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

Forensic psychologist says she has previously been hired by one of Diddy's lawyerspublished at 19:47 British Summer Time 21 May
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
We’re nearing the end of testimony from this expert witness.
Cross examination has wrapped up and prosecutors are on redirect, with questions focused on Dr Dawn Hughes’ credibility.
They ask her about her years of experience treating patients. Then they ask if she’s ever worked for a defence team in addition to her work with prosecutors, to which Hughes says yes.
For their last question, the prosecution asks whether Hughes has ever been hired by one of Diddy’s many attorneys in the courtroom as an expert witness.
She says yes again, leading to some gasps in the court overflow room.
Next witness reportedly granted immunity to testifypublished at 19:30 British Summer Time 21 May
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
With the rate at which things are going, it’s unclear if the court will have time to hear another witness today.
Next up is supposed to be George Kaplan, a former employee of Combs.
Kaplan has reportedly been granted immunity so he can testify in this trial.
After Kaplan will be rapper Kid Cudi.
Sidebars and objections peppered through testimonypublished at 19:26 British Summer Time 21 May
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
The cross-examination of forensic psychologist Dr Dawn Hughes is slow going.
The defence is pushing the expert witness on a number of topics.
Combs’ lawyer brings up that she hasn’t published scholarly articles in a while. They also say Hughes makes most of her money from her expert court testimony. And the defence takes issue with the fact that she met with the prosecution six times before testifying today.
Hughes says her experience is as clinical psychologist, not a researcher. And she says court testimony is part of her job.
The prosecution has interjected with a number of objections.
There are sidebars with both legal teams and the judge every few minutes.
Messages scrawled on Diddy's bathroom mirrorpublished at 19:05 British Summer Time 21 May
Image source, US Federal Court
We have some more photographs to share, which were submitted as evidence by the prosecution.
These were taken during a raid on Sean "Diddy" Combs' Miami mansion.
The image above shows messages written on a mirror in a bathroom at the property. One says "What do you want">The judge seems sceptical of the document. It could be a little while to we have our next witness.
Dr Dawn Hughes back on the witness standpublished at 18:19 British Summer Time 21 May
Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters
With the lunch break over, psychologist Dr Dawn Hughes is back on the witness stand and is answering questions from the defence team.
We expect to hear from another witness before court wraps for the day.
A timeline of charges in federal case against Diddypublished at 18:01 British Summer Time 21 May
The judge has returned to the bench and we're waiting for testimony to resume after the lunch break. While we wait, let's take a look at the timeline of the charges against Sean "Diddy" Combs.
16 September 2024: Combs is arrested after a grand jury indictment. He co-operated with authorities.
17 September 2024: Charges and details came out after Combs appeared in court. He was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. In an indictment that was unsealed at the same time, prosecutors alleged that he also engaged in kidnapping, forced labour, bribery and other crimes.
30 January 2025: Prosecutors in New York expanded their case against Combs, accusing him of coercing two additional women into commercial sex acts, and of dangling a person over an apartment balcony.
6 March 2025: Federal case amended to include forced labour.
4 April 2025: Federal prosecutors amended the indictment against Combs for a third time, adding two new charges of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs has denied all charges.
Combs largely keeps his head down during morning testimonypublished at 17:29 British Summer Time 21 May
Sakshi Venkatraman & Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Court
Prosecutors have finished their questioning of Dr Dawn Hughes, and the defence team has begun their cross-examination.
They have been trying to cast doubt on Hughes’ characterisations of victims of abuse, saying that people "can’t be put in boxes".
The defence team also brought up the concept of "malingering"- or people fabricating emotional and psychological symptoms.
Listening to Hughes’ testimony, Combs was seated back in his chair with his arms by his side. He would occasionally look at his lawyers or write something down, but he’s largely kept his head down.
There will be more questions for Hughes after the lunch break.
Court breaks for lunchpublished at 17:23 British Summer Time 21 May
The court is now taking a short break for lunch.
When they return the cross-examination of Dr Hughes by Combs' defence team will continue.
Federal agent shows jury handgun evidence in court sketchpublished at 17:13 British Summer Time 21 May
As a reminder, cameras are not allowed inside the courtroom - which means there won't be any photographs or video coming from the trial.
However, in the sketches below you can see Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerard Gannon giving evidence and US District Judge Arun Subramanian who is presiding over today's proceedings.
For a reminder of Gannon's evidence, head to our previous post.
Image source, Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
Image caption,
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerard Gannon presents a firearm to the jury
Image source, Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
Image caption,
US District Judge Arun Subramanian
Prosecution finishes questioning forensic psychologistpublished at 17:08 British Summer Time 21 May
The prosecution has now finished questioning Dr Dawn Hughes.
The defence is now questioning the forensic psychologist.
Defence lobs objections at psychologist's testimonypublished at 16:55 British Summer Time 21 May
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
Forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes is continuing her testimony - taking the jury through the different reasons why victims of abuse might stay in relationships with their abs.
