Recap of ‘Diddy' trial: Ex-employee of Sean Combs testifies that Combs threatened to kill Kid Cudi

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5 days ago

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A former employee of Sean 'Diddy' Combs testified Tuesday that Combs threatened to kill rapper Kid Cudi after learning that the fellow musician was dating Cassie Ventura.
Capricorn Clark, who worked for Combs and his companies off and on from 2004-2018, offered the dramatic details to begin the third week of testimony in Combs' federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial. Combs has pleaded not guilty.
The first week of testimony in the trial was defined by testimony from Ventura, who said Combs physically abused her and coerced her into sex parties known as 'Freak Offs' during their relationship. The second week of testimony largely consisted of witnesses who bolstered parts of her story, including Scott Mescudi, the rapper known as Kid Cudi.
Mescudi testified that his house was broken into and his Porsche destroyed by a Molotov cocktail after Combs learned he and Ventura were dating.
Combs denied any involvement in the car's destruction following the incident, Mescudi testified. Medscudi said he did not believe Combs' denial.
Prosecutors have argued Combs and some in his inner circle used threats, violence, drugs, bribery, arson, kidnapping and lies to coerce Ventura and another woman into participating in 'Freak Offs' and to protect the music mogul's reputation.
The defense has acknowledged Combs was violent with romantic partners and during opening statements said he had 'a bit of a different sex life.' They also said that while Combs is 'a very flawed individual,' he has not committed the alleged federal crimes.
Here's what we learned in testimony Tuesday.
Clark, the former Combs assistant, testified about Combs's violent reaction to learning that Ventura and Mescudi were dating in late 2011, further detailing an incident that was previously recounted on the stand by Ventura and Mescudi.
Clark testified that in December 2011, Combs showed up to her house between 5am and 6am and began banging on her door. When she opened it, she noted he was holding a gun and furious. As he entered her home, he asked her about Mescudi, she said.
'Get dressed, we're going to go kill this n***a,' Clark said Combs told her.
When she protested, Combs said, 'I don't give a f**k what you want to do, go get dressed,' according to her testimony.
Clark said they drove to Mescudi's house, and Combs and his security guard entered the home. Meanwhile, she stayed in the car and called Ventura to tell her what was happening and heard Mescudi in the background. Clark said she urged Cassie to stop Mescudi from returning to his house, Clark testified.
Clark said she told Ventura that Mescudi was 'going to come get himself killed' if he confronted Combs.
A short time later, Clark said Mescudi pulled up next to Combs' Escalade outside his home and then accelerated away. Combs' vehicle followed in pursuit, she said. 'It felt like forever but couldn't have been longer than a minute,' Clark testified about the car chase. Mescudi was able to drive away, Clark said.
Back at Combs' house, Combs told her that she and Ventura needed to convince Mescudi not to tell police he was involved in the break-in, Clark said. 'If you guys don't convince him of that, I'll kill all you m*therf**kers,' Combs told her, according to Clark. She later told Ventura and Mescudi about the threat to remain silent.
Sometime after, Ventura and Clark returned to Combs' home, where she said she witnessed Combs physically assault Ventura. Clark testified that she and a security guard stood by as Combs repeatedly kicked Ventura, adding that Combs threatened to hit Clark if she intervened.
During her emotional testimony, Clark often patted her eyes with a tissue. She seemed to avert her eyes from Combs, but as she was leaving the courtroom during a midday break, she looked over toward his direction, clenched her jaw and nodded.
Clark is the third former Combs' personal assistant to take the stand so far in the trial. Like the other assistants, Clark testified that she worked grueling hours under Combs, occasionally got drugs for him and prepared or cleaned his hotel rooms.
Clark worked as Combs' personal assistant from 2004 to 2006, the marketing director for Sean John Women's and then global brand director from 2007 to 2012 and Ventura's creative director from 2016 to 2018.
She also said she was threatened by Combs and people around him multiple times.
On her first day, Clark said Combs took her to Central Park with his security guard at night and brought up her former employment with Death Row Records, which was founded by Combs' rival Marion 'Suge' Knight.
'He told me that he didn't know that I had anything to do with Suge Knight, and if anything happened, he would have to kill me,' Clark testified.
In another instance, Clark said she was questioned for hours by a security guard, had her apartment searched and took a polygraph test when Combs accused her of stealing diamond jewelry. She was taken to a vacant office building to take a polygraph test for five days, and the man administering the test told her that if she failed, 'they're going to throw you into the East River,' Clark testified.
In the summer of 2006, she told Combs' chef 'I hate it here' and the chef relayed that comment to Combs. Combs then 'charged' her, began pushing her and repeatedly told her to get out of his house. He pushed her about 30 yards using about 75% of his force, Clark said, until a security guard intervened.
Clark testified she left the job after that incident.
After the incidents involving Mescudi, Clark said Combs angrily asked why she didn't tell him about Ventura and Mescudi's relationship. Clark estimated Combs threatened her about 50 times between December 2011 to the following summer.
Clark also said that in early 2012 she spoke with a human resources employee at Bad Boy Records and Harve Pierre, the label's former president, about how Combs wanted to kill Mescudi and beat Ventura. She said Pierre told her it was 'crazy but it's going to be okay.'
Clark testified she was fired several months after that conversation.
Also in 2012, when arson investigators reached out to her to make a statement about the incident involving Mescudi's vehicle, Clark said she hung up the phone. 'I wanted this whole thing to be over,' she testified.
Clark testified that she met with Combs' attorneys just last year and discussed the possibility of working for him again.
While Clark was on the stand under cross-examination, Combs' attorney Marc Agnifilo asked her to confirm that she told the lawyers at the April 2024 meeting that Combs 'wouldn't be in this mess if he had kept (her) around.'
She acknowledged she probably said something like that, as they discussed the possibility of her returning to work for him as his chief of staff. Clark testified that she told them she wanted her life back.
Clark testified that she couldn't get a job in the industry after she was fired in 2012, and recalled having a meeting with executives from Interscope Records that she thought was about possible employment. Instead, Clark said she was told to leave Combs alone or it wouldn't end well for her. Judge Arun Subramanian sustained a defense objection to her response, meaning the jury cannot consider the statement in their judgement.
Under redirect questioning from the prosecution, Clark testified she continued to look for work through 2015 but was unable to find a new job in the industry because she was 'blacklisted.' Her response was also struck from the record after Subramanian sustained a defense objection.
Clark said she wasn't able to find steady work in the entertainment industry so she began working in consulting. 'At this level of business, he (Combs) holds all the power as it relates to me,' Clark testified.
Still, Clark said she 'did learn a lot of stuff from Puff,' noting the situation was 'very complicated.'
Toward the end of her cross-examination, Clark broke into sobs as she looked at emails she sent Combs in 2014 and 2015 asking him to forgive her.
'That email is me pleading like, 'Dude let it go,'' she said.