Diddy’s private plane in 2015. He told the court he heard glass breaking behind him and turned to see Combs standing with a whiskey glass in his hand. After the glass crashed, Cassie allegedly screamed: “Isn’t anybody seeing this?”
He claimed that neither he nor security or Bad Boy management staff responded to Cassie’s call for help. When asked why he didn’t respond to Cassie’s plea, he said it was because he was 23 years old at the time and was working at his dream job.
“I couldn’t believe my good fortune to be working for such an icon,” he said. After her plea, he testified that he heard more glass break as Combs stood over Cassie at the back of the jet. The rapper then allegedly told Cassie to stay in the back.
Kaplan claimed no one in the plane went to check on Cassie.
The former assistant claimed he witnessed the rapper throwing green apples at another girlfriend, Gina, when they had been together at his home in Florida.
The former assistant said: “He was very angry. She was trying to shield herself with her arms.” He added: “I thought it might be normal, and this is what I might expect if I wanted to have a career in this industry. I was working all of that out as a young man.”
He claimed he chose to quit the job after Diddy’s alleged attack on Cassie on the plane. He said he gave his two months notice after seeing Cassie sitting in a bedroom with a black eye. He claimed the rapper and producer sent him out to buy anti-inflammatory medicine to treat the injury.
Kaplan also told Diddy at the time he chose to quit because his dad had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, he went on to credit Diddy for teaching him about work ethic.
He said: “I had been a fan of his since I was a child. I keep lessons from him to this day.”
Kid Cudi, who dated Cassie in 2011, soon took to the stand and claimed Diddy broke into his house after finding out about his romance with Cassie.
The Pursuit of Happiness rapper said he went to a West Hollywood hotel with Cassie to get her away from Diddy when Capricorn Clark, Diddy’s assistant, called him.
She allegedly told him that “Sean Combs and an affiliate were in my house and she was in a car and she was forced to go with them over there.”
Cudi recounted driving to his home and calling Diddy while en route. When he asked Diddy why he was at his house, Diddy allegedly calmly replied: “I want to talk to you.”
Once he got back home, Diddy was said to be gone, but he found his dog locked in a bathroom. Christmas gifts he’d purchased for loved ones had been unwrapped. Cudi says he called Combs, who claimed he was on his way. Cudi, confused, then called the police.
Cudi told the court that Cassie told him there was physical abuse in the relationship, but never told him about sexual abuse. He added that Diddy never interrupted the time he spent with her.
During cross-examination, Cudi revealed Cassie first spoke about her relationship with Diddy in 2010, saying: “That’s when she was telling me she was having problems.”
Defence attorney Brian Steel asked Kid Cudi if Combs’ treatment of Cassie Ventura bothered him because he was in love with her. Kid Cudi responded: “Yes.”
The jury was shown pictures of Kid Cudi’s Porsche, which he claimed was burned by a Molotov cocktail. He received a call in January 2012 from his dog watcher telling him that the car was on fire.
He was 45 minutes away at the time, and his friend sent him pictures of the car in the driveway. Kid Cudi 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.”
According to the rapper, the car couldn’t be salvaged, and law enforcement found a Molotov cocktail in the driver’s seat. Once he arrived home, “it was kind of just burnt up” on the ground near the vehicle.
When asked his reaction to the incident, Kid Cudi said: “What the f**k.” He claimed to have reached out to Diddy after the fire and “finally told him that we needed to meet up, to talk,” Kid Cudi testified.
“He had been wanting to talk to me, so after the fire, I was like, this is getting out of hand, I need to talk to him,” Kid Cudi said.
After the incident, he met with Combs, who was alone. He testified that “Combs was standing there, staring out the window with his hands behind his back, like a Marvel supervillain.”
The two talked about Kid Cudi’s relationship with Cassie from start to finish, he testified. When Kid Cudi asked about the damage to his car, Combs denied any involvement, he said on the stand.
In 2015, the pair ran into each other at a club. Combs allegedly pulled Kid Cudi aside to apologise, the musician testified. He told the court he “found peace” with the situation after that.
Diddy and Cassie’s former makeup artist, Mylah Morales, took to the stand after Kid Cudi. She testified that she saw Cassie with injuries on her face on Grammy weekend in 2010.
After a party at Prince’s house, Morales and Cassie went to a hotel room. Diddy later came into the room and asked where Cassie was, Morales testified. She said Combs went into the room where Cassie was and closed the door. Morales said she heard yelling and screaming.
“I was just frantic and I didn’t know what to do,” Morales said. She added that Cassie was “distraught” when Combs stormed out. “She had a swollen eye and a busted lip and knots on her head.”
She took Cassie to her home to recover for a few days. She revealed a doctor friend checked Cassie over after the incident. When they recommended she got to the hospital, Cassie refused and they did not call the police.
Morales said she didn’t phone the police because she feared Combs and feared for her life.
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk
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