• Jury selection began Monday for Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking trial in Manhattan.
• Prospective jurors were shown a list of 200 names that could be mentioned during the trial.
• Combs has denied the charges and other allegations of sexual abuse.

Jury selection for Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex-trafficking case is underway this week, and it has offered a glimpse of which celebrities may be name-dropped at the trial.

During day one of jury selection in Manhattan federal court on Monday, prospective jurors were shown a list of some 200 names of people who the judge said would at least be mentioned during the trial, which is expected to last eight weeks. No jurors were selected by the end of the day on Monday.

Like Combs' "white party" extravaganzas of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the trial too is expected to feature celebrities — at least by name, if not in person.

Combs was indicted in September 2024 on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied the charges against him and all other allegations of sexual abuse. If convicted on all charges, Combs could face up to life in prison.

Each prospective juror is being asked if they personally know anyone on the list. The list has not been made public, but some famous names were revealed during jury selection on Monday.

Notable figures included on the list were:

• Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West
• Rapper Kid Cudi
• Music producer Dallas Austin
• Choreographer Laurieann Gibson
• Music producer Harve Pierre
• Former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard
• Former Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day
• Actress Lauren London
• Destiny's Child alum Michelle Williams
• Actor Michael B. Jordan

Also on the list were members of the Combs family and several of Combs' exes and accusers, including:

• Late longtime girlfriend Kim Porter
• Rapper Yung Miami
• R&B singer and key witness Cassie Ventura

Reps for Ye, Kid Cudi, Austin, Gibson, Pierre, O'Day, London, Williams, Yung Miami, and the Combs family did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Business Insider.

Ventura's attorneys declined to comment.

Richard's lawyer Lisa Bloom, who was in the courtroom during jury selection, also declined to comment. Richard sued Combs last year, accusing him of sexual assault.

At the time, an attorney for Combs said in a statement that Combs was "shocked and disappointed" by the lawsuit.

"In an attempt to rewrite history, Dawn Richard has now manufactured a series of false claims all in the hopes of trying to get a payday — conveniently timed to coincide with her album release and press tour," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Business Insider has learned that Jordan, the "Black Panther" actor, was referenced in the November 2023 lawsuit Ventura filed against Combs, accusing Combs of rape. The case quickly resulted in a settlement.

At one point during Ventura and Combs' on-again, off-again relationship, Ventura's lawsuit said in 2015 that she "began a flirtatious relationship with an actor." BI has confirmed that the actor is Jordan.

"She spent New Years Eve with this actor, but Combs soon found out," the lawsuit said, alleging that Combs then "called the actor and threatened him."

Jordan is not expected to appear as a witness during Combs' trial.

Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, was also mentioned in Ventura's lawsuit. The suit suggested that Combs was responsible for blowing up a car that belonged to the rapper in 2012 after Combs learned of a "brief relationship" that Kid Cudi and Ventura had.

Ventura is expected to be the star witness in Combs' trial. She is referred to as "Victim-1" in the indictment against Combs.

Being on the list of names shown to potential jurors does not mean that these people will be called to testify, but that their names may be mentioned during the trial.

Not one of the more than 30 prospects questioned on Monday said they knew anyone on the list personally.

Many told the judge they had never heard of any of the people, while several said the only one they had heard of was Ye or Kanye West.

The witness lists for both sides have not been made public.

Jury selection in the high-profile trial is projected to take several days.

At the center of the indictment against Combs are accusations he orchestrated "freak offs," which prosecutors describe in court papers as "elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded."

In these alleged drug-fueled sex sessions, prosecutors say Combs "used force, threats of force, and coercion" to get female victims to engage in sex acts with male commercial sex workers.

• Jury selection began in New York on Monday for the Diddy trial.
• Three prospective jurors told the court about their own experiences with sexual assault.
• None of them has been excluded from the jury pool. One accuser's lawyer said that's the right call.

Three prospective jurors in the sex-trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs shared their own experiences of sexual assault.

Their stories were revealed Monday during the first day of jury selection in Manhattan federal court.

None of the three women, so far, have been removed from the pool of people who may eventually decide Combs' fate. They all told US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the case, that they could be impartial in weighing the evidence in the trial.

