Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, took the witness stand in Combs’ sex trafficking trial in New York and said he and Cassie briefly dated in 2011. He said he took her to a West Hollywood hotel one day to get her away from the seething Combs. While there, he said, he got a call from Combs’ assistant, Capricorn Clark, who told him Combs and an affiliate were in his house and that she had been forced to go with them.

Cudi said he left the hotel to drive home, and that he called Combs en route and — using an expletive — asked him why he was in his house. He said Combs calmly replied, “I want to talk to you.”

But Combs wasn’t there when he arrived, Cudi said. Instead, he found that someone had opened Christmas presents he’d bought for his family and locked his dog in a bathroom.

Cudi said he wasn’t sure what was going on, so he called the police.

A few weeks later, Cudi testified, his Porsche was destroyed by fire while parked in his driveway. Cudi said he was at a friend’s house when his dogsitter called and “told me my car was on fire.” Photos shown to the jury showed a hole cut in the car’s fabric roof and a Molotov cocktail was found in the passenger seat.

Cassie testified last week that Combs had threatened to blow up Cudi’s car and hurt him after he learned she was dating the Grammy Award-winning rapper, who is known for his alternative hip-hop style.

Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering charges lodged against him after he was arrested in September at a Manhattan hotel. He denies allegations that he used threats and his powerful position in the hip-hop world to abuse women and others, and force Cassie to take part in drug-fueled sexual performances called freak-offs with other men that she said left her too drained to pursue her singing career.

The federal investigation of Combs began in November 2023, a day after Cassie sued him in Manhattan federal court alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. The lawsuit was settled by Combs for $20 million the next day.

In four days of testimony last week, Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, said Combs subjected her to abuse through most of the nearly 11 years she was with him from 2007 through 2018.

She said she developed a relationship with Cudi in late 2011 that she ended within weeks after Combs learned about it when he looked at her phone during a freak-off — one of hundreds she said she endured over the years.

George Kaplan, Combs’ personal assistant from 2013 to 2015, testified earlier Thursday that he saw Combs be violent with Cassie only once, on a 2015 trip to Las Vegas aboard Combs’ private jet. He said he heard glass breaking behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Combs standing with a whiskey glass in his hand.

“There was tremendous commotion and a scuffle, and then after the glass crashed, Cassie screamed: ’Isn’t anybody seeing this?’” Kaplan testified, adding that neither he nor any of the security workers or Bad Boy staff on the plane responded to her call for help.

Kaplan said he didn’t intervene because he didn’t want to lose his dream job. He said he decided to quit after that attack and a later incident in which he saw Cassie sitting in a bedroom with a black eye before Combs sent him to pick up anti-inflammatory medicine at a store to treat the injury.

Kaplan also said he saw Combs become violent with another girlfriend, whom he referred to only as Gina, when the rapper threw green apples at her at his Florida home.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press. AP writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

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Three dozen potential jurors were questioned by Judge Arun Subramanian about their answers on a questionnaire meant to help determine if they could be fair and impartial at a trial that will feature violent and sexually explicit videos. Opening statements and the start of testimony are scheduled for next week.

The judge gave the would-be jurors a brief description of the sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges against Combs, telling them he’d pleaded not guilty and was presumed innocent.

By the end of the day, the jury pool was half its size as some were excluded for personal reasons such as inability to endure a trial projected to last two months or because their opinions or past experiences would make it difficult for them to remain objective.

A similar number of jurors was expected to be questioned on Tuesday. A jury was not expected to be chosen before Wednesday.

Throughout Monday, Combs, 55, sat with his lawyers in a sweater over a white collared shirt and gray slacks, which the judge had allowed rather than jail clothing. He’s been held in a grim federal lockup in Brooklyn since his arrest last September. His hair and goatee were almost fully gray because dye isn’t allowed in jail.

Unlike other recent high-profile celebrity trials, Combs’ court case won’t be broadcast live because federal courtrooms don’t allow electronic recordings inside — meaning courtroom sketch artists serve as the public’s eyes in the courtroom.

If convicted of all charges, he could face up to life in prison.

Several prospective jurors indicated they’d seen news reports featuring a key piece of evidence in the case: a video of the hip-hop mogul hitting and kicking one of his accusers in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016. One prospective juror described a still image she saw from the video as “damning evidence.” That woman was rejected from consideration.

After another juror was dismissed, Combs asked for a bathroom break, telling the judge, “I’m sorry your honor I’m a little nervous today.”

One prospective juror said she had posted a “like” to a video put on social media by a comedian who included references to large amounts of baby oil found by law enforcement in one of Combs’ homes. She was not dismissed.

The 17-page indictment against Combs — which reads like a charging document filed against a Mafia leader or the head of a drug gang — alleges that Combs engaged in a two-decade racketeering pattern of abusive behavior against women and others, with the help of people in his entourage and employees from his network of businesses.

Combs and his lawyers say he’s innocent and any group sex was consensual. They say there was no effort to coerce people into things they didn’t want to do, and nothing that happened amounted to a criminal racket.

Prosecutors say women were manipulated into drug-fueled sexual performances with male sex workers that Combs called “Freak Offs.” To keep women in line, prosecutors say Combs used a mix of influence and violence: He offered to boost their entertainment careers if they did what he asked — or cut them off if they didn’t.

And when he wasn’t getting what he wanted, the indictment says Combs and his associates resorted to violent acts including beatings, kidnapping and arson. Once, the indictment alleges, he even dangled someone from a balcony.

Combs has acknowledged one episode of violence that is considered a key piece of the prosecution’s case. In 2016, a security camera recorded him beating up his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel. Cassie filed a lawsuit in late 2023 saying Combs had subjected her to years of abuse, including beatings and rape.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, did.

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