Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ‘kidnapped aide at gunpoint’ to confront rival rapper Kid Cudi, court hears
Sean “Diddy” Combs kidnapped a former aide at gunpoint to join him as he attempted to confront love rival rapper Kid Cudi, his sex-trafficking trial has been told.
Capricorn Clark, who worked for the Bad Boy Records co-founder in different roles on and off for several years, told the court he banged on her door and told her: “Get dressed, we’re going to kill Mescudi.”
Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, last week testified himself about the alleged incident in December 2011.
Ms Clark became tearful a few times as she gave evidence – which marked the start of the third week of the high-profile trial. She told the court her situation working for the hip-hop mogul was “complicated”.
Combs, 55, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, is accused of subjecting his former long-term partner Cassie and others to years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 10 – as it happened
Ms Clark became tearful a few times as she gave evidence. Pic: Jane Rosenberg via Reuters
While giving her own evidence in the first week of the trial, Cassie told jurors she dated Cudi briefly during a difficult period in her on-off relationship with Combs.
On Tuesday, Ms Clark said she warned Cassie about seeing Cudi, saying she took her to buy a burner phone as she thought it could be dangerous given how Combs might react. “The way she was moving, she was going to get us all killed,” Ms Clark said.
Combs arrived at her home with a gun in his hand on the morning of the attempted confrontation with Cudi, she told the court, and looked “furious”.
She says she told him she did not want to go with him, to which he allegedly replied: “I don’t give a f**k what you want to do.”
Rapper Kid Cudi gave evidence last week. Pic: AP/ Richard Drew
Ms Clark said she had never seen “anything like this before”, but got dressed and left with Combs in a black Cadillac to head to the property in the Hollywood Hills.
She said she waited in the car as Combs went into the residence, and called Cassie to warn her. The rapper had her “with a gun and brought me to Cudi’s house to kill him”, she said she told her.
Cudi could be heard in the background of the call, she said, asking: “He’s in my house?”
After the incident, Ms Clark alleged Combs warned her and Cassie not to speak to police and threatened to “kill all you” if they did not convince Cudi not to either.
In the aftermath of this incident, Ms Clark alleged Combs “came at” Cassie with “100% full force”, repeatedly kicking her while she crouched “more and more” into a foetal position and cried “silently”.
The rapper told Ms Clark that if she tried to intervene, “he was going to f**k me up too”, she said.
Diddy’s mother Janice Combs was in court to support him again. Pic: Reuters
Earlier in her testimony, she told the court about the start of her employment with Combs and his label Bad Boy Records in 2004.
She said after he discovered she had previously worked for Marion “Suge” Knight’s Death Row Records – the West Coast rival to East Coast Bad Boy – he told her “if anything happened, he would have to kill me”.
Ms Clark said she perceived this as a “very serious” threat. She also told the court about another alleged incident just a few weeks into the job, when some diamond jewellery on loan to Combs went missing.
She told the court she was taken to a building in Manhattan and forced to repeatedly take lie detector tests over five days.
Combs with his legal team before court began for the day. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The man who carried out the test told her that if she failed, “they’re going to throw you in the East River”, she said.
Combs was not present for the tests and never spoke to her about them, she said, when questioned by defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo.
During her testimony, Ms Clark mentioned an incident involving fellow rapper 50 Cent’s manager, after both 50 Cent and Combs had done interviews for MTV.
Combs mentioned to the manager that they had some issues and told him, “I like guns”, she said, which she perceived as a vague threat.
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the Sean Combs trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Ms Clark also described attempting to leave Combs’s home in Miami on one occasion in 2006, when she was allegedly told to “get the f**k back here” by the rapper.
According to Ms Clark, he told her: “Your problem is you want a life, and you can’t have that here.”
The trial continues tomorrow, with evidence expected from LA police and fire officers.
If convicted, Combs could face between 15 years and life in prison.
Eurovision is supposed to be a celebration of the unifying power of music. But for the past two years, it has attracted protests and fan boycotts over its inclusion of Israel amid the country’s continued military action in Gaza.
Ahead of 2026’s contest, while nobody has even sung a note yet, a number of countries have been getting vocal.
“If Israel is there, we won’t be there,” says Natalija Gorscak, the president of broadcaster RTV Slovenia.
As the world waits to see what happens with the negotiations over Donald Trump‘s Gaza peace plan, within the cultural world, there’s no let up in the increasing isolation of Israel.
Israel’s representative, Yuval Raphael, before Eurovision 2025 earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland have all issued statements saying if Israel’s allowed to enter, they’ll consider boycotting the contest next year.
Jolted into action by the controversy, officials from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – which runs the contest – have announced plans for an emergency vote.
In a letter to members, EBU president Delphine Ernotte-Cunci said “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before”, the board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.
Described by the EBU as “an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online”, early next month member countries will be asked to vote on whether Israel should or shouldn’t participate.
