NEW YORK — One prospective juror remembered a report about Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs getting a manicure, another recalled the hip-hop mogul's appearance on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," a third saw video of him accompanying Jennifer Lopez to the Grammy's in her notorious Versace dress.

And each of them told a Manhattan judge Friday that they could set those sound bites and video clips aside and treat Combs like any other defendant in a weapons possession and bribery case.

"Sean 'Puffy' Combs is a famous person, very rich and whatever, but he has the same rights under the legal system as I have," a young Hispanic man with a shaved head and precisely sculpted goatee told state Supreme Court Judge Charles Solomon. He and 29 other potential jurors passed an initial screening and were sent on to the next stage of jury selection.

Combs, the CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment, will face 15 years in prison when he goes on trial, now tentatively set to begin next Friday. Lawyers on both sides are trying to ferret out jurors biased by the massive media coverage of Combs and the nightclub shooting that led to his arrest.

Combs' rap protege, Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, is accused of shooting three people during a fracas at Club New York, a Times Square discotheque, in 1999. Combs, who was at the club with Lopez, and his bodyguard, Anthony "Wolf" Jones, are accused of weapons possession and of trying to bribe a chauffeur into taking the rap for them.

When this process is completed Monday, about 150 prospective jurors will have been questioned about what they have heard, read and seen in the press about the shooting. A more in-depth screening begins Wednesday.

Combs has adopted a slightly more conservative style for the trial, shedding his trademark gold jewelry and always wearing a suit and tie. But he certainly isn't dressing like a stockbroker — Friday he donned a powder pink tie and stuffed a matching pink handkerchief in the pocket of his dark blue suit. Combs paid close attention and took copious notes in a spiral-bound notebook during the questioning Friday. At one point, he smiled and nodded at a female juror who described him as a "good dresser."

In testament to his popularity and the aggressive local press, only a handful of panelists said they knew nothing about the case. The vast majority of the Manhattanites questioned, regardless of age or race, said they knew of Combs, and almost all said they recognized Johnnie Cochran, one of his defense attorneys, from the O.J. Simpson case.

The eight removed from the pool Friday included a woman who had been to the club where the shooting took place and who admitted she "associated guns and rappers with each other." Also jettisoned was the wife of radio host and Guardian Angel head Curtis Sliwa. She said she had been immersed in the coverage and did not feel she could be impartial.

Before court broke for the weekend, prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos told Solomon that two witnesses had complained to him that defense investigators for Combs had approached them and asked if they were willing to give press interviews. Such requests would be in violation of Solomon's gag order.

Combs' attorney Benjamin Brafman said he did not believe Bogdanos' charge "for a second" and claimed that if the defense wanted to, they could leak information "that would be on the front page of every newspaper in the country."