Making the Jury: Day 3

A judge and 45 jurors walk into a court room...

May 08, 2025

Dress code. Does the court have one? I was about to find out.

I skipped the Ann Taylor button-up today and went with a casual Uniqlo fit—jeans, track jacket, metallic sneakers.

Lucky for me, the judge showed up just as relaxed, walking into the courthouse in jeans and Nikes. Two peas in a judicial pod I’ll be living in for the next eight weeks. If we’re going to be here that long, we might as well be comfortable, right?

So far, anything goes at the Diddy trial. It’s more laid-back than I expected.

Today felt like a rerun of Day One: mumbling jurors answering awkward first-date questions, attorneys getting swatted down by a judge who, I realized, bears a striking resemblance—in tone and expression—to Ali Alexander.

In my last update, I said the overflow room TV was broken. Today I learned it was turned off intentionally to protect the identities of the remaining 45 potential jurors. Once the final 12 are selected, the feed will go live, and the press and public sitting in the overflow room will finally get to watch the trial unfold.

For now, we crowd around a speaker.

I arrived in the afternoon and sat with journalists from Daily Mail and USA Today. We helped each other interpret the garbled audio as jurors were called up one by one to answer a long list of questions from the judge. Some were hard to understand—especially the man who’s now known in our room as “sleep apnea guy,” after telling the judge he was exhausted from staying up all night binge-watching Star Wars.

I cracked jokes with the other reporters until a mainstream journo shushed me. She was right. I shouldn’t have been laughing—but some of these juror answers were hilarious. And to be fair, the judge has been cracking jokes the entire trial. Once victims start taking the stand, I’m sure the tone will change. At the moment, it’s completely unserious.

The judge called potential jurors to the stand one by one to answer a Q&A. The questions sounded like something off a dating app:

How old are you?
Are you single?
What are your hobbies?
Where do you get your news?

Turns out, most jurors get their news from CNN.

Not one person today mentioned Fox News, NewsNation, Newsmax—nothing right-leaning.

Which, if you’re on Diddy’s defense team, probably feels like a win. Fox viewers are more likely to believe he’s part of a Hollywood satanic cabal. CNN viewers are more likely to think that kind of talk belongs on Reddit. Right-wing media has leaned into entertainment industry conspiracies in recent years, while left-leaning outlets still roll their eyes. Fox sees demonic symbolism in a Met Gala brooch; CNN calls it couture.

Whatever the case, the answers were weirdly revealing. I recorded as many as I could. A snapshot of American culture, as told by the very people who may soon decide whether Diddy walks free.

Jurors Q&A Answers: In Order of Appearance:

Anon Juror 1:

Age: 34

Location: Bronx

Occupation: Area Manager

Relationship Status: Single

Kids: None

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Finance

Preferred News Sources: CNN, GQ, Forbes, Bloomberg, Other “Regular” News Channels

Preferred TV Shows: N/A (Didn’t write fast enough)

Music Preference: N/A (Didn’t make out what she said)

Hobbies: N/A (Didn’t make out what she said)

Anon Juror 2,

Age: 31

Location: Westchester

Occupation: Motion Designer

Relationship Status: Has Girlfriend

Education: Bachelor’s in Mass Communications

Kids: None

Preferred News Sources: CNN, ESPN

Music Preference: R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz

Hobbies: Photography, Cooking, Alpha Pi Alpha Pi Fraternity

Anon Juror 3

Age: 35

Location: Manhattan

Occupation: Unemployed, Used to do window cleaning way back when

Relationship Status: Single

Education: N/A

Kids: None

Preferred News Sources: Doesn’t read newspapers or magazines

Music Preference: Metal, Hip-Hop, R&B

TV Shows: Chicago P.D.

Hobbies: Video games and food

No wonder he is unemployed…too many video games. He mentioned video games twice during his Q&A. lol

Anon Juror 4

Age: N/A

Location: N/A

Occupation: Teacher, NYC Department of Education

Relationship Status: Married

Education: Professional Diploma

Kids: Has children all who have good jobs

Preferred News Sources: CNN, ABC7, Home & Garden, Culinary Cuisine

TV Shows: Netflix and Amazon Prime

Music Preference: Contemporary Christian, R&B, 80s and 90s

Hobbies: Pickle ball, Cooking and Decorating

Anon Juror 5

Age: 71

Location: New York County

Occupation: Archivist, Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation

Relationship Status: Has Spouse

Education: N/A

Preferred News Sources: New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Wired

TV Shows: Netflix, Historical Docs

Music Preference: Classical

Hobbies: Art, Architecture and design

Someone in my comments today said only older people will pass the Diddy jury test which is funny because this was the first juror I thought seemed the most fit.

