Rapper Child Cudi is opening up about his expertise testifying at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ intercourse trafficking and racketeering trial in Could.
The Pursuit of Happiness rapper (actual title Scott Mescudi) instructed Name Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper that he “hated each minute of it,” marking the primary time he has spoken out about his time at Combs’ trial.
Mescudi stated that he turned down testifying twice however needed to take the stand as soon as he was subpoenaed. The 41-year-old rapper beforehand dated Cassie Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend, in 2011, and testified about their transient relationship that passed off 14 years in the past.
“I used to be simply there as a result of I needed to be,” Mescudi instructed Cooper. “I hated each minute of it. I didn’t need to do it.”
However he did make it clear that he wished to “help Cassie,” who was a key witness in Combs’ trial.
Mescudi took the stand on Could 22 and testified that Combs broke into his Hollywood Hills residence in 2011 after discovering out he was courting his ex-girlfriend, Ventura, and stated he was positive Combs was behind the firebombing of his automotive weeks later.
The Grammy-winning rapper instructed Cooper that he felt “calm” on the stand.
“I’m interested by like, ‘What am I carrying, man? Do I’ve to be like [in a] go well with or one thing?’ I used to be like, ‘Man, f— this s—. That is what I’m carrying in the present day. I’m going to this f—— s— on this. I’m not dressing up for this s—.’ Like, put on some arduous bottoms. I’m carrying some Solomon’s, and I’m coming in with my Levi’s and my leather-based jacket and that’s it, you recognize?” he stated, describing the outfit he wore to the federal courthouse in Manhattan.
Rapper Child Cudi, centre, arrives at federal court docket for the trial of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, in New York, on Could 22, 2025.
AP Photograph/Richard Drew
Mescudi spoke about coming to phrases with the truth that he was there to testify in help of Ventura.
“I thought of, once I was up there. I’m right here to help Cassie, and Cassie is my good friend, you recognize, and I really like her, and I wanna see her do effectively,” he stated.
“And once I noticed her get married, I used to be so glad for her, you recognize, that she discovered somebody, her individual. After I noticed that she was having children, I used to be like, ‘Oh, that is so superior.’ You understand what I imply?”
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He stated that he’s “all the time simply wished to see her thrive and do effectively and be glad as a result of I do know she was residing a nightmare, and I simply was there to help her.”
“That’s what sort of gave me peace with it once I sat down in that chair. It was nearly, ‘Oh man, I gotta like, maintain homegirl down’ and like look out for her,” the Day ‘n’ Nite rapper added.
Cooper requested Cudi concerning the interval of his life when he was courting Ventura.
“It was loopy, man,” he stated, earlier than taking a protracted pause. “Within the second, it was simply loopy, like I had a tough time understanding if it was actuality. I used to be like, ‘Am I in a film? What the f— is occurring?’”
“It was simply chaotic and intense,” he added. “And, you recognize, I wasn’t like, I used to be already out of my thoughts coping with my very own private s— so I used to be actually similar to, f— it. I used to be simply keen to stroll into the hearth.”
In one other interview on CBS Mornings, Mescudi mentioned the general public response to his testimony.
“The backlash was swift. I had lots of people that supported me, however there have been a couple of that had some opinions about it,” Mescudi stated. “It was attention-grabbing as a result of I’m not no road dude. I don’t reside by no code, you recognize? So I suppose it’s as a result of I’m a rapper. Individuals simply threw that on me. However, like, my music has by no means been about that and I’ve by no means tried to faux I used to be about that.”
Talking at Combs’ federal intercourse trafficking trial in Manhattan, Mescudi stated that whereas he and Ventura have been courting, he took her to a West Hollywood lodge to get her away from Combs. Whereas there, he stated, he received a name from Combs’ assistant Capricorn Clark. She instructed him Combs and an affiliate have been in Mescudi’s home and that she had been compelled to go along with them.
Mescudi stated he known as Combs whereas driving residence and requested why he was in his home. He stated Combs calmly replied, “I need to speak to you.”
However Combs wasn’t there when he arrived, Mescudi testified. As a substitute, he discovered that somebody had opened Christmas presents he’d bought for his household and locked his canine in a rest room. Mescudi wasn’t positive what was occurring, so he known as the police.
Just a few weeks later, Mescudi testified, his Porsche 911 convertible was broken by hearth whereas parked in his driveway. Mescudi stated he was at a good friend’s home when his canine sitter known as and instructed him his automotive was on hearth. Jurors have been proven pictures of the automotive’s purple leather-based inside scorched and burned, with a gap within the cloth roof. A Molotov cocktail was discovered on the passenger seat, Mescudi stated.
Ventura had testified the week prior that Combs threatened to explode Mescudi’s automotive and damage him after he realized she was courting the rapper.
Mescudi stated he didn’t have conflicts on the time with anybody apart from Combs.
“I knew he had one thing to do with it,” Mescudi stated, main Combs’ legal professionals to object. Jurors have been instructed to ignore the comment.
Mescudi instructed jurors he met with Combs the following day at a Los Angeles lodge to attempt to easy issues over.
“After the hearth, I stated, ‘That is getting out of hand. I would like to speak to him,’” Mescudi stated.
On the finish of the assembly, as they stood and shook fingers, Mescudi stated he requested Combs: “What are we going to do about my automotive?” Mescudi stated Combs gave him a “very chilly stare” and responded, “I don’t know what you’re speaking about.”
Mescudi stated he thought “he was mendacity” however let it go, and there have been no extra episodes at his home. Just a few years later, Combs apologized “for all the things” once they bumped into one another at a lodge, Mescudi testified.
Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He confronted federal expenses of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fuelled intercourse marathons with male intercourse staff whereas he watched and filmed them.
He was acquitted final month of the highest expenses — racketeering and intercourse trafficking — and was convicted of two counts of a prostitution-related offence.
His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3.
— With information from The Related Press
