Key witnesses dropped bombshells on the stand and “hard to watch” footage was introduced during the first day of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ sex trafficking trial on Monday local time.

Prosecutors alleged in a New York court that the hip-hop mogul used violence and coercion to force days-long participation in drug-fuelled orgies they called “freak offs” and used his inner circle to cover it all up.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Day one of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ sex trafficking trial.

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Combs is facing five criminal charges, two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, and one count of racketeering conspiracy.

Combs — who has been in custody since his 2024 arrest — faces life in jail if found guilty on all counts.

He has denied the allegations made against him, and the defence insisted in court that the alleged victims were willing participants in his sex life.

This includes the participation of ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who will be central to several of the key testimonies made. She is currently pregnant and set to give evidence on Tuesday local time.

Ventura will also be referred to as “Victim One”, with her testimony expected to take up most of the week.

One of the key witnesses testifying this week was unable to be contacted several days ago.

On the first day of the trial, a male sex worker, and a security officer both testified, after the defence and prosecution gave their opening statements.

The opening statements were made to the courtroom, which included a 12-person jury, Combs’ family, two full rows of attorneys for Combs, and Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the federal criminal trial.

There are eight men and four women on the jury, which court TV anchor and former prosecutor Julie Grant told CNN was an “interesting choice” and noted “women are often harder on other women when it comes to sex assault cases”.

She said there is research to suggest jurors begin to form their opinions as early as the opening statements.

Prosecution makes opening statement

Prosecutor Emily Johnson said in her opening statement that Combs’ crimes include kidnapping, arson, drug distribution, sex crimes, bribery, and obstruction.

She claimed Combs forced Ventura to have sex with escorts and recorded it for blackmail, calling them “souvenirs of the most humiliating nights of her life”.

“Her life and safety depended on keeping him happy,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Combs made Ventura take drugs before the “freak offs” and physically assaulted her “to show who was in charge” — she said Combs threatened Ventura with the footage after hunting her down at another man’s home where he “beat her brutally.”

Prosecutors described Combs’ inner circle, and told the jury how those close to the defendant helped him commit “crime after crime.”

They added that Combs “called himself the king and expected to be treated like one”, and linked his high-level employees and body guards to Combs’ alleged racketeering.

Johnson described some of the evidence expected to come up in the trial, including limited video evidence of the freak offs, dozens of text messages about them, and bills for hotel rooms, car services and damages to hotel rooms.

She also introduced victim “Mia”, a pseudonym for Combs’ personal assistant who worked with him for years.

“She is just beginning to grapple with the times he forced himself on her sexually. She wanted to keep the secret to her grave,” Johnson said.

She also introduced another alleged victim, a single mother called “Jane” who was allegedly under Combs’ total control, forced to have unprotected sex with escorts and do drugs.

“She wanted the escorts to wear condoms, but he would not let them. Then he would make her take drugs ... One time she vomited, he told her to hurry up and get back in the room where an escort was waiting,” Johnson said.

Defence claims consent in opening remarks

In an opening statement for the defence, Attorney Teny Geragos called his client Combs “very flawed”, but said the case was about adult choices.

She said the explicit videos of the freak offs may be uncomfortable for the jury to watch but show consensual acts and “not based on coercion”.

She brought up the 2016 video of Combs seen beating Ventura in a hotel hallway, and said that while it is evidence of domestic violence, it is not evidence of sex trafficking.

Despite mentions of domestic violence, the defence claimed that Ventura willingly stayed with Combs for 11 years and left on her own terms, contradicting prosecution claims of coercion.

Geragos pressed the jury to consider motives of those testifying, and suggested that many of them have been motivated by money.

Geragos also brought up the 1000 bottles of baby oil infamously found during a raid of Combs’ house.

“You may know of his love of baby oil. Is that a federal crime? No,” she said.

‘Combs called for me’: Security officer first to testify

The first witness called to testify was LAPD officer Israel Florez, a former hotel security guard who said he was “bribed” while responding to an incident at the InterContinental hotel in LA in 2016.

He described footage, some which has already been made public, which shows Combs in a towel, running toward Ventura in the hotel hall, beating her, and then and dragging her back to his room.

