There was explosive testimony in the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial on Thursday, as rapper Kid Cudi took the stand.
\nWhile spending several hours on the witness stand, Cudi told the jury about two key experiences he thinks are tied to Combs.
\nThat came after Combs’ former assistant finished his testimony that he started on Wednesday, for which he had been granted immunity. Three others also testified, including a makeup artist, a hotel manager and a federal agent.
\nHere’s a recap of the testimony shared Thursday, and what to expect when the trial continues.<\/p>\n
The first person on the witness stand Thursday was George Kaplan, the former assistant to Combs, who was continuing his testimony that began Wednesday. He had previously been given immunity, after telling the Manhattan court on Wednesday that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
\nKaplan discussed looking the other way after seeing Combs’ then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, beaten and bruised. He said he did the same thing when he saw Combs\u00a0angrily throw apples at his other\u00a0girlfriend, Gina.
\nKaplan testified that he witnessed Combs be violent with Cassie only once, on a trip to Las Vegas aboard the rap promoter\u2019s private jet in the second half of 2015 when he heard glass breaking behind him. He said he looked over his shoulder and saw Combs standing with a whiskey glass in his hand.
\n\u201cThere was tremendous commotion and a scuffle and then after the glass crashed, Cassie screamed: ‘Isn\u2019t anybody seeing this?\u201d he said on the stand.
\nKaplan testified that neither he nor any of the security workers or Bad Boy management staff on the plane did anything to respond to Cassie\u2019s call for help. A prosecutor asked why he didn’t step in to help the women.
\n"I wished it wasn’t happening, and standing in the way of that, was not my way to\u00a0succeed," Kaplan said, adding that he didn\u2019t respond to Cassie\u2019s call for help because he was in his dream job and didn\u2019t want to wreck it and \u201ccouldn\u2019t believe my good fortune to be working for such an icon.\u201d
\nAsked if anyone on the plane went to check on Cassie, he said no.
\nKaplan testified that he eventually grew fed up with the violence, and quit.
\n"I was unwilling to stand by the behavior," said Kaplan.
\nHe said he told Combs that he wanted to quit because his father had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Even so, he said he still credits Combs for teaching him a work ethic that has helped him be successful in jobs since then. To some extent, the feeling might be mutual: When Kaplan first entered the courtroom on Wednesday, Combs smiled.
\nKaplan told jurors that his tenure with Combs has \u201cproven to be one of the most complicated pieces of my life.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m a young man and this is a God among men talking to me,\u201d said Kaplan, who served as an assistant for Combs and his Combs Enterprises company from 2013 to 2015.
\n\u201cHe not only pushed me to my depth he pushed me to depths I didn\u2019t even know I had,\u201d Kaplan said, explaining he \u201cnever worked harder in my life.\u201d
\nKaplan told jurors that he \u201cdesperately did not want to come here today\u201d but that he was forced to testify because federal prosecutors had subpoenaed him. He said he didn’t have anything against Combs.
\nA federal agent testified Wednesday about guns, drugs and sex supplies found in the home of Sean "Diddy" Combs in Miami during a raid. On Thursday, rapper Kid Cudi is set to take the stand in Combs’ sex trafficking trial, where he is expected to testify about his car being firebombed after he briefly dated Combs’ ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. NBC New York’s Erica Byfield reports.<\/p>\n
Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, took the witness stand around 10:45 a.m. He took his opportunity to level some serious accusations against Combs, pinning a home break-in and a car fire-bombing on the entertainment icon.
\nCudi suggested that Combs came after him after learning he had started seeing Cassie. The two first met in 2008, recorded some music together and dated in 2011. Cudi said he was aware Cassie had been involved with Combs around the time they dated.
\nHe testified that Combs entered his home without permission in Dec. 2011. Cudi was not home at the time, but said that as soon as he heard about, he immediately called Combs.
\nCudi said he had gone to a West Hollywood hotel with Cassie to get her away from the seething Combs when he got a call from Combs\u2019 assistant, Capricorn Clark. He said she told him \u201cSean Combs and an affiliate were in my house and she was in a car and she was forced to go with them over there.\u201d
\nSo Cudi said he got into Porsche 911 convertible and drove there, calling Combs along the way. Using an expletive, he asked Combs why he was in the house. He said Combs calmly replied, \u201cI want to talk to you.\u201d
\nCudi said he told Combs he was on his way to the house, to which Combs said: \u201cI\u2019m over here waiting for you.\u201d
\nBut, Cudi said, Combs wasn\u2019t there when he arrived. Instead, he said, he found Christmas presents he\u2019d purchased for his family had been opened and his dog was locked up in a bathroom.