Eurovision expert Dr Paul Jordan said: “Ultimately this has been a really challenging issue for the EBU. This is a really complex picture that is building up… and they’ve not been consistent.
“The situation is made even more complicated by the fact the organisers themselves haven’t sometimes followed their own rules about political entries and about political messaging, and they’ve allowed certain countries to, in a sense, get away with breaking the rules or deeming them to have not broken the rules sufficiently to allow participation.
“As far as I’m aware, the Israeli broadcaster has not broken any rules. However, you could argue their inclusion could indeed bring the contest into disrepute, which would be against the organisers’ rules.”
‘We should focus on music’
Noa Kirel, who represented Israel in 2023, hopes they will not be banned
In 2023, Israel was represented by Noa Kirel, her country’s equivalent to Britney Spears. She came third with her song Unicorn.
“It was one of the highlights in my career, it was an incredible experience for me,” she said.
While she acknowledges “it’s very different from two years ago when I represented Israel”, she hopes her country won’t be excluded next month.
“It’s not about politics, it’s never been like that, and we should keep it that way, to focus on music.”
She believes it would be unfair to punish the Israeli people for the actions of their government: “Voters understand that politics has no connection to this competition.
“Hopefully people will understand and respect that, see the good side… and not the bad side.”
‘European policy needs more balls’
Natalija Gorscak, the president of RTV Slovenia, firmly backed an Israeli boycott
Regardless of the outcome of next month’s vote, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia have all confirmed to Sky News that their plans to boycott will stand as long as Israel’s still at war.
Ms Gorscak said: “We can lie to ourselves and say ‘no, it’s not political’ but, you know, you can’t avoid politics.”
She believes it’s fundamentally wrong for bigger countries to be sitting on the fence.
“We are all somehow prisoner of German guilt towards Israel,” she claimed. “European policy, it needs more balls. In certain moments somebody needs to decide, somebody needs to say ‘this is enough’.”
A spokesperson for German broadcaster SWR has said it “supports the consultation process that has been initiated” and that the goal is “to reach a well-founded and sustainable agreement that aligns with the values of the EBU”.
Read more:
Spain votes to boycott Eurovision if Israel competes
Vienna chosen to host Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Whether Spain abides by the outcome of next month’s vote might have the biggest impact.
If it makes good on its threat to boycott – as one of the big five backers of Eurovision – financially it’ll hurt.
Ms Gorscak explained: “Slovenia is a small country, and while our participation fee is peanuts, if there are more countries who are not participating it is seen in the budget.”
Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN, has said its “potential disqualification… could have wide-ranging implications for the competition and the values for which the EBU stands”.
Dr Jordan said up until now we’ve mostly seen “virtue signalling” when it comes to Eurovision artists speaking out who’ve ultimately opted to perform regardless of their objections to Israel’s inclusion on the night.
However, should entire nations boycott in 2026, he said the impact will be felt way beyond the contest’s final.
“There are two semi-finals, because of the number of participating countries, and if there isn’t a need for two semi-finals that will impact upon the logistics of the event and even the funding,” he explained.
Pop bangers and power ballads aside, the criticism of the EBU has become deafeningly loud. The world waiting and watching for political decisions – and cultural ones too.
Entertainment
Hunter S Thompson’s death to be reviewed after widow’s request, Colorado officials say
The death of journalist and author Hunter S Thompson will be reviewed by Colorado officials at the request of his widow, the state’s bureau of investigation has announced.
Thompson, best known for his 1971 novel Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, died aged 67 on 20 February 2005.
The original investigation concluded the death was from an allegedly self-inflicted gunshot wound and was suicide.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said Anita Thompson had requested a case review into her husband’s death, and that it is being carried out to provide an independent perspective on the investigation.
While Sheriff Michael Buglione said there is no new evidence suggesting foul play, “we understand the profound impact Hunter S Thompson had on this community and beyond”.
He added: “By bringing in an outside agency for a fresh look, we hope to provide a definitive and transparent review that may offer peace of mind to his family and the public.”
The CBI added its review would take “an unspecified amount of time”.
Hunter S Thompson with Benicio Del Toro and Johnny Depp at the premiere of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas in 1998. File pic: Reuters
Born in 1937, Thompson was regarded as a pioneer in the 1960s New Journalism movement, and wrote the 1967 book Hell’s Angels about the notorious motorcycle gang after spending more than a year living and riding with them.
Famous for his first-person narratives, Thompson’s works inspired a style of reporting called Gonzo journalism – a subjective and more personal style of news writing.
Read more from Sky News:
Michael Mosley: A fearless gonzo journalist
Farage isn’t racist, says PM, but ‘particular policy’ is
Why the US government shutdown is a huge deal
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas was adapted into a film, starring Johnny Depp – a friend of Thompson’s – and Benicio Del Toro, in 1998.
Sky News has contacted The Gonzo Foundation, a non-profit group founded by Ms Thompson to promote literature, journalism and political activism, for comment.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
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