Grammy-winning artist Kid Cudi took the stand in a Manhattan federal courtroom to deliver one of the most gripping testimonies of the decade — and it felt more like a scene from a psychological thriller than real life.

Wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans, Cudi recounted a chilling night in December: a panicked phone call from Cassie, a confrontation with Sean “Diddy” Combs, and a sequence of events that ended with his Porsche torched by what looked like a Molotov cocktail.

Inside the courtroom, his voice cracked as he recalled:

• A midnight escape to the Sunset Marquis

• A call from Diddy’s assistant: “We’re at your house.”

• Christmas gifts destroyed, cameras twisted, his dog locked in the bathroom

• A burned-out car and a bottle wrapped in a rag left on the seat

• And a cold face-to-face at Soho House: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

What followed was even stranger: an apology from Diddy that arrived too late — offering Cudi “peace,” but not repair.

This isn’t just testimony. It’s trauma laid bare.

A story about power, fear, silence, and the cost of speaking out. Delivered in real time by Permission to Be Powerful, this post blurs the lines between reporting and reckoning.

👉 Read it if you want to understand what the news headlines leave out.