The long-awaited proceeding in federal court in Manhattan kicked off Monday with opening statements. Prosecutors painted a picture of Combs as a violent individual running a criminal enterprise, based on coercing people — using drugs, threats and physical force — to participate in orchestrated sex acts called "freak offs."

As testimony begins in Sean "Diddy" Combs' criminal trial, his fate is in the hands of a jury that represents the city that allowed Combs to rise from working-class roots to the pinnacle of global cultural fame.