Combs’s ex Cassie Ventura testified earlier about her relationship with the rapper, and Combs’s reaction to it
Scott Mescudi, known as rapper Kid Cudi, who had a brief relationship with singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura in 2011, is slated to testify on Thursday in the the federal racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Combs, 55, faces charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He was arrested in September, and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On Thursday morning, lawyers for Combs and the government debated about what Mescudi could testify about, including his dog’s behavior after a 2011 break-in at his home.
Mescudi is expected to testify about how his home was burglarized and his car was set on fire around the time Combs learned he was dating Ventura.
The judge joked about whether Mescudi would testify on what his dog “thought”, prompting the prosecutor to clarify that Mescudi isn’t a “dog psychic” but will testify that the dog became more scared after the burglary incident.
Combs’s attorney argued that too much testimony suggesting the dog was traumatized could prejudice the jury.
The judge will allow testimony about the dog’s behavior in the immediate time period after the break-in.
Before Mescudi took the stand on Thursday, George Kaplan, a former assistant to Combs, resumed his testimony that began on Wednesday afternoon.
Kaplan testified about a 2015 incident during which he witnessed Combs being violent with Ventura. Combs’s security was present but did not intervene, he said, before describing another instance in which Ventura had visible injuries at Combs’s home.
Kaplan left Combs’s company in December 2015 as he was “not comfortable or aligned with the physical behavior that had been going on”.
