The jury is seated. The testimony begins and the fate of Sean Diddy Combs hangs in the balance.

Tonight on a special edition of Laura Coates live, Diddy on trial.

Good evening and welcome. I'm Laura Coates here in New York City tonight where I spent nearly nine hours inside of a courtroom, witnessing every moment of this dramatic and high-stakes trial against Sean Diddy Combs.

In just moments, my team of legal experts and court insiders are standing by to unpack the web of testimony and arguments that we heard just today.

But first, let me bring you inside courtroom 26A in Lower Manhattan.

The drama really got underway with the prosecution's opening statement.

They started by pointing at Diddy at the defense table.

This is Sean Combs, they said.

And they began to argue there was a dark side to the

cultural hip-hop icon. The public had no idea about and did not see. They mentioned alleged

crimes of sex trafficking, Did he's drug-fueled freak-offs and his alleged abuse of women,

including his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. They tried to hammer home the most critical point of their case.

Their claim that Diddy was at the very top of a criminal enterprise that only committed

crimes, but tried to cover it all up.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson telling the jury, quote, he called himself the king and expected

to be treated like one.

He expected his inner circle to cater to his every desire, including his sexual desire,

and his inner circle made sure he got everything he wanted.

Now, the defense took a very different tactic.

They did not sugarcoat their client, telling the jury outright, they may not think Diddy is a good guy.

They quote unquote owned the domestic violence.

They talked about his drug use.

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