Combs has vehemently denied the charges against him, as well as all other allegations of sex abuse. If Combs — who was once estimated to be worth $820 million — is convicted at trial on all charges, he faces up to life in prison.

The hip-hop mogul has been locked up at a federal Brooklyn jail since his September 2024 arrest and indictment on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

The first jurors may be seated as early as Tuesday morning.

Experiences of sexual assault

As part of the jury selection process, prospective jurors were given a written questionnaire that asked if they had been victims of sexual assault.

Three women among those who responded "yes" to the question discussed their experiences in court on Monday. They answered questions from US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who is deciding whether they can be impartial in deciding the case.

The first, who is in her 40s, told the judge that a family member molested her and her sister when they were young. She said she would "feel empathy toward the victims" but that she was "also a very rational person" who could keep a fair and objective view.

"I'm sorry that happened," Subramanian told the woman.

The woman said she works as a photo producer at HBO, which was subpoenaed by Combs' defense lawyers, who wanted to obtain raw interview footage of victims for "The Fall of Diddy" docuseries.

A second woman said she was sexually assaulted around 1996 by a neighbor. They had begun to date, and "he took it too far and sexually assaulted me in the stairwell of my house," she said.

The woman, who said she studied the relationship between sexual assault and women's self-esteem in college, said it was possible to hold nuanced views about perpetrators of sexual assault.

"I don't think it's a good thing, but I don't think it makes the person who did it horrible in all respects," she said.

The third survivor, a white woman in her 60s, said she was sexually assaulted as a teenager when she worked for a dentist for around two years. The dentist was "grossly inappropriate" and kissed and fondled her, she said.

But in more recent years, she has opened her mind to "both sides" of the relationship between perpetrators and victims, she said.

"I work very hard to remain impartial to people every day," she said.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are trying to find a fair jury

Jury selection in the high-profile trial is expected to take several days, with the trial anticipated to run for about eight weeks.

Combs donned black framed glasses, black slacks, and a sweater with a crisp, white collar peeking through at the neck.

Linda Moreno, a jury selection consultant whom Combs has hired, was the first on the rapper's team to arrive at the courtroom on Monday. As a criminal defense lawyer, Moreno has represented actor Wesley Snipes and Noor Salman, and has done jury consultant work for Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes.

The "I'll Be Missing You" singer appeared in good spirits, smiling as he hugged or shook hands with his team of about a dozen defense attorneys and staff before taking his seat.

Among those seated in the courtroom gallery on Monday was Douglas Wigdor, the attorney for Combs' ex-girlfriend R&B singer Cassie Ventura, who is expected to testify at the trial. Ventura is referred to as "Victim-1" in the indictment against Combs.

Also in court were Lisa Bloom and Arick Fudali, who represent another of Combs's accusers who expected to testify. Fudali told Business Insider that being the victim of sexual assault should not be disqualifying for jurors.

"What I heard there today is that all three of those jurors, who expressed having experienced sexual or harass sexual assault, also expressed that they could be impartial and they can separate their own experiences from the trial," Fudali said. "And that's what you want in a juror, and that's why I believe none of them were excluded."

At the center of the indictment against Combs are accusations he orchestrated "freak offs," which prosecutors describe in court papers as "elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded."

In these alleged drug-fueled sex sessions, prosecutors say Combs "used force, threats of force, and coercion" to get female victims to engage in sex acts with male commercial sex workers.

Combs and his associates "wielded the power and prestige" of the rapper's success to "intimidate, threaten, and lure female victims" into his orbit "often under the pretense of a romantic relationship," prosecutors said in the indictment.

During the jury selection process, known as voir dire, prospective jurors will be asked if they can objectively deliberate in a case involving graphic sex.

Those who are selected for the jury will be asked during the trial to watch hours of graphic sex videos that Combs recorded over the years, including footage prosecutors allege was taken without his accusers' consent. Some of the videos are from Combs' so-called freak offs.

For Combs to win an acquittal, jurors would need to believe these videos depict a consensual good time, as the defense has insisted was the case.

Jury selection will continue Tuesday morning with the sides selecting the first jurors from among 19 prospects — 11 women and 8 men — who were questioned in detail about what they already know about the case from the media. Only three in the group said they listen to hip hop.

This story was updated to include developments from later Monday.