Aubrey O’Day, Cassie and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Amanda Edwards/Getty Images ; Gotham Images/GC ; Hollywood Pictures For You / Star Max / GCAubrey O’Day as “the first” to support the public Cassie after he was accused Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual acts – and alum Danity Kane wouldn’t have it any other way.
“(I was) the first one to come out and stand up for him,” O’Day, 40, said exclusively. Us Weekly at Teacher Magazine#30Voices30Days launch party on Saturday, June 1st.
Cassie (real name Cassandra Ventura), 37, sued ex-girlfriend Diddy, 54, for sexual assault and repeated abuse in November 2023. The music mogul vehemently denied the allegations before settling the lawsuit within a day. O’Day, meanwhile, took to social media to show solidarity with Cassie at the time. (O’Day was tapped to join Danity Kane by Diddy on Create a Bandthen claimed that he was eventually fired from the group.)
“I was done in the first five minutes because Cassie was the victim and she had crazy courage,” O’Day said. us on the Godfrey Hotel Hollywood red carpet. “There are many stories from this side to this side, not all of them look the same. Not every situation of this man has looked the same, but he really broke through the wall. We don’t know why. This is what broke.”
Getty Images (3) Cassie has remained silent over a video showing ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs allegedly assaulting her at a Los Angeles hotel. In a statement posted on Thursday, May 23, through Instagram, Cassie wrote, “Love has created a place for my teenager to settle down and feel safe now, but (…)
He continued, “We all have to be grateful because this needs to be broken and bigger, which I’m sure Cassie will feel too. Change needs to happen in the music industry and there needs to be a safe space for artists to thrive. There needs to be a place. that no one can impose an obligation on the head or hold a career on the head in any capacity.
According to O’Day, she “always” supports other women, especially in times of struggle.
“We’re still trying to find ways to support each other,” he said Saturday.
“People think it’s like jumping on a bandwagon type mentality when stories come out against powerful people. It’s not a bandwagon that anybody wants to ride the f–king on. Nobody wants to ride that mother-king train.”
Months after Cassie and Diddy settled their lawsuit, a video of the rapper allegedly attacking Cassie in 2016. Diddy responded through a social media statement last month, widely apologizing for his “inexcusable” behavior without mentioning Cassie by name.
“Anyone who makes a statement like that or on the air or even aired on that side, you look like an idiot. Stop it,” O’Day said, generalizing. “Quote me on that. ‘You look stupid. Mandhego. There are real victims. Everyone knows that.’ You have now been shown a video if you think the only time you will see it is for you to stay in your stupid world.
O’Day also previously claimed in April that Diddy was trying to buy his silence from moving forward through music publishing rights. O’Day and former member Danity Kane – Richard Fajar, Andrea Fimbres and Shannon Bex – previously signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records.
“Now if you buy my music, you’re going to help someone or pay someone or make someone calm down, that’s for sure. We don’t get that money,” he said. us. “I haven’t been offered publishing without signing a full release on Diddy and many other parties in this industry. Some of my band members have signed and received money. I should be able to receive the money without signing a release to anyone because this is my publishing. I write what I wrote.”
O’Day further said that he would not be “contacted and offered” another publishing deal without signing a “full release.”
“I’ve been talking at every stop. People act like I’m a broken record, but if I’m so broken, why the f–k doesn’t anyone fix it?” he stiffened. “I’m shouting it from the rooftops. It’s a simple fix. You no, like, you’re in charge of explaining what we see in the video. Who owns my publisher, can you give it back to me without asking me to sign a full release on anyone? Because that’s unfair as a writer.”
O’Day continued, “There was never a time when he lived in fear or potentially faced sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual harassment or anything else. There should never have been a time when (a) talented musician should have been afraid of that. There was no that’s what it should be.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
With reporting by Mike Vulpo
