When Kid Cudi took the stand to testify against Sean “Diddy” Combs in May, he did so against his will — but the musician is ultimately happy that he was able to support his ex-girlfriend Cassie.
Cudi (né Scott Mescudi) opened up about his experience speaking at Combs’s trial in an episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday, Aug. 13, and said he “hated every minute of it.”
“I was there because I had to be. At first they asked, I said no. They asked again, I said no. Then I got subpoenaed and I was like, ‘F—. S––. No,’” he recalled.
The “Pursuit of Happiness” singer, 41, reiterated to host Alex Cooper that he “did not want to do it.” But eventually, he realized that speaking out was a way to support Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, Combs’s on-again, off-again ex-girlfriend with whom Cudi had a brief relationship in 2011.
Ventura, 38, testified at the trial, too, and spoke about the sexual encounters known as “Freak Offs” and “Hotel Nights.” The “Me & U” singer, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she testified, also alleged that Combs raped her toward the end of their 11-year relationship.

Call Her Daddy/Youtube
“I thought about, when I was up there, ‘I’m here to support Cassie,’” Cudi recalled. “And Cassie is my friend and I love her and I want to see her do well. When I saw her get married, I was so happy that she found someone, her person. When I saw that she was having kids, I was like, ‘Oh, this is so awesome.’ I’ve always just wanted to see her thrive and do well and be happy, ‘cause I know she was living a nightmare.”
Ventura married Alex Fine in 2019, and they’re parents to daughters Frankie, 5, and Sunny, 4, as well as a son born in May.
“I was just there to support her. That’s what kind of gave me peace with it,” Cudi said on Call Her Daddy. “When I saw down in that chair, it was just about, ‘Damn, I don’t want to do this’ to being like, ‘Oh man, I gotta hold homegirl down and look out for her.’”
Combs was convicted in July on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but was acquitted on more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering following a lengthy trial. He will be sentenced on Oct. 3.
While on the stand, Cudi recalled once trying to confront the embattled music mogul after he allegedly broke into Cudi’s home and locked his dog in the bathroom in 2011. He also spoke about the time his car was blown up with a Molotov cocktail in 2012, an incident prosecutors claimed was Combs’s doing (Cudi did not mention Combs in connection with the car explosion).
Cudi, who married Lola Abecassis Sartore in June, released his memoir, Cudi: The Memoir, earlier this week.
