Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / BBC

The first day of jury selection has wrapped up and court is adjourned.

There are 19 jurors moving on to the next stage.

Here are my takeaways from a day at the courthouse:

• The remaining potential jurors are a diverse group. They range in age from 30-75, they’re from Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester. They’re financial analysts, teachers, scientists and cashiers
• Social media and celebrity will be important in this trial. Most of the jurors already have some awareness of the case from podcasts and social media
• The Cassie video, where Diddy appears to assault his former partner, was mentioned by several people and will be evidence in the trial
• Most of the potential women jurors have experienced or know someone who has experienced domestic violence or sexual assault
• Jurors were asked about several celebrities. Some names that were mentioned today included Kid Cudi and Kanye West

We’re now pausing our live coverage for the day.

You can catch up on this story with a timeline of the charges against Diddy

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Judge Arun Subramanian has been on the federal bench since 2023 - where he was nominated by then-President Joe Biden after reportedly being recommended by Senator Chuck Schumer.

While introducing him to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2022, Schumer said that if confirmed, "he will be the first – the first – South Asian judge in the Southern District of New York, which has one of the largest, if not the largest, South Asian populations in the country."

"He is renowned for his brilliant legal mind and sound judgment," Schumer said.

Subramanian has already ruled on a number of crucial motions ahead of this trial - including denying a delay, and letting prosecutors introduce as evidence a widely seen video of Combs allegedly assaulting his former partner Cassie.

He has often appeared agreeable to both sides, taking their concerns into account and also smiling and exchanging jokes.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

We’re almost at the end of the day in court and have made it through the first round of dozens of jurors.

The court managed to keep several more people on for another round of questioning, but multiple others were excluded.

That includes one man who said his wife was involved in a lawsuit which involved Sean Combs 30 years ago when he was a promoter of a club.

His wife only told him about the lawsuit because a former neighbour spotted him in the Diddy jury pool last week, and who told his wife that her husband could be a potential juror.

The man said his wife told him lots of negative views about Diddy, including that she "generally doesn’t like him", but he insisted he could be impartial.

The judge was not convinced. Next, the jurors who made it through the first round will come back into the court in a group setting for more questions.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

It’s been a bit of struggle finding viable jurors this afternoon.

One man was just dismissed for expressing a strong dislike for police, saying if a law enforcement official testifies, he would "take it with a grain of salt".

He was dismissed.

The next two jurors were dismissed as well because their English wasn’t strong enough to understand the judge’s questions.

Another woman had a whole host of days when she wasn’t available to come to court, including her son’s prom and high school graduation and her daughter’s birthday party.

She was asked her to try and make accommodations and was moved on to the next round.

As the court makes its way through the long list of potential jurors, they are asked a mixture of questions by the judge.

Here's some of the questions we have heard so far today:

• Have you been aware of the case?
• Do you have any training or experience with sexual assault, domestic violence, psychology, addiction treatment?
• Views about law enforcement?
• Have you been involved in a legal action or court case? Victim of a crime?
• Feelings concerning violence, sexual assault, multiple partners?
• Views about hip hop artists?
• Feelings on using pseudonyms?
• Any traumatic events?

For the jurors who make it through this first round of individual questioning, there will be a group questioning session.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

After the lunch break, we’re back in the courtroom as the judge continues weeding through more prospective jurors.

So far we’ve heard from two women, both of whom had experiences with sexual assault and domestic violence - one personally and the other through a family member.

Nearly every prospective female juror we’ve heard from today has had the same experience, either knowing someone close who was a victim of assault or abuse or experienced it personally.

This has made it more complicated for the court to pick jurors in the sex trafficking and abuse case.

The judge has continued to ask jurors repeatedly whether their own personal experiences will affect their feelings in the jury box. “I’ll try my best,” one of the jurors answered.

In the end, the judge excused both her and another female juror who had experienced sexual abuse herself.

Court is now back from lunch and the judge will continue to speak with potential jurors.

Stick with us.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from court

From the court’s overflow room, observers, including the world’s press, are listening closely to what jurors are asked.

Their answers give insight into the public’s awareness of the case and opinions.

One woman noted she may have liked a post on Instagram. When the judge asked her to elaborate, she said a comedian was making jokes what Diddy and "baby oil," and she liked it because she thought it was funny.

For those unfamiliar, the FBI said it found more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil when officers raided Diddy’s homes.

The former teacher also noted that she had her own run in with the law. She said when she was 16 years old she was caught shoplifting at Harry Potter World at Universal Studios and had to pay a fine.

The judge then asked her what she took and she revealed it was a wand. That elicited a few chuckles in the overflow courtroom.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Though the court has managed to push several potential jurors through to the next round of questioning, it hasn’t been easy.

Nearly every single juror this morning had already read news reports about the case before arriving.

That includes many people who have seen the 2024 surveillance video obtained by CNN of Combs appearing to physically assault his girlfriend of the time, Cassie Ventura.

