Diddy trial live: Kid Cudi says Porsche was destroyed by a Molotov cocktail

Summary

Rapper Kid Cudi testifies a Molotov cocktail was thrown in his Porsche and claims Sean "Diddy" Combs broke into his home after finding out about his relationship with Cassie Ventura
Warning: This page contains details some readers may find distressing
The testimony in Combs' sex-trafficking trial comes after Ventura told the court that Combs had threatened her and Kid Cudi
Combs' ex-girlfriend Ventura has also testified that she endured abuse at the hands of Combs, including during so-called "freak-offs" - encounters in which the R&B singer had sex with male escorts while Combs directed them
Combs faces charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution
The 55-year-old denies all charges. If found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison

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Rapper Kid Cudi arrives at court ahead of testimony in Sean Comb's sex-trafficking trial

Live Reporting

Edited by Brandon Livesay in New York, with Nada Tawfik and Sakshi Venkatraman in court

Burn marks inside Kid Cudi's Porschepublished at 19:31 British Summer Time
Image source, US Federal Court
Image caption,
A red interior of a Porsche covered in black burn marks
Earlier today the court heard from rapper Kid Cudi, who testified that his Porsche was destroyed by a Molotov cocktail in 2012.
Molotov cocktails are homemade incendiary weapons, usually thrown by hand.
We can now share the images of that fire-damaged car, which were shown to the jury today.
Kid Cudi told the court the incident happened after Combs had allegedly made threats over a relationship between Cassie Ventura and Kid Cudi.
In a meeting after the car was set alight, Kid Cudi said he confronted Combs about his vehicle, but Combs responded that he didn't know what he was talking about.
The court also heard that Combs allegedly broke into Kid Cudi's Los Angeles home during the few months that he dated Ventura.
Image source, US Federal Court
Image caption,
A hole in Kid Cudi's Porsche's roof where a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown
Image source, US Federal Court
Image caption,
An open car door with red inlay and extensive black burn marks
Hotel worker testifiespublished at 19:10 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
As court winds down for the day, we’re hearing from Beverly Hills hotel worker Frederic Zemmour.
His testimony will likely take us through the rest of the day and will possibly pick up Tuesday when court resumes after a long weekend for the Memorial Day holiday.
'I feared for my life', makeup artist tells courtpublished at 19:07 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
We just hard from Mylah Morales, who was Cassie Ventura’s makeup artist and friend for decades.
She recalled an incident after a photoshoot when she went to Ventura’s hotel room and fell asleep on the couch.
She tells the court that she woke up to an angry Sean Combs looking for Ventura, and then he heard screaming coming from Ventura’s room.
Morales tells the court that when Combs left, Ventura emerged with a swollen eye, bloody lip and knots on her head.
Morales took Ventura back to her home and had her seen by a doctor friend who recommended they go to the emergency room.
Ventura said no and Morales said she didn’t urge her because of her fear of Combs.
"I feared for my life," she said.
Neither Ventura or Combs approached her about the incident again, but she’s given interviews to major news organisations and appeared in two documentaries about Combs.
Court sketch shows Kid Cudi on witness standpublished at 18:48 British Summer Time
Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters
We have a new court sketch from artist Jane Rosenberg. It shows rapper Kid Cudi on the witness stand as Sean Combs watches.
On the bottom right you can see a sketch of one of the photos the jury was shown as evidence.
As a reminder, there are no cameras in federal court.
Ex-assistant says he cleaned rooms to stop staff hotel staff taking photos for a 'payday'published at 18:37 British Summer Time
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from New York
While we wait to hear testimony from the trial's new witness, let's revisit what happened earlier today when Combs' ex-personal assistant George Kaplan was on the stand.
Kaplan testified that he bought items for Combs’ hotel bag, including baby oil, with his company credit card.
Defence lawyer Agnifilo asked him whether Combs was keeping track of baby oil purchases, to which Kaplan said "his world was the size of the Earth" and that it was unrealistic to think he knew where things were coming from.
He was also asked why he cleaned up the hotel rooms, and about his distrust of hotel staff who might want a "payday" by releasing pictures or videos to embarrass Combs.
The defence might have been trying to minimise Combs’ motives for paying a large sum to obtain security footage of him beating Cassie in 2016 in a hotel hallway, by suggesting it was all about his image and not to cover up crimes.