\nCudi said he got back into his car and called Combs again, asking him where he was.
\nHe said, \u201cI\u2019m on my way, I\u2019m on my way,\u201d Cudi testified.
\nCudi said he wasn\u2019t sure what was going on, so he decided to call the police.
\nAbout a month later, Cudi said someone torched his Porsche that was sitting in his driveway, with a Molotov cocktail tossed inside.\u00a0The jury saw photos of the slashed fabric roof, burnt up driver’s side, and damage caused by the fire and smoke.
\nWhen asked by a prosecutor what his reaction was to his car getting torched, Cudi said "What the [expletive]?" He then testified that "after the fire, I was like, this is getting out of hand, I need to talk to him." Cudi said he didn\u2019t have conflicts at the time with anyone other than Combs.
\nEventually agreeing to a face-to-face meeting with Combs and Cassie in Los Angeles, Cudi said that when he walked in, "Combs was looking out the window with his hands behind his back looking like a Marvel super villain."
\nDespite the action movie posture, Combs remained oddly calm throughout the one-on-one meeting, Cudi said, and even offered him water on a couple of occasions. They eventually stood and shook hands, before Cudi said he asked Combs: \u201cWhat are we going to do about my car?\u201d
\nCudi said Combs gave him a \u201cvery cold stare\u201d and responded: \u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about.\u201d
\nCudi was miffed. He decided to let it go, but recalled Combs noticing his hesitation. \u201cI thought we were cool, is there a problem?\u201d Combs asked.
\nCudi said he told Combs he would take him at his word, and he eventually made peace with the situation. After that, there were no more break-ins at his house and no more trouble with his car.
\nCombs ended up apologizing a few years later, when they ran into each other again at the SoHo House hotel, Cudi testified.
\nCudi said Combs, there with his daughter, pulled him aside and said: \u201cMan, I just was to apologize for everything and all that (expletive).\u201d
\n\u201cAfter the apology, I found peace with it,\u201d Cudi testified.
\nQuestioned about the break-in by defense lawyer Brian Steel, Cudi acknowledged that he had left the door to his home unlocked and that there was no damage to the structure.
\nCudi left the courtroom without looking in the direction of Combs.
\nCassie Ventura took the stand for the fourth and final day on May 16 to testify in ex-boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs’ sex trafficking trial. NBC News entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas, who was inside the courtroom, shares with Access Hollywood how the jury heard a different side of Ventura as the defense presented audio evidence of the singer screaming at a male acquaintance who she thought had a video of her participating in a "freak-off" with Combs. <\/p>\n
A makeup artist who helped covered Cassie’s injuries after alleged beating by combs also testified on Thursday. Mylah Morales testified that she saw injuries on Cassie\u2019s face only once while doing makeup for her between 2007 and 2021.
\nShe said it happened in 2010 during Grammys weekend after Combs stormed into Cassie\u2019s bedroom at a hotel and she heard \u201cyelling and screaming.\u201d After an angry Combs left the room, Morales said, she went in and saw Cassie.
\n\u201cShe had a swollen eye and a busted lip and knots on her head,\u201d she said.
\nWhen Morales saw that, she immediately packed up her things and got her out of the hotel, she said. Morales said her doctor friend checked Cassie out the next day and recommended she go to the emergency room, but Cassie didn\u2019t go.<\/p>\n
Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Zemmour testified that Combs frequently stayed at the L\u2019Ermitage Beverly Hills using aliases such as Frank White and Frank Black \u2014 names Cassie said he used when checking in for \u201cfreak-off\u201d sexual encounters.
\nZemmour said Combs\u2019 guest profile noted that he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to the Trial There was explosive testimony in the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial on Thursday, as rapper Kid Cudi took the stand. While spending several hours on the witness stand, Cudi told the jury about two key experiences he thinks are tied to Combs. That came after Combs’ former assistant finished his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-reports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/media.nbclosangeles.com\/2025\/05\/AP25142496338493.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=1200%2C675&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15194"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15196,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15194\/revisions\/15196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}