Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

We’re now hearing from Kid Cudi about the incident when a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown in his car in January 2012.

The rapper tells the court he was about 45 minutes away from the same Los Angeles home that Combs allegedly broke into in separate incident when he got a call.

Kid Cudi tells the court his dog sitter rang and told him that his car, a Porsche, was on fire.

He rushed home and called the police.

Prosecutors show the jury photos of a damaged Porsche, including a hole cut in the roof where a Molotov cocktail was allegedly tossed through.

The photo shows a charred interior.

A Molotov cocktail bottle was found on the ground near the car, Kid Cudi tells the court.

Molotov cocktails are homemade incendiary weapons, usually thrown by hand.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

After the alleged break in, Kid Cudi says he found his dog "jittery and on edge".

He tried to call Combs again. “I wanted to confront him, I wanted to fight him,” he told the court.

He ended up filing a police report instead.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Kid Cudi tells the court that Sean "Diddy" Combs once broke into his home.

Giving short, straight to the point answers, Kid Cudi takes the jury through the few months in 2011 when he dated Cassie Ventura.

He says he didn’t think she and Combs were in each other's lives at that time.

But on a December day 2011 at 6am, he got a call from Ventura sounding "stressed" and "scared".

Combs had found out they were dating, Kid Cudi tells the court.

He took Ventura to a nearby Los Angeles hotel where he said he thought she’d be "safe, away from him".

While there, the two got a call from Capricorn Clark, a friend who said Combs was inside Kid Cudi's home.

Kid Cudi tells the court he immediately got in his car and started driving to his house, calling Combs on the way.

Combs allegedly said he wanted to talk and told him and that "I’m over here waiting for you".

Kid Cudi tells the court he arrived at his home to find his security cameras tampered with and not working. He says presents for his family were opened and rifled through and his dog was locked in the bathroom.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

The start of Kid Cudi's testimony has focused on establishing his relationship with Cassie Ventura.

Of course what we’re waiting to hear is his account of Cassie’s bombshell allegation that Diddy blew up Kid Cudi's car and threatened him because Combs was angry the two were dating

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

Kid Cudi sits at the witness stand wearing a leather jacket over a white t-shirt.

When the government called him as their next witness, Combs whipped back in his chair to get a look at him. Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, was asked to identify pictures of Cassie Ventura and Combs.

The government went through some initial questions where he established he was friends with Ventura and briefly dated her in 2011.

He said they first met at an event in New York in 2008 but then later worked on music together. Stay with us as we bring you the latest from his testimony

Kid Cudi tells the court he briefly dated Cassie Ventura around 2011.

He says he was aware Ventura had a history with Sean "Diddy" Combs but he understood "they weren't dating anymore".

Ventura has previously told the court that her relationship with Kid Cudi angered Combs, and alleged there were violent threats made by Combs against her and Kid Cudi.

Scott Mescudi, the rapper known as Kid Cudi, is on the witness stand and is about to testify.

Image source, Clarence Davis/NY Daily News Archive via Getty

Rapper Biggie Smalls (also known as The Notorious B.I.G) has come up several times in this trial.

Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace was shot dead in 1997.

He was a friend and collaborator of Combs in the New York hip hop scene.

Under questioning from Combs' lawyer, George Kaplan reveals that Combs made Biggie’s birthday, May 21, a company holiday for Bad Boy Entertainment.

Biggie Smalls' murder was a major moment in the east and west coast rap beef of the 1990s, as was the murder of Tupac Shakur.

• Read more: Inside the secret summit that tried to stop deadly rap wars

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

George Kaplan talks the jury through all the romantic partners Combs had while he worked for him.

It includes Cassie Ventura, a woman known only as "Gina" so far in this trial, and Kim Porter.

He describes Porter are someone who was a rung above all of Combs’ other girlfriends and the mother of his "incredible kids".

Kaplans tells the court that Combs respected Porter more, and had "an extra gauge of patience" with her. He says Porter had special treatment from Combs.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Combs is wearing a grey sweater and sitting with his lawyers.

Like yesterday, he’s leaned back in his chair, and occasionally sits forward to grab water, talk to his team or write something down.

On the witness stand, George Kaplan has at times praised Combs’ during cross examination.

Combs’ lead attorney Mark Agnifilo asks Kaplan what he liked about working for Combs enterprises, and Kaplan admits that he still has a lot of admiration for his former boss.

"I’m a young man, and this is a god amongst men talking to me," he said about his years working as Combs’ assistant. He said he still wishes Combs on his birthday, which is 4 November.

Image source, Reuters

Grammy-award winning musician Kid Cudi is inside the New York courthouse, and is expected to be the next witness called to testify.

