Allegations Diddy Blew Up His Car, Explained

Topline

Prosecutors will call rapper Kid Cudi to testify this week in Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial, likely to question him over allegations both he and Cassie Ventura made that Combs arranged for his car to be firebombed in a jealous rage after discovering he and Ventura were dating.

Cassie Ventura alleged in her lawsuit Sean “Diddy” Combs and co-conspirators set fire to Kid Cudi’s … More vehicle. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella)

Getty Images for Coachella

Key Facts

Ventura, the star witness in Combs’ sex trafficking and racketeering trial, testified last week Combs told her he wanted to blow up Kid Cudi’s car after learning she was dating the rapper, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, during a break in her relationship with Combs, mirroring an allegation she made against him in her 2023 civil lawsuit.

A police report from the time obtained by Rolling Stone states Kid Cudi’s car was set on fire by an “incendiary device” on Jan. 9, 2012.

Prosecutors previously accused Combs in a memo filed in New York court in September of kidnapping an unnamed individual with a co-conspirator to break into the residence of another unnamed individual, referred to as “Individual-1,” on Dec. 22, 2011.

Prosecutors alleged Combs’ co-conspirators set fire to Individual-1’s vehicle about two weeks later, in which the co-conspirators allegedly cut open the top of the convertible and dropped a Molotov cocktail inside.

Prosecutors said police and fire department officials concluded the fire was intentionally set, and multiple witnesses allegedly testified Combs had bragged about setting fire to the car.

Representatives for Kid Cudi confirmed Ventura’s account of the alleged arson to the New York Times in November: “This is all true,” a spokesperson for the rapper said.

News Peg

Prosecutors said late Tuesday Kid Cudi will take the stand this week, possibly as soon as Wednesday. During Ventura’s nearly week-long testimony, she said she briefly dated Kid Cudi during a break in her relationship with Combs in 2011. After Combs found out about the relationship, he became “so irate” that he kicked her in the back, giving her a large bruise, Ventura testified. Combs then told Ventura he wanted to blow up Kid Cudi’s car and wanted his friends to see it happen, she testified. Ventura told the court she later broke things off with Kid Cudi to protect him. Ventura testified she met with Combs and Kid Cudi at the Soho House in Los Angeles to discuss the end of her relationship with the rapper, during which Kid Cudi asked Combs, “What about my vehicle?” Ventura testified Combs replied, “What vehicle?”

What Else Did Ventura Allege?

Ventura said in her lawsuit Combs had discovered her brief relationship with Kid Cudi during a “freak-off”—which prosecutors described in their indictment as coerced, “elaborate and produced sex performances” in which Combs would use “force, threats of force, and coercion, to cause victims to engage in extended sex acts with male commercial sex workers.” Ventura alleged Combs had “demanded” she participate in a “freak-off” after he returned from a trip, and she acquiesced. During the freak-off, Ventura alleged Combs found her phone and discovered e-mails that had been shared between Ventura and Kid Cudi, prompting him to lunge at her with a corkscrew. Ventura escaped and fled to Kid Cudi’s home, the lawsuit states. Combs’ staff contacted Ventura, who told her Combs needed to talk to her, and she returned to Combs’ home, “feeling like she could not escape Mr. Combs and his network of enforcers,” according to the suit. Ventura alleged Combs hit her several times and kicked her in the back as she attempted to run out the door after she returned home. Ventura then fled to her parents’ home in Connecticut, where her mother took pictures of the bruises Combs had allegedly inflicted on her, the suit states. Combs told Ventura while they attended Paris Fashion Week in February 2012 that he wanted to blow up Kid Cudi’s car, and that he hoped the rapper and his friends would be home for the incident. After the car allegedly exploded, Ventura alleged she was “terrified, as she began to fully comprehend what Mr. Combs was both willing and able to do to those he believed had slighted him,” the lawsuit states.

Who Is Kid Cudi?

The rapper and actor Kid Cudi, 40, won two Grammy Awards for his hit collaboration with Kanye West and Rihanna, “All of the Lights,” in 2012. He is known for his hit “Man on the Moon” album trilogy and most recently released the album “Insano (Nitro Mega)” in February. In film, he has appeared in “Bill & Ted Face the Music” (2020), “Crisis” (2021) and “X” (2022), and he has executive produced the films “Malcolm & Marie” (2022), “Pearl” (2022) and “MaXXXine” (2024).

Key Background

Combs was arrested in Manhattan in September on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, cause or coercion and transportation to engage in prostitution, to all of which he pleaded not guilty. The arrest followed a string of lawsuits filed against Combs, beginning with Ventura in November, accusing him of sexual assault—all of which Combs denied. CNN published security video footage captured in a Los Angeles hotel in 2016 depicting Combs shoving Ventura to the ground and kicking her, prompting Combs to issue a video apology on his Instagram account. Combs is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he reportedly shares a unit with disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.