The trial of US rapper and music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has begun in New York with jury selection.

If jurors are chosen this week, lawyers on both sides are expected to deliver their opening statements on Monday 12 May.

The charges against Mr Combs include racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

The rapper also faces dozens of civil lawsuits from individuals who accuse him of using his power to drug, assault, rape, intimidate and silence people.

Mr Combs has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and rejected the individual lawsuits as attempts “for a quick payday”.

Proceedings got under way on Monday 5 May in front of US District Judge Arun Subramanian, at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan courthouse in lower Manhattan.

Choosing a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates is expected to take a week.

The judge told jurors the trial itself could last around eight weeks.

The court is expected to be open to the public, but proceedings won’t be televised or streamed online.

Cameras, phones and electronic devices are normally not allowed in US federal courtrooms.

Attorneys began picking through dozens of potential jurors on Monday.

Judge Subramanian reminded the court several times of the importance of choosing a fair and impartial jury.

Nearly all the potential jurors had read news reports of the allegations in the case and many had seen footage of Mr Combs kicking his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway.

Several women in the selection pool said they had been victims of sexual abuse or assault or knew someone close who had.

But more than a dozen said they could go into the case with an open mind and pledged not to form an opinion until they heard all the evidence.

At the end of the first day, 19 jurors moved to the next stage of questioning. They range in age from 30 to 75, and are from Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester, and include financial analysts, teachers, scientists and cashiers.

In the federal criminal case being heard in New York, Mr Combs is charged with racketeering conspiracy, two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution.

Many of the most severe allegations relate to the racketeering conspiracy charge.

This includes accusations of kidnapping, drugging, and coercing women into sexual activities, sometimes using firearms or threats of violence.

In a raid on his Los Angeles mansion, police found supplies that they said were intended for use in orgies known as “freak offs”, including drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil.

Separately, Mr Combs faces a number of lawsuits accusing him of rape and assault.

Tony Buzbee, a Texas lawyer handling some of these cases, said that more than 100 women and men from across the US had either filed lawsuits against the rap mogul or intended to do so.

In December 2023, a woman known in court papers as Jane Doe alleged that she was “gang raped” by Mr Combs and others in 2003, when she was 17. She said she was given “copious amounts of drugs and alcohol” before the attack.

Mr Combs’ legal team dismissed the flurry of lawsuits as “clear attempts to garner publicity.”

Mr Combs’ current legal issues began in late 2023 when he was sued by Ms Ventura, also known as Cassie, for violent abuse and rape.

That lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount a day after it was filed, with Mr Combs maintaining his innocence.

Since then, dozens of other people have filed lawsuits accusing Mr Combs of sexual assault, with accusations dating back to 1991. He denies all the claims.

His controversial history with Ms Ventura resurfaced in 2024, when CNN leaked CCTV footage from 2016 showing Mr Combs kicking his ex-girlfriend as she lay on a hotel hallway floor.

He apologised for his behaviour, saying: “I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now.”

In a statement to the BBC about the federal criminal charges, Mr Combs’ lawyer said: “Mr Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process.

“In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone – man or woman, adult or minor.”

Diddy’s lawyers later filed a motion to dismiss one part of the federal indictment in which he is accused of transportation to engage in prostitution. His team argued he was being unfairly targeted due to his race.

In a hearing in New York a week before the trial officially began, his attorneys told the court that the rapper led the “lifestyle” of a “swinger” and was not a criminal.

They said he thought it was “appropriate” to have multiple sex partners, including sex workers.

At the same hearing, prosecutors revealed that Mr Combs had rejected a plea deal.

Mr Combs’ lawyers have consistently denied the allegations made against him in the civil lawsuits, describing them as “sickening” and suggesting they were made by “individuals looking for a quick payday”.

If convicted on the racketeering charge, Mr Combs faces up to life in prison.

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.

Mr Combs has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, since his arrest on 16 September 2024.

Critics describe the prison as overcrowded and understaffed, with a culture of violence.

His lawyers argued for his release, citing the jail’s “horrific” conditions, but a New York federal judge denied the bail request, describing Mr Combs as a “serious flight risk”.

Prosecutors previously alleged that Mr Combs had broken prison rules by contacting potential witnesses.

They accused him of “relentless efforts” to “corruptly influence witness testimony”.

A judge granted Mr Combs permission to wear non-prison clothing during his trial rather than the jumpsuits he wears in jail.

When he appeared in court for jury selection, the rapper wore a blue sweater and white shirt with glasses on his head.

Mr Combs – who has also gone by the names Puffy, Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Love, and Brother Love – emerged in the hip-hop scene in the 1990s.

His early music career success included helping launch the careers of Mary J Blige and Christopher Wallace – aka Biggie Smalls, or The Notorious B.I.G.

His music label Bad Boy Records became one of the most important labels in rap and expanded to include Faith Evans, Ma$e, 112, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez.

Mr Combs also had a prolific business career outside of music, including a deal with British drinks company Diageo to promote the French vodka brand Cîroc.

In 2023, he released his fifth record The Love Album: Off The Grid and earned his first solo nomination at the Grammy awards. He also was named a Global Icon at the MTV Awards.