Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ former mentee, Aubrey O’Day, has released a statement following Combs’ sentencing for charges related to transportation for prostitution.
On October 3, P. Diddy received a 50-month prison sentence and a $500,000 fine from Judge Arun Subramanian at the US District Courthouse in Manhattan.
The music icon, who was found guilty of transporting individuals across the country for sexual activities he referred to as ‘freak-offs’, issued an apology to two former partners, singer Casandra ‘Cassie’ Ventura and another woman identified only as ‘Jane,’ who accused him of physical and sexual abuses.
Earlier in July, a jury of 12 acquitted the 55-year-old of charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
Aubrey O’Day, who was part of Danity Kane until Combs dismissed her in 2008, has commented in the wake of the trial’s conclusion.
The 41-year-old met Combs during his MTV show, Making the Band, and was later signed to his record label, Bad Boy Entertainment.
O’Day took to social media platform X, offering a cautionary message to aspiring musicians, emphasizing their well-being as paramount over any career opportunity.
“The true warning is not that a jury may doubt your testimony, nor that a court’s sentencing guidelines may fail to reflect the years of suffering you endured,” she posted.
“The real warning is this: the moment someone in a position of power oversteps your boundaries or demands more than is legitimately required of you, walk away and do not look back.
“No dream, however bright, can outweigh the pain and exploitation that may follow if you remain. Too often, those who misuse their power, even when exposed, face far fewer consequences than the harm inflicted upon their victims.
“Protect yourself at the first sign of coercion or impropriety. If something feels wrong, trust that instinct and remove yourself from the situation. Your well-being is worth more than any opportunity.”
Support poured in from O’Day’s fans, with one expressing, “I can’t imagine what you must be feeling right now, Aubrey. Sending you all the love and light in the world. God is good – keep that thought at the forefront of your mind and draw strength from it.”
Another fan stated: “I’m praying and hoping that you are doing OK and praying for your health and well-being and your safety.”
In September 2024, the Celebrity Big Brother participant claimed that Combs had ‘groomed’ and dictated her image on Making the Band.
Appearing on the Crysis Queen podcast, O’Day alleged that Combs once dismissed her from the studio over unpolished toenails.
She also accused him of preventing her from interacting with a ‘certain very big name person.’
“That was the first time [Combs] had kinda said, ‘You’re not allowed to be around that person ever again,” she reminisced. “And that was the first time I started to see the dynamics change with just how he approached me on camera.”
In a discussion with Decider in August, O’Day mentioned that challenging Combs publicly brought ‘physical danger’ into her reality.
“Obviously, I’ve known about this behavior for a very long time,” she stated. “I’ve been warning everyone for about 20 years now that this is not a safe person to work with. It just was falling on deaf ears because no one wanted to hear me saying it.”
She also observed ‘suspicious’ activities around her, noting, “I know how to look for certain things based off of certain things that I’ve had to learn in life, and there were unmarked cars around me for a bit that seemed suspicious,” while adding that she was uncertain about the extent of danger she faced.
Despite claiming that Homeland Security had reached out to her, O’Day did not provide testimony against Combs during her time in New York City in May.
In the debut episode of iHeart Radio’s Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, she told listeners: “No, I’m not here to testify for the Diddy trial, that I know of.” She mentioned being contacted by Homeland Security and having a meeting with them.
Had O’Day testified, she would have been the second Danity Kane member to do so, following Dawn Richard, aged 41.
Representatives for Diddy have been reached out for comments.
For anyone impacted by the issues discussed in this article, The National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 800.656.HOPE (4673), 24/7. Online assistance is also available at online.rainn.org.