Grammy award-winning rapper Kid Cudi is expected to testify in the federal trial against Sean “Diddy” Combs on Thursday in what could prove to be a pivotal moment for prosecutors.
The rapper is expected to delve into details about his romantic relationship with Casandra “Cassie” Ventura from more than a decade ago, including allegations that Combs blew up his car.
Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, is known for his contemporary and alternative style of hip-hop.
The 41-year-old artist first gained national attention with the release of his mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi” in 2008 and often raps about his childhood struggles with depression, loneliness and alienation and occasionally touches on alcohol and drug use.
His testimony will be key as he answers questions from federal prosecutors about his past relationship with Ventura as they try to bolster their charges that Combs engaged in racketeering and sex trafficking.
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Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs has pleaded not guilty and vehemently denied all five counts. His trial began May 5 in Manhattan.
Calling Mescudi to the witness stand could help the prosecution if it can demonstrate Combs used his considerable financial and business resources to carry out the bombing of Mescudi’s car, said Rachel Maimin, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York.
“The burden of proof is on the federal government, so they’ll have to show this was part of the racketeering,” said Maimin, now a criminal defense attorney with Lowenstein Sandler LLP. “This may be a way of explaining how he used his business empire to further the prosecution’s goal of proving the racketeering enterprise.”
In a five-count indictment, prosecutors said Combs “relied on the employees, resources and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled — creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
Ventura alleged in a 2023 civil lawsuit against Combs that he told her he would blow up Mescudi’s car. The lawsuit was settled privately in a day without Combs admitting any wrongdoing.
“Around that time, Kid Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway,” the suit said. “Ms. Ventura was terrified, as she began to fully comprehend what Mr. Combs was both willing and able to do to those he believed had slighted him.”
Ventura testified in court last week that she kept a burner phone to keep her relationship with Mescudi private and away from Combs because she thought it would be dangerous if he found out.
Ventura said in court that Combs attacked her when he found out about Cudi while going through her phone during a paid sexual encounter known as a “freak off.”
She said she broke off the relationship with Mescudi because there was too much uncertainty and danger and she was afraid Combs would hurt them both.
Ventura testified that Combs told her that when she was out of the country, “Scott’s car would be blown up.”
No matter what Mescudi says on the stand, there’s little doubt people will be listening intently to the biggest name yet to testify in Combs’ trial.
After Kanye West, now known as Ye, signed Cudi to his Good Music record label, he had a hit song the following year with “Day N Nite,” which reached No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
He won a Grammy in 2012 for best rap/sung collaboration for the song “All of the Lights” with West and Rihanna. He has been nominated for five other Grammy awards.
Cudi helped bring about a shift to hip-hop by introducing moodiness, unconventionality and introspection to the genre, trends that still hold today and influenced West, said Shamira Ibrahim, a freelance culture writer.
“People look at hip-hop as this big performance art as if it has to be extroverted or bombastic, but his work was internal and reflective,” she said.