As we’ve mentioned before, no matter how small the detail, the defence will continue to try to reshape the narrative in their favour.
Before he left the stand, the government had him reestablish that he left his "dream" job because he was unwilling to stand by Combs’ behaviour toward Ventura and another girlfriend named Gina. He said those moments had scared him.
Listen to the BBC's Diddy on Trial podcastpublished at 18:28 British Summer Time
Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty
Podcast host, Diddy on Trial
The BBC's Diddy on Trial podcast has followed every twist and turn in Diddy’s case since November 2024.
From bombshell balcony dangling allegations, to featuring in a Kanye West track behind bars, and Diddy accusing the federal government of racism - there have been headline-making moments every week... and that's before the trial even started.
Now we're bringing you all the updates straight from court in New York.
You can listen to the podcast on BBC Sounds or watch on our YouTube channel, external.
Court resumes with new witnesspublished at 18:22 British Summer Time
We are back after the lunch break and there is a new witness.
We'll be hearing from Mylah Morales, who was a makeup artist for both Sean "Diddy" Combs and his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
Kid Cudi finishes testimonypublished at 17:57 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Kid Cudi leaves court
Kid Cudi is now off the stand after under two hours of testimony.
After the court's lunch break, we're expecting to hear from a hotel employee.
Kid Cudi says he ended relationship for Ventura for 'safety'published at 17:56 British Summer Time
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
After cross-examination finished, the government got its chance for redirect. Prosecutors returned to questions about what Ventura said to Kid Cudi about Combs' physical abuse.
He told the court Ventura had told him Combs hit her, sometimes kicked her. He also described Ventura as "shook" when Combs found out about their relationship.
They stopped dating, he told the court, because "the drama was getting out of hand" and he wanted to give her space for both of their safety. At the mention of safety, there were objections from the defence and side bar discussions with the judge.
Kid Cudi testified that he knew Sean Combs was violent. He also accused Combs of lying when he didn't acknowledge his role in the car bombing.
In connection to the racketeering charge against Combs, prosecutors also asked Kid Cudi about his conversation with Combs' employee Capricorn Clark.
He told the court Clark had told him that Combs physically forced her to get in the car to go to Kid Cudi's house with him.
Cassie told Kid Cudi about Combs' physical abuse but not sexual abuse, says rapperpublished at 17:50 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
As cross-examination continued, Kid Cudi confirmed to the court that Ventura told him Combs had hit and kicked her, but didn't say anything about sexual abuse.
He also said it was Combs who initially suggested Ventura record a song with Kid Cudi in 2010 and put them in the studio together.
'She played you' - Diddy's defence lawyer tells Kid Cudipublished at 17:45 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
Before the lunch break, defence lawyer Brian Steele - known for getting rapper Young Thug acquitted on criminal charges in Georgia - continued Mescudi's cross-questioning.
After emphasizing there was no evidence of Combs' involvement in the break in to Kid Cudi's home or the destruction of his car, Steele honed in on questions about Ventura. He asked Kid Cudi how he felt to learn Ventura was seeing both him and Combs.
"She played you," Steele said.
"Yes," Kid Cudi replied .
Steele asked if Ventura "played" both Combs and Kid Cudi and whether they both wanted to figure out what was going on.
"Yes," Kid Cudi told the court.
Court breaks for lunchpublished at 17:25 British Summer Time
The judge has paused proceedings so the jury can eat lunch.
Kid Cudi is off the witness stand and we do not expect him to return.
But we will have some more fresh details from his testimony shortly.
Stick with us.
Diddy's lawyer says DNA in car belonged to a femalepublished at 17:16 British Summer Time
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
On cross examination, Combs' lawyer Brian Steele asks if Kid Cudi knew that DNA was collected from the Porsche that was allegedly destroyed by a Molotov cocktail, and that tests showed it belonged to a female.
He says he never got a follow up from police.
Kid Cudi also confirms that he didn’t have any eyewitnesses of Combs or anyone d with the hip-hop mogul on his property.
'I don’t know what you’re talking about' - Diddy told Kid Cudi about blown up carpublished at 17:07 British Summer Time
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
Kid Cudi was asked how he reacted when Cassie Ventura arrived in that room, where the court just heard Sean Combs was already standing and looking like a "Marvel super villain".
