‘You in my house?’ Rapper Kid Cudi says ‘Diddy’ broke into his home

New York: Rapper Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi testified at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex-trafficking trial that the hip-hop mogul broke into his home in 2011 after discovering Mescudi was dating his on-and-off girlfriend, Casandra Ventura.

The incident is one of a number of violent and threatening acts that prosecutors allege Combs undertook during a 20-year scheme to coerce women, including Ventura, to take part in drug-fuelled sex parties known as “freak offs” and prevent them from leaving his orbit.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to charges of a racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs’ lawyers have acknowledged he has a history of drug abuse and domestic violence, but they argue that the women who took part in freak offs did so consensually.

Testifying as a prosecution witness on Thursday, New York time, Mescudi told the Manhattan federal court that Ventura called him early one morning in December 2011 and told him Combs had found out about their relationship, and asked Mescudi to pick her up.

Mescudi, wearing a leather jacket over a white shirt and blue jeans in court, said Ventura sounded nervous and scared, and that she warned him she had given Combs his Hollywood Hills address.

Mescudi, known for hit songs Day ‘N’ Nite and Memories, said that one of Ventura’s associates then told him Combs was in his home. After dropping off Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel, Mescudi said he drove towards his home. On the way, Mescudi testified, he called Combs.

Cassie Ventura alleges she suffered years of abuse at the hands of Sean “Diddy” Combs (right).Credit: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

“I said, ‘Motherf---er, you in my house?’” Mescudi testified.

Mescudi said Combs sounded calm and told him he wanted to talk.

When he arrived at his house, Mescudi said no one else was there. He said gifts that he bought for his family were opened, and his dog was locked in a bathroom. He said he reported a break-in to the police.

Under cross-examination by Combs’ lawyer Brian Steel, Mescudi acknowledged that he had left his door unlocked and that there was no damage to his home or furniture.

“I’m not belittling, but the only things that were displayed differently is there were some Christmas presents that were unwrapped?” Steel said.

Ventura, known professionally as Cassie, testified on May 14 that Combs threatened to release sex tapes of her and have someone hurt both her and Mescudi after discovering they were seeing each other.

Mescudi testified that he and Ventura ended their relationship shortly after the break-in. He told jurors that he learnt in January 2012 from his dog’s babysitter that his car had caught fire in his driveway.

He told the court that the day after the car fire, he met Combs at the Soho House hotel in Los Angeles.

Rapper Kid Cudi leaves court after testifying at the trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in New York on Thursday.Credit: AP

Mescudi said Combs told him at the meeting, “We were homies, you know that was my girl”. Mescudi said Ventura had told him she and Combs had broken up.

Mescudi said he asked Combs about his car, and Combs told him he did not know what he was talking about.

Asked by prosecutor Emily Johnson how he understood that comment, Mescudi said, “He was lying”.

Mescudi told Steel during cross-examination that no witness ever said Combs was near his property at the time and that he never learnt about any fingerprint or DNA evidence police collected from the car.

Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Combs turned artists such as Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in American culture and becoming a billionaire in the process.

He has been held in federal lockup in Brooklyn since his September 2024 arrest.

Reuters

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