Aubrey O'Day is setting the record straight concerning her involvement in Sean "Diddy" Combs' ongoing sex trafficking trial. The 41-year-old singer, who shot to fame as a member of the rap producer's girl group Danity Kane in the mid-2000s, sparked rumors that she might testify as a witness in the federal proceedings when she posted on her Instagram Stories on May 14th—nine days after the trial commenced—that she was in New York City. However, it turns out that these rumors are unfounded.
"No, I'm not here to testify for the Diddy trial," O'Day clarified on the May 16th episode of the podcast "Amy & T.J.," hosted by former GMA3 cohosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes. "That I know of."
The "All About Aubrey" star did admit that she had been approached by government officials regarding the matter, but she refrained from elaborating on the specifics of their discussion. "I was contacted by Homeland Security," she revealed. "I did have a meeting with Homeland Security."
The podcast was recorded close to the courtroom. After T.J. pointed out to the "Simple Life" alumna that they were podcasting "right up the street from where the trial is taking place," she responded, "I didn't even realize that."
Combs, who has also gone by the monikers Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, and Love, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He is accused of orchestrating "freak off" sex parties and "threatening and coercing women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires," according to the indictment obtained by NBC News.
O'Day, 41, has publicly spoken out against Combs, 55, including during her recent reveal on "The Masked Singer" in February. "My ex-boss—Imma go there," she shared onstage. "He calls himself Love. He legally titled himself that. And he uses the love heart to express that everywhere he goes. He's in prison now, and I just want to say to you guys, the love heart is now here."
She has been following his legal battle since his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided in March 2024, writing on her Instagram Story at the time, "What you sow, you shall reap." O'Day also hinted at justice being served after Combs was arrested six months later. "I never thought I would see this day," she told TMZ in September. "We all buried this inside of us in order to be able to keep going. And not just me, but victims you don't even know yet. We are all processing what that type of vindication can actually feel like now. Every conversation I've had with victims last night has been beyond moving on all levels."
While O'Day has largely kept the details of her experience with Combs under wraps, she has discussed comments he allegedly made about her appearance while she was a part of Danity Kane alongside Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett, and Aundrea Fimbres. "I look at the beginning of 'Making the Band' and little Aubrey auditioning, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how I became the sexy face one,'" O'Day said on the "Crysis Queen" podcast last year. "[Combs] is on camera saying how much he hates it, but he’s off-camera telling me all the ways I needed to be groomed properly, down to my toenails." The "Ride for You" artist noted, "With Diddy, I saw multiple... sides of him."
Although O'Day did not journey to New York City to participate in the trial, one of her former bandmates did recently testify in the proceedings. On May 16th, Dawn Richard told jurors that she witnessed Combs hit key witness Cassie Ventura with a skillet full of eggs in 2009. "He came downstairs, asking where his phone was, and he threw her to the ground," she testified, according to NBC News reporters present in the courtroom. "He attempted to kick her; she fell to the ground and went into the fetal position, literally trying to hide her head."
