Kid Cudi Expected on Stand as Diddy Faces Coercion Charges

Kid Cudi’s “Neverland” album artwork. The Grammy-winning rapper is expected to testify this week in the federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in Manhattan. (Courtesy Republic Records)

Grammy-winning artist Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi is expected to take the witness stand Wednesday in the federal sex-trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, court documents and ABC News updates confirm. His testimony follows emotional accounts from Cassie Ventura’s mother and a male escort, underlining prosecutors’ charge that Combs used threats and intimidation to control women.

Prosecutors say Combs, 54, led an “enterprise that abused, threatened and coerced women into prolonged, drug-fueled sexual ‘freak offs,’ ” then brandished evidence — from videotapes to defaced rifle parts — to silence them. Ventura testified she briefly dated Cudi before Combs allegedly threatened both of them, a key element of the government’s coercion claim.

On Tuesday, Regina Ventura described receiving a “disturbing” December 2011 email from her daughter in which Cassie said Combs threatened to release explicit tapes and harm both women. “I was physically sick,” Regina Ventura told the jury. She also recounted photographing her daughter’s bruises to “memorialize” the abuse.

Later, exotic dancer Sharay Hayes, known as “The Punisher,” testified that Combs directed “sexy scenes” between Hayes and Ventura, often supplying baby oil and specific lighting instructions. Hayes said he was paid $1,200–$2,000 per encounter and that on one occasion Combs threw condoms at him, declaring, “I’m ready to see you f— her,” though Hayes could not comply under the pressure.

Federal agents then described discovering AR-15–style rifle receivers, ammunition and lingerie on the same shelving unit during a March 2024 Miami Beach raid. Homeland Security Special Agent Gerard Gannon demonstrated how serial numbers had been defaced, suggesting attempts to intimidate.

Cudi’s anticipated testimony follows defense arguments that Combs’ relationships were consensual and part of a swinger lifestyle. Combs has pleaded not guilty to sex-trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy. The trial continues Wednesday with further testimony from Agent Gannon, psychologist Dawn Hughes and former assistant George Kaplan, before Cudi takes the stand.

Megan Thee Stallion Dismisses ‘New Evidence’ in Lanez Shooting Case, Calls Out Harassment

Megan Thee Stallion on Monday dismissed what Tory Lanez’s legal team calls “new evidence” in his 2020 shooting case and rebuked ongoing harassment — days after Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, was stabbed 14 times in prison.

On TikTok, Megan — born Megan Pete — demanded an end to “living this s--t over and over.” “Facts are facts, he did it, it was proven in court,” she wrote. “Tory, you shot me ! ! ! Ain’t no new f---ing evidence. Y’all been saying the same s--- for years.”

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion reacts on TikTok to alleged “new evidence” in Tory Lanez’s shooting case—urging fans to stop “harassing” her just days after Lanez survived a stabbing in prison. (Courtesy TikTok/theestallion)

Lanez’s lawyers last week filed an amended criminal‐defamation claim hinging on testimony from a former bodyguard. That witness alleges he overheard Kelsey Harris — Megan’s onetime friend — admit to handling the gun the night Pete was shot in July 2020. 

The filing comes on the heels of Lanez’s May 12 stabbing at California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, where inmate Santino Casio — serving life for murder — allegedly slashed him in the face, torso, back and head. Observers say the attack may have spurred Lanez’s team to renew efforts to contest his conviction.

Megan has consistently declined to revisit that night. Her TikTok salvo continued: “At what point are y’all gonna stop making me have to re-live being shot by Tory !? At what point are Tory and y’all fans gonna stop lying? Like, how much is the check to keep harassing me? Leave me TF alone ! ! !”

In December 2022, Lanez was found guilty of assault with a semiautomatic firearm after a dispute outside a Hollywood Hills party. He’s serving a 10-year state sentence — eligible for parole in 2029 — and faces dozens of civil suits from shooting‐related claimants.

Megan’s post closed on gratitude: despite the pain, “I’m good spirits and deeply thankful to God that I’m pulling through,” she said, echoing the Instagram update Lanez’s team issued from his hospital bed after the prison attack.

Watch: Netflix Doc Revisits Fatal Crowd Surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld

The poster for Netflix’s Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, a new documentary examining the fatal 2021 crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Houston festival. (Courtesy Netflix)

Netflix is set to revisit one of live music’s darkest nights with Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, the latest installment in its Trainwreck documentary series. The film, premiering June 10, retraces the November 2021 crowd surge at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston that left 10 concertgoers dead and hundreds more injured.

Directed by Emmy winner Leslie Chilcott, Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy draws on interviews with survivors, paramedics and festival staff to provide an unflinching look at how a record-breaking crowd overwhelmed safety measures.

The newly released trailer begins with the festival’s electric build-up: “He’s the messiah of music,” one fan intones, while another recalls the “unparalleled experience” of Scott’s live shows. Tickets for the sold-out event vanished in 30 minutes, underscoring its feverish appeal to Houston’s youth.

But jubilation gives way to panic. As gates opened, onlookers describe “overwhelming chaos” at entry points, and an attendee recalls feeling “your whole body move forward” in a surging mass. Narration warns of a “wave effect” that turned celebration into catastrophe. Distressing audio — including frantic 911 calls and pleas to stop the show — punctuates the trailer, as a reporter grimly observes, “People are dead and hundreds others hurt.”

The preview also raises pointed questions about festival management: “You guys were in charge of this. What was the failure?” One survivor, speaking on camera for the first time, says he “never spoke about it before” but now wants “people to know the truth.”

The tragedy has spawned more than 2,500 civil lawsuits alleging negligence and inadequate crowd control. While Scott has settled several claims, dozens remain pending, and Texas prosecutors continue to review potential criminal charges tied to the disaster.

Watch the trailer below.