Aubrey O’Day is speaking out as the trial against music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs nears its conclusion. In an interview with Extra, O’Day discussed the complex emotions she is navigating as she continues to follow the high-profile case.
O’Day, who has been covering the trial on her podcast Aubrey O’Day, Covering The Diddy Trial, produced by Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, said she was initially expected to testify but was never subpoenaed.
“Once I heard the charges, they’re very specific charges, and I was not being sex-trafficked,” O’Day said. “I was never willingly having sex with anyone there.”
Diddy has been charged with five counts, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied all allegations and entered a not guilty plea.
As the jury prepares to deliberate in the coming days, O’Day reflected on what she hopes will emerge from the trial. “The rational, justice side of me that leads a good amount of what I do nowadays says the answer should be what was proven by the prosecution, the law, and that’s conflicting to what I want personally,” she said.
O’Day believes Diddy is “guilty of all of the charges,” but acknowledged uncertainty about whether the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
More than a legal battle, O’Day described the trial as a personal reckoning with unresolved parts of her own history. “There are other pieces of my story that I still don’t understand,” she said. “When you speak with Homeland Security, victims can’t speak with victims. So, I’ll be finding more out as time continues. I’m not loving that piece. I have a journey ahead, and as we get closer to the ending of this one, I’m starting to realize I wish we could go a little bit longer. It’s here before I was ready for it.”
She admitted she is bracing for what she might learn. “I don’t know if I’m going to like what I find out, either way. It’s something that affected me in a very pivotal way, and it’s either the truth or it’s a lie, and if it’s the truth, it’s horrific and there’s nothing I can do about it, and if it’s a lie, it’s horrific that that would happen and I don’t know what I would do about it.”
O’Day’s history with Diddy dates back to her time in Danity Kane, the girl group he formed on the MTV show Making the Band. Diddy dismissed her from the group in 2008, and O’Day has since publicly addressed her negative experiences with him.
“This is a very layered person,” she said. “There are days I absolutely am disgusted by him, and I think he is the f—ing devil, and there are days where I have compassion for him. There are days not during this trial, but prior to the trial, where I felt I remembered what it was like to love him as a human. I’m constantly trying to figure out where he lost the plot and how it all went so wrong.”
When asked who Diddy is in her eyes, O’Day said, “I think Diddy is a hurt person that hurt people. I think that’s what all people that do horrific things are. There’s a small percentage that were mentally unstable from the jump. I don’t know that he’s one of those.”
Reflecting on her personal experiences, she said, “I saw a human in there. I saw when the eyes went black too. I saw both of those people.”
O’Day acknowledged the testimony of Diddy’s former partners, including Cassie Ventura and another woman identified as Jane. “That’s why this testimony is so complicated. I’m sure that they loved him, and also they felt forced as they said.”
She commended Ventura, who testified just a week before giving birth. “I think Cassie is an incredibly brave human. It was not easy to do what she did. I think she was honest in her testimony. She was very fair about everything on the stand. She took ownership over the days where she said things that she wanted, she took ownership of wanting certain things. She took ownership of not wanting things.”
The former Danity Kane member also said she was “horrified” Ventura had to relive painful experiences through her testimony.
When Ventura filed her lawsuit against Diddy in November 2023, O’Day publicly supported her but admitted to feeling fear. “I wasn’t sure if I was standing on all 10 toes at moments. I would hear things,” she said.
O’Day learned of Diddy’s indictment while filming Plastic Surgery Rewind for E! She recalled the moment the news broke. “I actually was filming a scene that morning. I found out that he was indicted in real time on camera. The earthquake and aftershocks that it gave this entire production were felt from the people in front of the cameras to all the way real far back behind the cameras. All the cameramen came over and gave me a hug.”
As the trial edges toward a verdict, Aubrey O’Day continues to process what the outcome may mean for her and others connected to the case.
