Prosecutors confirmed this week that Kid Cudi, the rapper whose romance with Casandra Ventura is said to have sent Sean Combs into a jealous, threat-filled rage, will be testifying in the music mogul’s sex-trafficking and racketeering trial.
Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, could take the witness stand as soon as Wednesday, but the precise timing of his testimony is uncertain.
Ms. Ventura, who is known as the singer Cassie, testified last week that after Mr. Combs discovered her relationship with Mr. Mescudi in 2011, Mr. Combs made a series of threats to her, including that Mr. Mescudi’s car would be “blown up” in his driveway.
In 2023, after Ms. Ventura filed the lawsuit that kicked of Mr. Combs’s legal troubles, Mr. Mescudi confirmed that his car had exploded. But he has yet to speak publicly about the details of his role in the case.
As part of the racketeering conspiracy charge against Mr. Combs, the government has accused him of running a criminal enterprise that helped him commit a series of crimes dating back to 2004. Among the list of allegations is that Mr. Combs’s associates set fire to a rival’s car with a Molotov cocktail.
A lawyer for Mr. Combs, Teny Geragos, said in the defense’s opening statement that Mr. Combs was “simply not involved” in the allegations of arson put forward by prosecutors.
Mr. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him. His lawyers have acknowledged that he physically abused Ms. Ventura, but they assert that the sexual encounters — known as “freak-offs” — that are at the heart of the government’s case were fully consensual. And they have denied any existence of a criminal conspiracy.
After four days of searing testimony by Ms. Ventura about a pattern of physical abuse and drug-fueled voyeuristic sex marathons with male prostitutes, the government has lined up a series of witnesses they hope will help corroborate her account for jurors.
Several witnesses, including Ms. Ventura’s mother, testified to directly witnessing Mr. Combs abusing her or to seeing the resulting bruising and swelling. Two men testified that they were paid to have sex with Ms. Ventura while Mr. Combs watched, describing for the jury the sexual choreography in hotel rooms that they said Mr. Combs directed.
Before Mr. Mescudi takes the stand, prosecutors are first expected to call back a federal agent who oversaw a search of Mr. Combs’s home in Miami Beach, Fla., last year. A forensic psychologist and a former employee of Mr. Combs are also expected to testify on Wednesday.
The dispute between Mr. Combs and Ms. Ventura over her relationship with Mr. Mescudi has become one of the central events of the trial.
Ms. Ventura testified that Mr. Combs discovered evidence of the budding romance while looking through her phone during a freak-off. She said he lunged at her with a wine bottle opener between his fingers, then threatened to release sexually explicit videos of her and “hurt” both her and Mr. Mescudi.
“He mentioned that when we were out of the country, that Scott’s car would be blown up,” Ms. Ventura testified. “He wanted his friends to be there to see it.”
Julia Jacobs is an arts and culture reporter who often covers legal issues for The Times.
Ben Sisario, a reporter covering music and the music industry, has been writing for The Times for more than 20 years.
The post Kid Cudi Will Soon Take Center Stage at the Sean Combs Trial appeared first on New York Times.