That means the judge has to ask careful questions about whether someone can be impartial after seeing that video, and also if they know of other allegations.

As Judge Arun Subramanian has said to several jurors today: "We really need a fair trial."

At times, there have been disputes among lawyers about whether jurors should stay, including one woman who worked as a photo producer for a major TV network that has produced a documentary about Combs. So far, she’s still on for the next round of questions.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

It was a long morning in court as we sifted through 16 potential jurors.

The morning was punctuated by several bathroom breaks, which the judge did not want to take, but Combs told the court that he was sorry and that he was "a little nervous today".

Combs has been scrutinising each of the jurors as they take a seat next to the judge, sometimes nodding and other times whispering to his large entourage of lawyers, including lead attorney Marc Agnifilo.

Agnifilo has been lobbing objections to many of the potential jurors, concerned that some of their professions or statements would make them biased against his client.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Court has just paused so everyone can get lunch.

It’s clear that this a celebrity court case. In addition to mainstream media journalists, there are influencers and YouTubers in the overflow room. That's where I've been sitting, listening in to the jury selection.

Some people left the overflow room seemingly when they realised they couldn’t see Diddy from there. We have no video feed in here.

We can now bring you the first court sketches of the day.

One shows Sean 'Diddy' Combs embrace his lawyer before the hearing began.

A second sketch shows Combs standing with his legal team, with Judge Arun Subramanian watching on.

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Image source, Jane Rosenberg / Reuters

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Court breaks for lunch soon, and so far, we’ve heard from about a dozen of the jurors that could decide Diddy’s fate.

The defence is trying to weed out folks who have too much awareness of the rapper and the allegations against him.

They just moved to dismiss one woman who works at HBO, an American media company which incidentally released a documentary called “The Fall of Diddy”.

The woman didn’t say she had seen or heard about the documentary at her work, and the judge overruled the defence's attempt to remove her.

• 16 September 2024: Combs is arrested after a grand jury indictment. He co-operated with authorities.
• 17 September 2024: Charges and details came out after Combs appeared in court. He was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. In an indictment that was unsealed at the same time, prosecutors alleged that he also engaged in kidnapping, forced labour, bribery and other crimes.
• 30 January 2025: Prosecutors in New York expanded their case against Combs, accusing him of coercing two additional women into commercial sex acts, and of dangling a person over an apartment balcony.
• 6 March 2025: Federal case amended to include forced labour.
• 4 April 2025: Federal prosecutors amended the indictment against Combs for a third time, adding two new charges of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

The primary issues that have come up so far involve whether people or someone they know have experienced a sexual assault or other trauma.

Already, one juror has been excluded because she said a family member had experienced a trauma that would not allow her to be impartial in this case.

Every juror so far has already seen headlines about the allegations against Diddy, an indication of the extremely high-profile nature of the case.

Several have said that would not prevent them from being impartial as a juror in this trial.

We are likely to hear from several more jurors this morning before we break for lunch.

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from court

Potential jurors are coming into the courtroom one at a time and answering questions from the judge.

The judge and both legal teams are assessing conflicts of interest, as well as knowledge of the hip hop industry.

Many of the potential jurors have said they’ve seen the video of Combs allegedly assaulting Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway.

That CCTV video will shown as evidence in this trial.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from court

This morning, I’m in the main courtroom where jurors are now being brought in one by one to go over their responses to a lengthy questionnaire.

At the front of the room is the defendant, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, wearing a blue sweater, a white t-shirt and glasses with greying hair. He is surrounded by a large legal team.

When the judge initially brought in the first batch of 50 jurors, Diddy turned around to look at them all and appeared to be counting the number.

It could be a long day here in the courtroom, where only a few press and family members are allowed in to help protect jurors’ privacy.

The judge wants to go through 100 to 150 jurors by the end of the day, but because each must be brought in one by one, so far we have only gotten through a handful of people.

Combs faces up to life in prison if convicted on the racketeering charge.

He faces another statutory minimum sentence of 15 years if he is found guilty of sex trafficking.

Transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

He has denied all the charges against him and has rejected a plea deal.

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court

During the pre-trial hearings, we learned that Combs turned down a plea deal from the government prosecutors.

He confirmed to the judge that he was aware of the consequences of that decision (he could get a longer and harsher sentence if convicted).

The 55-year-old former music mogul has pleaded not guilty of all charges against him and maintained that all said sexual encounters were consensual.

The judge also reminded everybody that Combs is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that parties should refrain from doing anything that might disrupt his right to a fair trial.

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court

I have just been in the overflow room inside the court (the main courtroom is full) - where at the moment only the audio of the proceedings can be accessed.

The judge and the lawyers are working out the modalities of questioning the potential jurors and how to maintain their privacy.

Remember, last week we learned that the jurors could choose to answer some of the questions privately.

Some of the questions are expected to pertain to their consumption of news media, their experience with sexual assault and their perception of hip-hop music.