She says fear of violence, financial control, and love for the partner they once knew are all potential reasons.
When a victim is abused, their brain "reorganises" around surviving in the relationship rather than leaving, Hughes explains.
Her testimony is being punctuated by defence objections every few minutes.
'Anyone can be abused' - forensic psychologist tells courtpublished at 16:26 British Summer Time 21 May
Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court
Forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes is on the stand.
She’s testifying about the elements of domestic abuse that sometimes cause victims to stay in the relationship.
Hughes tells the court she’s being paid $600 an hour for her work as an expert witness and $6,000 a day for her court testimony.
She explains to the court that "anyone can be abused" and that victims don’t stay because they want the abuse - but because fear and resulting psychological issues can cause them to feel trapped.
Sometimes, there is love too in the relationships, which combined with abuse can create an "intense psychological bond", she says.
Hughes' answers are sometimes quite long and the defence is raising many objections that are sustained.
Photos of seized guns and drugs shown in courtpublished at 16:17 British Summer Time 21 May
We can now bring you some photos of evidence gathered by Homeland Security during raids on Combs' property.
The images below show the alleged guns and drugs that were seized, as well as a box of baby oil and lubricant.
Image source, US Federal Court
Image source, US Federal Court
Image source, US Federal Court
Image source, US Federal Court
Who is Dawn Hughes?published at 15:58 British Summer Time 21 May
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes as she arrived at court today
Forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes has become a fixture at some recent high profile celebrity trials.
According to her website, Hughes specialises in "the assessment and treatment of interpersonal violence, traumatic stress and the anxiety disorders".
She testified in the singer R. Kelly's federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial, for which he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Hughes was also called as witness in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial.
Forensic psychologist takes the standpublished at 15:56 British Summer Time 21 May
Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court
The government is moving on to its next witness, Dr Dawn Hughes - a New York-based forensic psychologist.
During the defence’s cross examination of special agent Gerard Gannon, they attempted to take the sting out of his testimony.
For example, Comb’s lawyer Teny Geragos ended by asking if he owned a gun and stated that many people in Florida have guns. Gannon answered he did.
She also asked if Diddy’s fingerprints or DNA were found on the guns, but he wasn’t sure given he personally did not conduct a fingerprint analysis.
She also questioned why there weren’t pre-search photos of certain parts of Combs’s home. At another point, she asked him to hold out a Gucci bag to the jury.
She asked whether the drugs found in it were destroyed in testing because the samples were so small.
Where is Star Island?published at 15:48 British Summer Time 21 May
Image source, US Federal Court
Image caption,
Diddy's mansion on Star Island in Miami
One of the topics that has come up in today's testimony are the items that were found by Homeland Security in Sean "Diddy" Combs' Miami mansion - located on Star Island.
An artificial and exclusive island, it is located in Biscayne Bay.
Real estate website Miami Luxury Homes explains that the only way to reach it is via Bridge Road.
The Miami Herald reports that healthcare investor Phillip Frost and rapper Rick Ross are among those who own properties on the island.
Image source, US Federal Court
Who is on Diddy's legal team?published at 15:24 British Summer Time 21 May
Sean Combs' legal team is led by Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer who has experience with high-profile cases. Agnifilo is also part of the legal team representing Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare's chief executive Brian Thompson.
Also on Combs' legal team is Teny Geragos, the daughter of celebrity attorney Mark Geragos.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Teny Geragos
Anna Estevao, a law partner at the Manhattan-based Harris Trzaskoma firm, led the cross-examination of Cassie Ventura. She is a former federal public defender.
Others include Brian Steel, who recently represented rapper Young Thug in Georgia and Xavier Donaldson.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Xavier Donaldson
Court hears list of drugs seized at Diddy's mansionpublished at 15:04 British Summer Time 21 May
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
Homeland Security special agent Gerard Gannon is resuming his testimony, which he started yesterday.
He tells the court about drugs seized from Combs’ Miami home. The list includes cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, Xanax, and the chemical compounds found in psychedelic mushrooms.
Rolled up hundred dollar bills with traces of cocaine and ketamine inside were also found, Gannon tells the court.
Gannon says some MDMA pills of different colours were stamped with famous brand logos, including some with Tesla symbols and others with the "Supreme" clothing brand name.
On Tuesday, we heard from a former personal assistant of Combs and he told the court Combs had taken an ecstasy pill in the shape of President Barack Obama's face.
Kid Cudi will not testify todaypublished at 14:54 British Summer Time 21 May
Breaking
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court
The rapper Kid Cudi will not be on the witness stand today.
As prosecutors went over scheduling details with the judge this morning, they noted today’s other witness testimonies will likely run long.
They say there won't be time for Kid Cudi to start his own testimony. He will likely be one of the first on the stand tomorrow.