Diddy's trial judge cracks a 'Lord of the Rings' joke while referencing the number of prospective jurors that both sides plan to question

After being arrested in September 2024, rapper Diddy's trial began on May 5, 2025, in New York City. People magazine reported that for jury selection, more than 600 potential jurors filled out the questionnaires.

According to the same publication, Judge Arun Subramanian, who led this selection, commented on the number of potential jurors. He cracked a joke about the same and referred to The Lord of the Rings, stating:

“I read through the people and places list, which is several pages long. I felt I was reading an appendix from, like, The Lord of the Rings.”

For the unversed, the J.R.R. Tolkien series of books is known to have extensive appendices wherein some span approximately 1000 words, some span 6000 words, and one of the appendices apparently has 27000 words.

During the process of selection, potential jurors were reportedly asked about their knowledge concerning Michael B Jordan, Cassie Ventura, Mike Myers,and Kanye West. However, the mention of the aforesaid celebrities doesn't mean that they would be called as witnesses during the court proceedings.

Per People magazine, over 50 jurors have been brought in so far for interviews. Out of these, 12 jurors and 6 alternates will be selected for Diddy's trial. The court hearings are scheduled to begin on May 12, 2025.

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Details about Diddy's jury selection explored amid the rapper's trial commencement

Sean Comba aka Diddy is charged with five criminal counts. He has been denied bail thrice and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Initially, he was charged with one count of transportation to engage in prostitution, one count of s*x trafficking by force, and one count of racketeering conspiracy in September 2024. The rapper was hit with 2 additional charges in April 2025, including one charge of transportation to engage in prostitution, and another count of s*x trafficking.

As per CBS News' report dated May 5, 2025, the prospective jurors were asked about their awareness surrounding Sean Combs' case, whether they have any experience with domestic violence or s*xual assault, their views on law enforcement, feelings about having multiple partners, and their views on hip-hop artists, among other questions.

Brian Steel, attorney for Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives as jury selection begins for the rapper's trial (Image via Getty)

However, jury selection wasn't a smooth sailing process in Diddy's case, given that the defense and prosecution reportedly argued over the kind of questions featured in the questionnaire to evaluate potential jurors. In the court filings, the rapper's attorneys argued that the prosecution's questionnaire didn't explore the biases and prejudices that were imperative to "an effective inquiry to seating a fair jury".

The rapper's attorneys also expressed their criticism of the defense's questionnaire, allegedly stating that it didn't acknowledge "the unprecedented and negative media attention they may have been exposed to, related to Mr. Combs." In addition to this, the defense requested that potential jurors be questioned about their views concerning drugs, violence, s*x, and people with multiple s*xual partners.

On the other hand, the prosecution reportedly criticized the proposed questionnaire by Diddy's attorneys, citing that it was too long and featured questions that would rather be asked in person by the judge. Moreover, the defense said that some of the prosecution's questions were "utterly irrelevant to the ability to serve on a jury."

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During the first day of Diddy's s*x trafficking and federal racketeering trial, Judge Subramanian referred to the multiple monikers given to the rapper. According to TMZ, the judge described him as "Puff Daddy, Diddy, other names... and Love".