We're still listening to testimony from Sean "Diddy" Combs' former personal assistant, George Kaplan.

We're likely to hear from other witnesses today too, so stick with us for what could be a busy day in court.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

Image source, Getty Images

As we just heard from George Kaplan on the witness stand, Diddy was viewed by many as an icon.

His influence cuts across a few generations and that’s been evident in court.

In fact, 45-year-old Judge Arun Subramanian would likely have been well aware of the producer and rapper’s various hits that topped the music charts.

During one of the court breaks, I spoke with one of the many content creators and influencers that have shown up day after day to listen to testimony.

His YouTube channel focuses on wellness, diet and self-esteem.

So why did he decide to switch his focus to this trial, I asked.

He told me “Puff” had created the soundtrack to his college years and it was the same for a lot of his audience.

His channel has seen a 200 percent increase in traffic so far, he estimates.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Sean Combs’ former executive assistant George Kaplan is on the witness stand, and he’s telling the jury about alleged violence he witnessed.

He described one incident in 2015 when he was on a private jet with Combs and the hip-hop mogul's then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura.

Kaplan says he heard glass break in the back of the plane, and when he turned around he saw Ventura on the floor on her back and Combs standing over her with a liquor glass.

Ventura allegedly screamed out "is anybody seeing this?" Kaplan tells the court.

He says neither he or the other staff and security on the plane did anything.

When prosecutors asked why he didn’t check on her or intervene, he said he was thinking about his career.

"I was 23 years old, all I wanted to do was to have a great job in the entertainment industry," he says.

"I couldn’t believe I was working for this icon."

Image source, Variety via Getty Images

Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, is a rapper and musician.

He is a Grammy award winner and has also appeared in film and television.

He is best known in the UK for the hit single Day 'n' Nite.

Mescudi briefly dated Cassie Ventura - the ex-girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Ventura is the prosecution's key witness in this trial, and she has previously told the court her relationship with Mescudi enraged Combs and allegedly led to violent threats.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking trial in New York.

It’s a rainy day again, and I’m at the Lower Manhattan courthouse where Combs’ trial is going to pick up with the testimony of his former assistant, George Kaplan.

The cold and wet weather hasn’t deterred crowds, who are standing with their umbrellas in front of the courthouse awaiting the arrival of rapper Scott Mescudi, known as Kid Cudi.

He is scheduled as the second witness today.

Stick with us, we’ll bring you updates from inside the courthouse.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Court has now finished for the day.

The last few minutes were spent with Combs' former assistant George Kaplan, who took us through some of his work as Combs’ assistant.

He said he worked 80-100 hours a week for $125,000 (£93,000) a year.

Kaplan says that at times, he feared Combs. Combs threatened his job on a monthly basis, Kaplan testified.

Kaplan says one time, Combs got in his face and yelled at him after he brought him two half-gallon water bottles rather than a single gallon water bottle.

Kaplan told the court he both prepped and cleaned Combs’ hotel rooms, including picking up baby oil from various parts of the room to help "protect" Combs’ public image.

Prosecutors have at least 30 more minutes of questioning left that we will pick up tomorrow.

After Kaplan, we expect to hear from rapper Kid Cudi.

We are ending our live coverage for the day and will be back again tomorrow.

And you can catch up here for what happened at the Diddy sex-trafficking trial on Tuesday.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Prosecutors used their last witness of the day, Combs’ former assistant, to testify to the racketeering element of their case.

They ask all sorts of questions about his responsibilities as Combs’ personal assistant - to "set up hotel rooms" for so-called "freak-offs", and picking up drugs for him on several occasions.

The prosecution alleges several of Combs’ employees were involved in helping him run a "criminal enterprise" to sexually abuse women.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

George Kaplan, 34, tells the court he worked for Combs between 2013 and 2015.

He started off out of college as an executive assistant at Nickelodeon. When his boss moved to Combs Enterprises, he followed.

Kaplan says he became one of Combs’ closest employees, managing everything from late night studio sessions to making sure Combs’ toiletries were arranged before he woke up.

Kaplan, who worked with Combs in New York and Los Angeles, describes how his job became increasingly demanding and broad when he gained the music mogul’s trust.

He said he worked between 80 and 100 hours a week, often starting a shift at 9:30am one day and ending the next day at 7am.

Image source, Reuters

Sean "Diddy" Combs' former assistant George Kaplan is now on the witness stand.

Earlier today, Kaplan was offered immunity to testify. He had reportedly been planning to plead the 5th - meaning he would decline answering questions that could potentially incriminate him.