During closing arguments on Friday, June 27, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lead attorney, Marc Agnifilo, offered a bold take on Cassie Ventura’s past—saying she was “keeping it gangsta” by secretly dating Kid Cudi while still involved with the music mogul.
While addressing the sex trafficking charge tied to Diddy’s long, troubled relationship with Ventura—accusations that include forcing her into drug-fueled “freak offs” with escorts while he watched—Agnifilo shifted focus to her 2011 relationship with Kid Cudi.
That period is tied to some of the trial’s darker allegations: Diddy allegedly broke into Cudi’s home at gunpoint and later had the rapper’s car firebombed. Cassie testified that she and Diddy “weren’t in the greatest place” when she started seeing Cudi. Cudi himself told the court that while he believed Cassie and Combs were over, he later realized she hadn’t been honest about it—and agreed she’d “played” both men.
“She played him,” Agnifilo told the court. “She played him good too. She played them both.”
The defense lawyer pushed back on the prosecution’s narrative of Cassie being scared and manipulated, arguing her secret relationship with Cudi showed she wasn’t afraid of Diddy.
“They want you to believe she’s terrified of Sean Combs,” he said. “But she lied to him for a long time… Cassie is keeping it gangsta.”
He insisted that Cassie was never planning to confess the double relationship to either man, implying she was always in control: “She can handle it.”
But Cassie’s earlier testimony painted a much darker picture. She described Diddy going into a rage after learning about Cudi, lunging at her with a wine opener, threatening to leak sex tapes, and physically assaulting her—once kicking her so hard it left bruises, photos of which were submitted into evidence.
Despite the defense’s framing, the prosecution continues to push a narrative of control, fear, and violence—while the jury prepares to decide the truth.