He said he was upset to find out she had appeared to have gone back to Combs.
He told the court as he was leaving and shaking hands with Combs, he looked him in the eye and asked what was going to be done about his car.
He said Combs replied calmly, "I don’t know what you’re talking about".
Kid Cudi saw Combs a few years later, and says Combs approached him and apologised for everything and all the "(expletive)".
Kid Cudi says he found peace with what happened after that, not expecting he would get anything more.
Combs looked like 'a Marvel super villain' - Kid Cudipublished at 17:00 British Summer Time
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
Kid Cudi tells the trial that the last time he saw Cassie Ventura was back in 2012, along with Sean Combs at SoHo House in Hollywood. This happened after the Porsche Molotov cocktail incident.
Kid Cudi says when he walked into SoHo house, Combs’s security walked him to a meeting room where Combs looked like "a Marvel super villain" looking out the windows with his hands behind his back.
He tells the court Combs was calm in a way that was off-putting and weird, and he offered him water twice.
He said Combs told him they were "homies" and Ventura was his "girl".
Kid Cudi told him Combs that he took Ventura's word for it that she and Combs were broken up at the time.
Kid Cudi testifies a Molotov cocktail was thrown in his Porschepublished at 16:38 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
We’re now hearing from Kid Cudi about the incident when a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown in his car in January 2012.
The rapper tells the court he was about 45 minutes away from the same Los Angeles home that Combs allegedly broke into in separate incident when he got a call.
Kid Cudi tells the court his dog sitter rang and told him that his car, a Porsche, was on fire.
He rushed home and called the police.
Prosecutors show the jury photos of a damaged Porsche, including a hole cut in the roof where a Molotov cocktail was allegedly tossed through.
The photo shows a charred interior.
A Molotov cocktail bottle was found on the ground near the car, Kid Cudi tells the court.
Molotov cocktails are homemade incendiary weapons, usually thrown by hand.
'I wanted to confront him, I wanted to fight him' - Kid Cudipublished at 16:33 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
After the alleged break in, Kid Cudi says he found his dog "jittery and on edge".
He tried to call Combs again. “I wanted to confront him, I wanted to fight him,” he told the court.
He ended up filing a police report instead.
Kid Cudi tells court Diddy broke into his home, locked his dog in bathroompublished at 16:32 British Summer Time
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
Kid Cudi tells the court that Sean "Diddy" Combs once broke into his home.
Giving short, straight to the point answers, Kid Cudi takes the jury through the few months in 2011 when he dated Cassie Ventura.
He says he didn’t think she and Combs were in each other's lives at that time.
But on a December day 2011 at 6am, he got a call from Ventura sounding "stressed" and "scared".
Combs had found out they were dating, Kid Cudi tells the court.
He took Ventura to a nearby Los Angeles hotel where he said he thought she’d be "safe, away from him".
While there, the two got a call from Capricorn Clark, a friend who said Combs was inside Kid Cudi's home.
Kid Cudi tells the court he immediately got in his car and started driving to his house, calling Combs on the way.
Quote Message
“(Expletive) are you in my house?”
Kid Cudi
Combs allegedly said he wanted to talk and told him and that "I’m over here waiting for you".
Kid Cudi tells the court he arrived at his home to find his security cameras tampered with and not working. He says presents for his family were opened and rifled through and his dog was locked in the bathroom.
The bombshell allegation we are waiting to hear aboutpublished at 16:13 British Summer Time
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
The start of Kid Cudi's testimony has focused on establishing his relationship with Cassie Ventura.
Of course what we’re waiting to hear is his of Cassie’s bombshell allegation that Diddy blew up Kid Cudi's car and threatened him because Combs was angry the two were dating
Combs whips around to watch Kid Cudi enter courtpublished at 15:58 British Summer Time
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
Kid Cudi sits at the witness stand wearing a leather jacket over a white t-shirt.
When the government called him as their next witness, Combs whipped back in his chair to get a look at him. Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, was asked to identify pictures of Cassie Ventura and Combs.
The government went through some initial questions where he established he was friends with Ventura and briefly dated her in 2011.
He said they first met at an event in New York in 2008 but then later worked on music together. Stay with us as we bring you the latest from his testimony