NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A former top aide to testified Tuesday that the hip-hop mogul threatened to kill her during her first day on the job and waved a gun as he kidnapped her years later in an angry rush to find and kill rapper Kid Cudi.
Capricorn Clark's account of Combs鈥� volatility and violence launched the third week of testimony at his Manhattan federal sex trafficking trial.
Prosecutors called Clark, the former global brand director for Combs鈥� Bad Boy Entertainment, to support a charge that he led a racketeering conspiracy that relied on beefy bodyguards, death threats and the silence of frightened staff to ensure he got .
Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to an indictment alleging he abused his longtime girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, and others. If convicted, he could face 15 years to life in prison.
Clark's tearful testimony came days after , whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, testified that Clark called him from a car outside his home in December 2011 and told him Combs had forced her to accompany him to Cudi's house.
Combs was angry Cudi was dating Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, Clark said.
Clark, referring to Combs as 鈥� ,鈥� said he came to her home holding a gun and demanded she get dressed because 鈥渨e're going to kill Cudi.鈥�
Her voice shaky, Clark recounted how they rode in a black Cadillac Escalade to Cudi's Los Angeles home, where Combs and his bodyguard entered the residence while Clark sat in the SUV and called Cassie.
Clark testified she told Cassie that Combs 鈥済ot me with a gun and brought me to Cudi鈥檚 house to kill him.鈥�
Clark said she heard Cudi in the background asking, 鈥淗e鈥檚 in my house?鈥� She said she told Cassie, 鈥淪top him, he鈥檚 going to get himself killed.鈥� Cassie told her she couldn鈥檛 stop Cudi, she recalled.
Combs returned to the Escalade and asked Clark who she was talking to, she said, then grabbed the phone and called Cassie back.
They next heard Cudi driving up the road, Clark said. Combs and his bodyguard got back in the SUV and chased after Cudi, finally giving up when they passed police cars that were heading to Cudi鈥檚 house.
After the break-in, Clark said, Combs told her she had to convince Cudi 鈥渋t wasn鈥檛 me.鈥�
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 convince him of that I鈥檒l kill all you,鈥� he said, punctuating his threat with an expletive, Clark said.
Clark said she and Cassie then went to Cudi鈥檚 home, telling jurors: 鈥淲e needed to talk to him. We needed to make sure he wasn鈥檛 going to make a police report about Puff."
After that, she said, she watched in shock as Combs viciously over her relationship with Cudi.
Combs kicked Cassie with 鈥�100% full force鈥� to the legs and back as she curled on the ground outside his home in a fetal position and wept silently, Clark said.
Clark said her 鈥渉eart was breaking from seeing her get hit like that鈥� and that neither she nor Combs鈥� bodyguard intervened.
The answer prompted an objection from Combs鈥� lawyers, and Judge Arun Subramanian told jurors to disregard it.
Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo questioned Clark鈥檚 recollection, leading her to reconsider certain details. She admitted some haziness about events that happened "such a long time ago.鈥�
On Thursday, that he dated Cassie briefly in December 2011, believing she鈥檇 broken up with Combs, but they agreed over the holidays to break up.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner questioned Clark about her off-and-on employment with Combs from 2004 to 2018, beginning with her first day when she said Combs and a bodyguard took her to Central Park after 9 p.m. and said he hadn't been aware of her past work for other rappers.
Clark testified that Combs told her that if that work became an issue, he'd have to kill her.
Clark said she was only weeks into the job when Combs tasked her with carrying diamond jewelry and it went missing. As a result, she said, she was repeatedly given lie detector tests over five-day stretch by a man who seemed five times larger than her own size.
鈥淗e said: 鈥業f you fail this test they鈥檙e going to throw you in the East River,鈥欌�� she recalled, adding that they eventually let her return to work.
Even the alleged kidnapping didn鈥檛 scare Clark away, Agnifilo noted.
Last year, after federal agents , she suggested returning to his employment as his chief of staff. Combs rejected the offer, Agnifilo said.
Michael R. Sisak And Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
