Aubrey O’Day Feels ‘Validated’ After Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Arrest: ‘Today Is a Win for Women All over the World’
The Danity Kane alum was signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records
Aubrey O’Day feels “validated” following the arrest of her former record label boss Sean “Diddy” Combs.
On Monday, Sept. 16, the Danity Kane alum, 40, shared how she felt about Diddy’s arrest following recent sex trafficking allegations and sexual assault lawsuits.
“The purpose of Justice is to provide an ending and allow us the space to create a new chapter,” O’Day wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Women never get this. I feel validated. Today is a win for women all over the world, not just me. Things are finally changing.”
The purpose of Justice is to provide an ending and allow us the space to create a new chapter. Women never get this. I feel validated. Today is a win for women all over the world, not just me.
Things are finally changing.— Aubrey O’Day (@AubreyODay) September 17, 2024
Over the years, the singer/television personality has voiced her feelings about the “I’ll Be Missing You” musician, 54, who removed her from Danity Kane on MTV’s Making the Band in 2008 (alongside Wanita “D. Woods” Woodgett) following tension between the women and the music mogul.
In June, O’Day told PEOPLE that she didn’t “feel vindicated at all” by the abuse and sex trafficking allegations against the record executive.
“There’s no vindication when you’re a victim of someone. … Anyone being exposed, or any truths being told, don’t change the reality of what you experienced,” she said.
O’Day added: “It’s a forever thing that you have to wake up every day and choose to evolve past. It doesn’t go away. It’s like childhood trauma. We don’t like to think it just disappears in our thirties, but really we start realizing how bad it really is in our thirties.”
At the time, a rep for Combs did not immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In March, the “Show Stopper” artist shared her reaction to the “Last Night” rapper’s home raids via Instagram Stories.
“I pray this emboldens all of US victims to finally speak on what we have endured,” O’Day wrote, before sharing a clip of Tupac Shakur dancing to her Instagram Story with the caption, “There is no ‘too soon’ on this one, just ‘too late.'”
In September 2023, O’Day claimed that Combs asked her to sign an NDA to never disparage the rapper and his label, a “deal” she said she encouraged her former bandmates to “not take.”
She also reacted to news of Combs’ private jet leaving California for Antigua during the home raid.
“Respectfully, I’ve been telling y’all this for 2 decades and did anyone listen? No,” O’Day wrote on her Instagram Story, before sharing clips of Making the Band that showcase she and Combs disagreeing.
On Monday, Sept. 16, Combs was arrested at a Manhattan hotel after he was indicted by a grand jury, sources confirmed to PEOPLE.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Combs’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but he Is not a criminal.”
He added: “To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
