A former top aide to Sean “Diddy” Combs testified that the music mogul threatened to kill her on her very first day working for him. Years later, she said, he kidnapped her at gunpoint during an angry attempt to find and kill rapper Kid Cudi.
Capricorn Clark shared her account of Mr. Combs’s violent behavior on Tuesday. Her testimony marked the start of the third week in Mr. Combs’s federal sex trafficking trial in Manhattan. Prosecutors called Ms. Clark, who was once the global brand director for Combs’s Bad Boy Entertainment, to support claims that he led a 20-year racketeering scheme. This scheme involved armed bodyguards, death threats, and the intimidation of employees to get his way.
Mr. Combs, 55, denies the charges. He faces an indictment accusing him of abusing his longtime girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, and others. If found guilty, he could face 15 years to life in prison.
Ms. Clark’s emotional testimony came just days after Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, told the court that Ms. Clark called him from a car outside his home in December 2011. She said Mr. Combs had forced her to come with him to Mr. Mescudi’s house. Mr. Combs was angry because Mr. Mescudi was dating Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura.
Ms. Clark referred to Mr. Combs as “Puff,” his former stage name Puff Daddy. She said he came to her house holding a gun and told her to get dressed because “we’re going to kill Cudi.”
With a shaky voice, Ms. Clark described riding in a black Cadillac Escalade to Mr. Mescudi’s home in Los Angeles. Mr. Combs and a bodyguard went inside, while she stayed in the SUV and called Ms. Ventura.
She testified that she told Ms. Ventura, “Puff got me with a gun and brought me to Cudi’s house to kill him.”
Ms. Clark said she heard Mr. Mescudi ask in the background, “He’s in my house?”
She warned Ms. Ventura, “Stop him, he’s going to get himself killed.” Ms. Ventura replied that she could not stop Mr. Mescudi.
When Mr. Combs returned to the SUV, he asked who Ms. Clark was talking to. Then he grabbed the phone and called Ms. Ventura himself.
Ms. Clark said they soon heard Mr. Mescudi driving nearby. Mr. Combs and his bodyguard chased after him but stopped when they passed police cars headed toward the house.
After the break-in, Ms. Clark said Mr. Combs told her she had to convince Mr. Mescudi, “It wasn’t me.” He added, “If you don’t convince him of that, I’ll kill all you,” using strong language to make the threat clear.
Ms. Clark and Ms. Ventura then went to Mr. Mescudi’s home, explaining to the jury, “We needed to talk to him. We needed to make sure he wasn’t going to report Puff to the police.”
Ms. Clark said she watched in shock as Mr. Combs violently attacked Ms. Ventura because of her relationship with Mr. Mescudi.
She described Mr. Combs kicking Mr. Mescudi with “100 per cent full force” in the legs and back while Ms. Ventura curled up on the ground outside, quietly crying.
Ms. Clark said her heart broke seeing Ms. Ventura get hit like that. Neither she nor Mr. Combs’s bodyguard stepped in to stop it.
This statement led to an objection from Mr. Combs’s lawyers. Judge Arun Subramanian instructed the jury to disregard the comment.
Mr. Combs’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, challenged some details in Ms. Clark’s story. She admitted that her memory was unclear about some events because they happened a long time ago.
On Thursday, Mr. Mescudi testified that he briefly dated Ms. Ventura in December 2011. He believed she had ended things with Mr. Combs. They later agreed to break up during the holidays.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner questioned Ms. Clark about her on-and-off work with Mr. Combs from 2004 to 2018. Ms. Clark said on her first day, Mr. Combs and a bodyguard took her to Central Park after 9 p.m. He told her he did not know about her past work with other rappers.
Ms. Clark testified that Mr. Combs warned her if her past work became a problem, he would have to kill her.
She said she was only a few weeks into the job when she was responsible for carrying diamond jewelry that later went missing.
Because of this, she faced repeated lie detector tests for five days by a man much larger than her.
She recalled him saying, “If you fail this test, they’re going to throw you in the East River.” Eventually, she was allowed to return to work.
Despite the kidnapping incident, Ms. Clark said she was not scared away. Mr. Agnifilo pointed out that last year, after federal agents raided Mr. Combs’s homes, she offered to come back as his chief of staff.
Mr. Combs rejected that offer, Mr. Agnifilo said.
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