NEW YORK – Kid Cudi is the latest celebrity to testify at Sean “Diddy” Combs′ sex trafficking trial in New York.
The popular melodic rapper took the stand Thursday and told the jury about his brief relationship 14 years ago with Combs’ ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie.
Cudi testified about several incidents involving Combs, who prosecutors contend was so upset at the rapper that he arranged to have Cudi’s Porsche 911 convertible firebombed. Cudi told jurors about finding his car burned in the driveway of his Hollywood Hills home in 2012.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges that he leveraged his status as a power broker to abuse women.
Here’s what you need to know about the 41-year-old Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi.
Who is Kid Cudi?
The Cleveland born-and-raised Grammy Award-winning rapper has long been celebrated for his alternative hip-hop, emotional music that effortlessly weaves genres together in surprising ways.
Music tastemakers quickly caught on to Cudi’s 2007 single, “Day ‘n’ Nite,” with its unique singsong style that later appeared on his blockbuster 2009 debut, “Man on the Moon: The End of the Day” as “Day ‘n’ Nite (Nightmare).” The song is easily one of the most influential rap tracks of the last two decades. In September, “Day ‘n’ Nite” was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Cudi began as something of a protégé of Kanye West, when the then-uncontroversial rapper signed Cudi to his G.O.O.D. Music label in 2008. Cudi left in 2013.
He is featured on Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 3” and West’s landmark “808s & Heartbreak.” Cudi has always had an eye and ear toward innovation. In 2022, his album “Entergalactic” was released alongside a Netflix adult-animated romantic comedy of the same name, which he told The Associated Press allowed him to “explore the abstract.”
What is Kid Cudi’s involvement with Combs and Cassie?
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, has been the trial’s central witness with her accounts of years of violence and sexual abuse.
She testified that Combs arranged for her to meet Cudi in 2011 to work on music. The two began dating soon after, and she said she got a burner phone to communicate with Cudi in secret.
Cassie said she and Combs had broken up at the time, although they still engaged in sex parties that Combs orchestrated. It was during one of these that Combs looked at her phone and learned of the Cudi relationship, Cassie testified.
In response, she said he lunged at her with a corkscrew and kicked her in the back.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.
Kid Cudi’s testimony
Cudi testified Thursday that Combs broke into his Hollywood Hills home in December 2011 after finding out that he and Cassie were dating. He said he and Cassie went to a West Hollywood hotel to get her away from the seething Combs.
There, he said, he got a call from Combs’ assistant, who told him Combs and an affiliate were in his house.
Cudi headed to his home alone and called Combs to ask why he was in his house. He said Combs calmly replied, “I want to talk to you.”
But, Cudi said, Combs wasn’t there when he arrived. Instead, he found Christmas presents that had been opened and his dog was locked in a bathroom.
Cudi said he got back into his car and called Combs again, who replied, “I’m on my way,” Cudi testified.
Cudi said he decided to call the police.
He told jurors his convertible was destroyed by fire in the driveway a few weeks later. Pictures shown to the jury showed a hole cut in the fabric roof and a Molotov cocktail was found in the passenger seat.
A denial and apology from Combs
Kid Cudi told jurors that Combs denied involvement in the car fire when they met to squash their beef the next day at the SoHo Hotel in Los Angeles.
After the meeting, he said, there were no more break-ins at his house and no more trouble with his car.
Combs ended up apologizing a few years later, when they ran into each other again at the SoHo House hotel, Cudi testified.
The rapper finished his testimony on Thursday by acknowledging that when he started dating Cassie in late 2011, she’d led him to believe that she and Combs were broken up.
Kid Cudi’s more recent music, and acting
His latest album, “Insano,” arrived last year. Soon after its release, “Insano (Nitro Mega),” a partner record that featured Wiz Khalifa, Pusha T, Steve Aoki and more, arrived.
On May 9, Cudi released his latest single, “Neverland.” A short film of the same name, directed by Ti West and produced by Monkeypaw Productions, will premiere at Tribeca Film Festival this June.
Also in May, Cudi officially launched his new apparel label, WZRD.
Daring fashion has been a longtime passion for Cudi; the rapper has partnered with brands such as BAPE and Adidas. He collaborated with the late designer Virgil Abloh, and in 2021 channeled Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain by wearing an Abloh-designed Off-White floral dress on stage at “Saturday Night Live.”
Last week, he announced his engagement to menswear designer Lola Abecassis Sartore.
Cudi is also a celebrated actor, having appeared in a number of feature films and television programs. They include 2020s “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” the 2021 Netflix original “Don’t Look Up,” the HBO series “How to Make It in America” and the glossy “House Party” remake in 2023, in which he played it straight as an anti-social lurker who doesn’t like parties (“too much laughing”) and only wanted to go to give his pal LeBron a poem, as The Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr wrote in her review.
___
Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak and Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
