Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura wrapped up her direct testimony against the rap mogul on Wednesday (May 14), telling jurors that Combs threatened to blow up Kid Cudi’s car and revealing the dollar amount of a bombshell settlement that set off the sex-trafficking probe.
Ventura, an R&B singer who dated Combs on and off for 11 years, is the star witness in Combs’ criminal trial. She’s been on the witness stand since Tuesday (May 13), testifying that Combs physically abused her and forced her to have sex with male escorts during drug-fueled events known as “freak offs.”
In her final day of direct testimony, Ventura reportedly told the jury that Combs became enraged when he discovered she was dating Cudi (Scott Mescudi) in 2011, according to The New York Times, which also reported that Ventura testified that Combs lunged at her with a wine opener and threatened to release freak off videos and hurt both her and Mescudi.
Ventura also said that Combs threatened to blow up Mescudi’s car, the Times reports, and that she soon broke things off with Mescudi out of fear.
“Too much danger, too much uncertainty of what could happen if we continued to see each other,” Ventura reportedly testified.
Ventura alleged in a November 2023 civil lawsuit that Mescudi’s car did, in fact, explode in his driveway a short while after Combs’ threats. Combs has not been officially linked to the incident.
Ventura’s civil lawsuit, the first major public accusation against Combs, was also a key topic during her final day of direct testimony. Though Combs settled with Ventura after a single day, the case sparked the criminal probe that led to the current trial and a deluge of other civil sex abuse lawsuits against Combs.
The dollar amount of Ventura’s settlement was kept confidential and long unknown to the public. But according to the Times, Ventura revealed for the first time during her testimony Wednesday that the settlement amounted to $20 million.
Ventura is scheduled to undergo cross-examination by Combs’ lawyers starting Thursday (May 15). The trial could last up to two months total.
