Jury selection starts in Sean Combs’s high-stakes trial as prosecutors allege decades-long abuse, coercion and violent control.

The long-awaited federal sex-trafficking trial of music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs began Monday in a New York courtroom, setting the stage for a potentially explosive eight-week legal battle that could end with the 55-year-old hip-hop entrepreneur facing decades behind bars.

Inside the courtroom of Judge Arun Subramanian, Combs appeared clean-shaven in a sweater, collared shirt and grey trousers – a wardrobe approved by the court in lieu of jail attire. He’s been held in a grim Brooklyn federal detention facility since his arrest in September. With dye banned behind bars, his hair and goatee have grown visibly grey.

Jury selection began with dozens of prospective jurors hearing a stark overview of the charges. Judge Subramanian reminded the panel that Combs had pleaded not guilty to a sprawling 17-page indictment that reads more like a mafia exposé than a celebrity scandal sheet. He’s accused of running a sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy that spanned more than two decades, relying on violence, manipulation, and his powerful influence in the entertainment world to exploit women.

Unlike the recent high-profile celebrity trials streamed live across social media and news channels, this one won’t be broadcast. Federal court rules prohibit cameras and electronic recordings, meaning the world will rely on courtroom sketches and daily reports to follow the proceedings.

Some prospective jurors said they had already seen incriminating footage – a 2016 security video showing Combs punching and kicking former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a Los Angeles hotel hallway. One woman described a still image as “damning evidence.” She was promptly excused.

After another juror was dismissed, Combs nervously requested a bathroom break. “I’m sorry your honour, I’m a little nervous today,” he said.

The indictment paints a harrowing picture. Prosecutors allege Combs coerced women into drug-fuelled sexual encounters with male sex workers – events he allegedly called “freak offs” – under threats or promises tied to their entertainment careers. Those who resisted faced violence: beatings, kidnappings, even arson. One account details a person being dangled from a balcony.

At the centre of the trial is Cassie Ventura, the R&B singer who sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of rape and abuse. Though her case was settled out of court, the footage from 2016 will likely be a key piece of evidence.

Combs’s lawyers maintain his innocence. They argue all sexual encounters were consensual and deny any coordinated effort to exploit or coerce. “There is no criminal racket,” the defence has insisted. “There is no sex ring.”

Yet this case is just the latest in Combs’s long trail of legal entanglements. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a violent office invasion. That same year, he was famously arrested after fleeing a nightclub shooting with then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez. Though he was acquitted, rapper Jamal “Shyne” Barrow was convicted and served nearly nine years.

In 2015, Combs faced accusations of attacking a football coach at UCLA with a kettlebell during a dispute involving his son. Prosecutors later dropped the charges, accepting Combs’s claim of self-defence.

But the stakes have never been higher than now. If convicted on the current charges, Combs could spend the rest of his life in prison.

With jury selection expected to last several more days and opening arguments set for next week, the world is watching – even if it can’t see inside the courtroom.