American rapper Kid Cudi’s car mysteriously exploded in his driveway shortly after Sean “Diddy” Combs threatened to blow it up, his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura testified in a New York court on Wednesday.The claim came during Combs’ ongoing sex-trafficking and racketeering trial, where Ventura is a key government witness. She told the jury that the threat came in late 2011, shortly after the hip-hop mogul discovered she had started dating Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, reports the New York Post. “He mentioned when we were out of the country that Scott’s car would be blown up and he wanted his friends to see it,” Ventura said in her testimony.Later, when she and Combs met Cudi at SoHo House in New York, she recalled the rapper asking, “What about my vehicle?” Combs coolly responded, “What vehicle?” and said no more. The meeting ended there.Ventura and Combs were in a volatile relationship that lasted 11 years. She first publicly alleged in a 2023 civil lawsuit that Combs had made the car bomb threat, and that Cudi’s vehicle had exploded around the same time.In court, Ventura detailed how Combs discovered her relationship with Cudi. She said he went through her phone during what she described as a “freak-off,” a term used for the sexual events Combs allegedly organised. He found emails between her and one of his assistants, Capricorn Clark, about delivering her toiletries to Cudi’s home.After the discovery, Ventura said Combs “lunged” at her with a corkscrew and later kicked her in the back as she left his home. The court was shown photos of bruises she suffered on her back and legs, which were taken by her mother.She also described disturbing scenes in her hotel room that night, claiming she returned to find the toilet full of faeces, furniture knocked over, and urine on the floor.An email Ventura wrote in December 2011 to her mother and Clark was also read in court. “The threats that [Sean Combs] has made of me are that he will release 2 sexually explicit videos: one on xmas day [and one other],” she wrote.Ventura admitted that she downplayed the abuse when she first told her mother. “No, I told her it was the first time,” she said when asked if she had been open about the violence.Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex-trafficking and racketeering charges. If convicted, he could face a life sentence.