Anon Juror 6

Age: 32

Location: Westchester

Occupation: Data Analytics, Julliard

Relationship Status: Single

Kids: None

Education: Bachelor’s in Literature

Preferred News Sources: CNN, BBC, The New York Times, NY Post

TV Shows: Reality shows on Bravo

Music Preference: Broadway and 40s and 50s Country

Hobbies: Cooking, Traveling and Video Games

Anon Juror 7

Age: 37

Location: NY County

Occupation: Counterterrorism Officer, United Nations

Relationship Status: Girlfriend

Kids: None

Education: Masters Degree in International Relations

Preferred News Sources: CNN, The New York Times, BBC

TV Shows: N/A

Music Preference: Pop, Rock, Classical

Hobbies: Cooking, Hiking, Reading

The judge grilled this juror the most because of his position working as a counterterrorism officer at the UN. He asked him what exactly he did there and he said the he scheduled conferences. The judge asked him if he worked with the FBI and Interpol.

He said no.

I said, “He sounds like an opp. Get him out of here!”

Anon Juror 8 AKA “Sleep Apnea Guy”

He was 64 and mumbled. I couldn’t make out a word he said except for “single,” “Al Jazeera” and “Star Wars.”

Anon Juror 9

Age: 24

Location: Bronx

Occupation: Field Operator, Coffee Services, LLC

Relationship Status: Married

Kids: None

Education: Associates Degree

Preferred News Sources: Online News only, mostly from social media

TV Shows: Hulu and Netflix

Music Preference: Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B, Soul, Pop

Hobbies: Screenwriting, Cooking, Design

Anon Juror 10

Age: 51

Location: N/A

Occupation: Nurse Practitioner

Relationship Status: Married

Kids: None

Education: Doctorate in Nursing

Preferred News Sources: ABC World News, BBC, Publications about Nursing

TV Shows: Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune

Music Preference: Pop, R&B, Jazz, Classical

Hobbies: Concerts, Watches BTS Concerts the most

Anon Juror 11

Age: 38

Location: Hudson County

Occupation: Attorney/Artist

Relationship Status: Married

Kids: None

Education: Bachelor’s in Philosophy

Preferred News Sources: Looks for new on the internet, finds news she thinks are interesting then researches more and “vets” mainstream publications

TV Shows: Reruns of 90s shows

Music Preference: Lowfi, Miles Davis, Rock

Hobbies: Cooking and Hiking

Besides cooking, this juror sounded the most like me. The way she finds her news is exactly how I find mine. Not to mention, her hyphenated career and love for 90s shows. A true Millennial basking in nostalgia.

I can’t believe none of the jurors said they got their news from “Emilie Knows Everything’s Substack!”

If I was called to the stand, here would be my answers:

Age: “Well, I’m a Year of the Dragon, sooooo…”

Location: “Hollywood”

Occupation: “Katy Perry Impersonator, Kanyesposts Admin & Freelance Writer”

Relationship Status: “In a relationship”

Preferred News Sources: Social Media

Preferred TV Shows: White Lotus (Pre-Season 3 that relied on Incest for clicks), Full House Reruns, You, Queen’s Gambit, Killing Eve and just about any thriller about government assassins

Hobbies: Documenting Kanye West, Collecting Wigs, Wearing Neon Masks, Figuring out Celebrity Conspiracy Theories, Exposing the Illuminati, Wasting Time in Group Chats, Joining Fleeting Internet Cults, Reading Negative Reddit Comments, Thrifting Clothes at Goodwill and Searching for Fancy Hand-Blown Tumblrs at Estate Sales by Water Tastes Better in an Expensive Cup

The judge would say, “Okay lady, we get it, you think you’re interesting. Now bye bye. You’re excused.”

FILL OUT THE COURT ROOM Q&A.

Now it’s your turn. Judge Emilie calls you to the stand to please answer the following questions. I’d like to survey everyone here to see if we have overlapping answers. Don’t worry. In this survey, there is no wrong answer. No answer will get you excused.

Q&A:

Location:

Occupation:

Living Situation:

Relationship Status:

Preferred News Sources:

Preferred TV Shows:

Music Preferences:

Hobbies:

Leave Your Answers in the Comments Below:

The judge dismissed us early today at 1:39 PM. Jury selection will resume Friday morning, and if all goes as planned, the final jurors will be seated by end of day—just in time for opening statements Monday morning.

The judge warned jurors to stay silent about the case and gave them advice before leaving. Typical court protocol with a modern twist where group chats were discouraged and snitching was encouraged.

Coming up next: Protest Coverage in Manhattan: An Interview with Curtis Sliwa, who’s running again for Mayor of New York and why he’s receiving so much support from Chinese Americans