The Latest: It’s Rapper Kid Cudi’s turn in the witness stand at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ trial
NEW YORK AP Rapper Kid Cudi is set to testify Thursday at the New York sex trafficking trial of Sean Diddy Combs He follows a former aide to the music mogul who described the jury about the threatening world he mentioned Combs created for his inner circle Prosecutors allege that Combs a three-time Grammy winner used his fame and fortune to create a deviant empire of exploitation coercing women into abusive sex parties while silencing casualties through blackmail and violence including kidnapping arson and beatings Combs lawyers argue that all the sexual acts were consensual and although he could be violent he never veered into sex trafficking and racketeering Kid Cudi is expected to testify about his brief relationship years ago with Combs ex-girlfriend the R B singer Cassie She spent four emotional days on the witness stand responding to questions about the preponderance disturbing secrets of her sex life and describing being beaten and raped by a man she once loved The Latest Ex-assistant described cleaning up booze drugs and baby oil after sex marathons Combs one-time personal assistant testified Wednesday that he was in charge of cleaning up hotel rooms after the hip-hop mogul s sex marathons tossing out empty alcohol bottles baby oil and drugs tidying pillows and making it look as if nothing had happened Kaplan who worked for Combs from to noted the Bad Boy Records founder would sometimes summon him to a hotel room to deliver a medicine kit a bag full of prescription pills and over-the-counter pain medications He stated Combs dispatched him to buy drugs including MDMA also known as ecstasy Kaplan was granted immunity to testify after initially telling the Manhattan court that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination Prosecutors contend Combs leaned on employees and used his music and fashion empire to facilitate and cover up his behavior sometimes making threats to keep them in line and his misconduct hush-hush Read more about Kaplan s Wednesday testimony Manhattan courthouses are familiar territory for selected rappers Rapper and actor Kid Cudi will be following in the footsteps of plenty of other rappers who have had reason to visit the two Manhattan federal courthouses over the past two decades They ve appeared as onlookers participants in civil lawsuits and in several cases criminal defendants Among those who came to these courts before him was Tekashi ix ine Ricky Slick Rick Walters DMX the Beastie Boys N O R E or Noreaga and Lil Kim What is Kid Cudi s involvement with Combs and Cassie Last week Cassie testified that Combs arranged for her to meet Cudi in to work on music The two began dating soon after and she stated she got a burner phone to communicate with Cudi in secret Cassie stated 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 stated he lunged at her with a corkscrew and kicked her in the back When Cassie and Combs were out of the country in Combs notified her that Cudi s car would be blown up and Combs wished Cudi s friends there to see it Cassie testified On Tuesday Cassie s mother Regina Ventura testified that Cassie recounted her Combs was so angry about her relationship with Cudi that he planned to release sexually explicit videos of her and send someone to hurt Cassie and Cudi Who is Kid Cudi The Cleveland born-and-raised skinny-jean wearing Grammy Award-winning rapper has long been celebrated for his alternative hip-hop emotional music that effortlessly weaves genres together in surprising avenues Cudi began as something of a prot g of Kanye West when the then-uncontroversial rapper signed Cudi to his G O O D Music label in Cudi left in He is featured on Jay-Z s The Blueprint and West s landmark s Heartbreak Cudi has invariably had an eye and ear toward innovation In his album Entergalactic was circulated alongside a Netflix adult-animated romantic comedy of the same name which he described The Associated Press allowed him to explore the abstract Kid Cudi expected to take the stand Cudi s turn on the witness stand will come forthwith after George Kaplan a former personal assistant to Combs finishes his testimony A prosecutor stated testimony by Cudi whose legal name is Scott Mescudi was not expected to be lengthy Cassie testified last week that Combs threatened to blow up Cudi s car and hurt him after he learned she was dating the rapper and actor Cudi is to follow Kaplan to the witness stand after the personal assistant to Combs from to finishes telling about what he experienced during - to -hour work weeks Read more about Cudi s upcoming testimony Source
