(NewsNation) — Rapper Kid Cudi will be one of the biggest names testifying in the federal criminal trial for Sean “Diddy” Combs, and he’s expected to take the stand this week.
Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, was called by prosecutors to tell the jury about his brief relationship with singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, an ex-girlfriend of Combs.
Ventura testified in Combs’ federal felony trial last week.
Kid Cudi’s relationship with Cassie
During her testimony, Ventura said she and Mescudi began dating in 2011 when things were “not in the greatest place” for her and Combs.
INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 21: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Rapper Kid Cudi performs onstage during Weekend 2 – Day 3 of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 21, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella) 
HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 07: Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura attend the premiere of “The Perfect Match” at ArcLight Hollywood on March 7, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) 
Cassie Ventura takes an oath before testifying in Manhattan federal court on May 13 in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) 
Cassie Ventura, right, walks out of the courtroom past Sean Diddy Combs after testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Out of fear, Ventura got a burner phone to communicate with Mescudi so Combs would not find out, she testified.
Although she and Combs broke up, she said they still engaged in so-called “Freak Offs.” It was during one of those episodes that Combs looked at her phone and figured out that she was seeing Mescudi, Ventura said.
“I just remember him putting a wine opener between his fingers and lunging at me,” she recalled of Combs’ alleged reaction. “Sean kicked me in the back. I fell on the floor and then left. I had a large bruise on my back and bruises on other places — he literally kicked me with the bottom of his foot.”
She eventually broke things off with Mescudi for fear of both their lives, she testified.
“It was just too much,” she said. “Too much danger, too much uncertainty of, like, what could happen if we continued to see each other.”
Allegations Diddy blew up Kid Cudi’s car
Combs allegedly threatened to blow up Cudi’s car out of anger that the rapper dated Ventura.
While Ventura broke up with Cudi and reconciled with Combs, the music producer allegedly told her that Mescudi’s car would be blown up and Combs wanted Cudi’s friends there to see it, Ventura testified.
In February 2012, Cudi’s car caught fire in his driveway, according to Ventura’s lawsuit.
Diddy demanded money from Cassie’s mom over Kid Cudi
Ventura’s mother, Regina Ventura, testified this week that she received an email in December 2011 from her daughter saying that Combs was so angry about her relationship with Mescudi that he planned to release sexually explicit videos of her.
Scared for her daughter, she took out a home equity loan to come up with the sum and sent Combs the money, only to have it returned days later.
Ventura testified that she broke up with Mescudi before the end of that year.