It was a gray-haired Diddy Combs who arrived at the federal court in New York – hair dye is not allowed in the Brooklyn detention center where he has been sitting since last September.
The trial started with an examination of around 40 potential jurors, a procedure that will continue on Tuesday. Several potential jurors admitted that they had seen a video through news reporting where the hip-hop mogul assaulted one of the victims in a hotel corridor in 2016.
A potential juror was denied the task after describing a still image from the video as "burning evidence". When another was dismissed as a juror, Diddy Combs requested to take a break to visit the toilet.
120 people have accused Combs of rape or sexual assault. In connection with so-called "freak-offs" – parties with drugs and sexual elements – he allegedly assaulted both women and a couple of boys over a period of two decades.
He himself denies the allegations but has acknowledged that he was violent during the incident that was filmed in 2016.