Florez said he was called to sixth floor at about 11am, and described finding Ventura “scared.”

“She was in the corner, hood on, covered up. I couldn’t see her face, she was pretty much in the corner. On the floor was a destroyed flower vase,” he testified.

Combs allegedly told him that he and Ventura were arguing at the time. Florez noticed Ventura trying to walk away and get her phone, but Combs told her she wasn’t going to leave.

The former hotel guard told Ventura she could leave if she wanted to, and put his body in the doorway where he stood for a few minutes until Ventura left the room.

“I started to leave and (Combs) called for me,” Florez said. “He had a sack of money and he threw it at me and said, ‘Don’t tell anyone’.”

He said Combs later attempted to take the phones of hotel security guards.

Florez said he didn’t call the police because Ventura wanted to leave and no one was pressing charges.

Misty Marris, a legal analyst not affiliated with the case, told CNN that bringing up this footage so early in the trial shows its significance to the case, and to the prosecution’s claims that Combs used violence to get individuals to comply with him.

Sex worker second called to the stand

The second witness to take the stand claims he was paid to have sex with Ventura while Combs masturbated in the corner.

Daniel Phillip worked managing male strippers for women when he was asked by his boss to go to the Gramercy Park Hotel for a “bachelorette party” in 2012 — he agreed to fill in, being the only person who fit the requested description of a black male stripper.

He thought he was just going to do “a little striptease.”

But when he arrived at the hotel around midnight, Ventura was the only one standing in the doorway — she allegedly gave him thousands of dollars to rub baby oil on her and see where “things went from there.”

Phillip testified that he recognised Combs sitting in the room wearing a white robe, a hat and a bandana covering his face from his nose down, and that Combs gave him “a couple thousand dollars more” before he left.

He also testified that he was paid to have sex with Ventura in front of Combs several more times in the years that followed, either in hotels or their New York homes.

Combs would direct them while he and Ventura were having sex, Phillip testified, adding that while condoms were rarely worn, baby oil was used every time.

Phillip testified about one occasion where Ventura instructed him to urinate on her. Combs was masturbating while this happened, he said.

Combs’ daughters stood up and left the courtroom, and one of Combs’ son’s placed his arm around his grandmother, as parts of this graphic testimony were being made.

Phillip testified that he was paid between $US700 ($A1093) and $US6000 for each encounter with Combs and Ventura, but sometimes he was not paid at all.

“I was just excited that I was in this world, and happy to be involved with people with such notoriety,” Phillip said. “I didn’t care if I got paid one way or another.”

He also said that Combs once took a picture of his driver’s license and said it was for insurance purposes, which he perceived as a threat.

Witness feared ‘for my life’

Phillip recounted one incident when Ventura appeared to be intoxicated on drugs, and was slumped over on a couch when he arrived.

“I don’t think this is going to happen today,” he testified that Combs said to him.

The witness also told the court about a time that he saw Combs assault Ventura at her home.

“I was shocked,” Phillip testified.

Ventura was on the computer when Combs shouted at her to come here, he said.

When Cassie responded that her personal information was up on the computer, Combs came out and “started dragging her by her hair into her bedroom”, Phillip said.

He testified that Ventura was screaming and repeatedly saying, “I’m sorry” while he heard what sounded like Combs slapping her.

Phillip testified he heard Combs, saying, “B*tch, when I tell you to come here, you come. Now, not later.”

At some point, a visibly upset Ventura emerged from the other room. Combs asked if they were ready to continue, Phillip said.

Phillip said he thought, “If I tried to do something, I might lose my life.”

When asked why he didn’t report the incident, he added: “My thoughts were that this was someone with unlimited power and chances are that even if I did go to the police, I might still end up losing my life.”

Phillip said he couldn’t continue after that, though he thought he may have tried to “act like everything was okay”.

He continued to see Ventura and Combs after that alleged violent incident because he had developed a sort of friendship with Ventura, and considered meeting the couple as a “way of being able to check on her and know that she was okay.”

Phillip will be back on the stand on Tuesday local time, where his cross-examination will continue.

- With NBC