Sean “Diddy” Combs Charges Point To Firebombing Kid Cudi’s Car In 2012
Right now, rap and media mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing a number of criminal charges and civil lawsuits. Diddy was arrested last week and indicted for crimes including sex trafficking and racketeering. He pleaded not guilty and was denied bail, and he’s reportedly bunking with famous cryptocurrency billionaire and convicted fraud Sam Bankman-Fried. This week, another woman sued Diddy for sexual assault. Diddy’s indictment also mentions a case of kidnapping and arson that seems to be related to the moment that Diddy allegedly had fellow rap star Kid Cudi’s car blown up.
The avalanche of charges against Diddy began last year, when his ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie, sued Diddy for rape and physical abuse. In her lawsuit, which was quickly settled, Cassie mentioned a 2012 incident in which Diddy allegedly told her about plans to terrorize Cudi: “Mr. Combs told Ms. Ventura that he was going to blow up Kid Cudi’s car, and that he wanted to ensure that Kid Cudi was home with his friends when it happened.” (Cassie and Cudi were romantically linked at the time.) Shortly afterward, Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway, and a spokesman for Cudi confirmed that story to The New York Times. Now, the Times reports that the firebombing appears to be part of the criminal case against Diddy.
In their efforts to establish the crimes that Diddy is allegedly capable of committing, federal prosecutors point to acts of kidnapping and arson around the firebombing of a convertible. The indictment doesn’t mention Diddy’s victim by name, but the timeline indicates that it was Kid Cudi. In a letter filed with the court last week, prosecutors write that Diddy and an associate “kidnapped an individual at gunpoint to facilitate breaking into and entering the residence” of their unnamed target and that they then set fire to their target’s car “by slicing open the car’s convertible top and dropping a Molotov cocktail inside the interior.” Witness testimonies and reports from police and firefighters corroborate that story. Thus far, Kid Cudi has declined to comment.
At Diddy’s bail hearing, his lawyer Marc Agnifilo referred to that incident, saying, “Let’s suffice it to say there is another side to that story, and one day that other side might be told.”