Rapper Kid Cudi is opening up about his experience testifying at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial in May.
The Pursuit of Happiness rapper (real name Scott Mescudi) told Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper that he “hated every minute of it,” marking the first time he has spoken out about his time at Combs’ trial.
Mescudi said that he turned down testifying twice but had to take the stand once he was subpoenaed. The 41-year-old rapper previously dated Cassie Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend, in 2011, and testified about their brief relationship that took place 14 years ago.
“I was just there because I had to be,” Mescudi told Cooper. “I hated every minute of it. I did not want to do it.”
But he did make it clear that he wanted to “support Cassie,” who was a key witness in Combs’ trial.
Mescudi took the stand on May 22 and testified that Combs broke into his Hollywood Hills home in 2011 after finding out he was dating his ex-girlfriend, Ventura, and said he was sure Combs was behind the firebombing of his car weeks later.
The Grammy-winning rapper told Cooper that he felt “calm” on the stand.
“I’m thinking about like, ‘What am I wearing, man? Do I have to be like [in a] suit or something?’ I was like, ‘Man, f— this s—. This is what I’m wearing today. I’m going to this f—— s— in this. I’m not dressing up for this s—.’ Like, wear some hard bottoms. I’m wearing some Solomon’s, and I’m coming in with my Levi’s and my leather jacket and that’s it, you know?” he said, describing the outfit he wore to the federal courthouse in Manhattan.
Rapper Kid Cudi, centre, arrives at federal court for the trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, in New York, on May 22, 2025.
AP Photo/Richard Drew
Mescudi spoke about coming to terms with the fact that he was there to testify in support of Ventura.
“I thought about, when I was up there. I’m here to support Cassie, and Cassie is my friend, you know, and I love her, and I wanna see her do well,” he said.
“And when I saw her get married, I was so happy for her, you know, that she found someone, her person. When I saw that she was having kids, I was like, ‘Oh, this is so awesome.’ You know what I mean?”
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He said that he’s “always just wanted to see her thrive and do well and be happy because I know she was living a nightmare, and I just was there to support her.”
“That’s what kind of gave me peace with it when I sat down in that chair. It was just about, ‘Oh man, I gotta like, hold homegirl down’ and like look out for her,” the Day ‘n’ Nite rapper added.
Cooper asked Cudi about the period of his life when he was dating Ventura.
“It was crazy, man,” he said, before taking a long pause. “In the moment, it was just crazy, like I had a hard time understanding if it was reality. I was like, ‘Am I in a movie? What the f— is going on?’”
“It was just chaotic and intense,” he added. “And, you know, I wasn’t like, I was already out of my mind dealing with my own personal s— so I was really just like, f— it. I was just willing to walk into the fire.”
In another interview on CBS Mornings, Mescudi discussed the public response to his testimony.
“The backlash was swift. I had a lot of people that supported me, but there were a few that had some opinions about it,” Mescudi said. “It was interesting because I’m not no street dude. I don’t live by no code, you know? So I guess it’s because I’m a rapper. People just threw that on me. But, like, my music has never been about that and I have never tried to pretend I was about that.”
Speaking at Combs’ federal sex trafficking trial in Manhattan, Mescudi said that while he and Ventura were dating, he took her to a West Hollywood hotel to get her away from Combs. While there, he said, he got a call from Combs’ assistant Capricorn Clark. She told him Combs and an affiliate were in Mescudi’s house and that she had been forced to go with them.
Mescudi said he called Combs while driving home and asked why he was in his house. He said Combs calmly replied, “I want to talk to you.”
But Combs wasn’t there when he arrived, Mescudi testified. Instead, he found that someone had opened Christmas presents he’d purchased for his family and locked his dog in a bathroom. Mescudi wasn’t sure what was going on, so he called the police.
A few weeks later, Mescudi testified, his Porsche 911 convertible was damaged by fire while parked in his driveway. Mescudi said he was at a friend’s house when his dog sitter called and told him his car was on fire. Jurors were shown photos of the car’s red leather interior scorched and burned, with a hole in the fabric roof. A Molotov cocktail was found on the passenger seat, Mescudi said.
Ventura had testified the week prior that Combs threatened to blow up Mescudi’s car and hurt him after he learned she was dating the rapper.
Mescudi said he didn’t have conflicts at the time with anyone other than Combs.
“I knew he had something to do with it,” Mescudi said, leading Combs’ lawyers to object. Jurors were told to disregard the remark.
Mescudi told jurors he met with Combs the next day at a Los Angeles hotel to try to smooth things over.
“After the fire, I said, ‘This is getting out of hand. I need to talk to him,’” Mescudi said.
At the end of the meeting, as they stood and shook hands, Mescudi said he asked Combs: “What are we going to do about my car?” Mescudi said Combs gave him a “very cold stare” and responded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mescudi said he thought “he was lying” but let it go, and there were no more episodes at his house. A few years later, Combs apologized “for everything” when they ran into each other at a hotel, Mescudi testified.
Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He faced federal charges of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them.
He was acquitted last month of the top charges — racketeering and sex trafficking — and was convicted of two counts of a prostitution-related offence.
His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3.
— With files from The Associated Press
