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Hip-hop mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs is in hot water after Homeland Security raided two properties. Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, his previous girlfriend, and several others alleged a range of abusive behaviors. Additionally, some band members from Danity Kane, the all-women pop group formed on MTV’s Making the Band, have come forward with additional allegations against Combs. Here’s what a recent bombshell lawsuit alleges regarding Combs’ behavior toward Danity Kane members.

Dawn Richard of Danity Kane fame sued Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs for sexual abuse and made additional claims

Dawn Richard from the all-women pop group Danity Kane alleged “abuse, forced labor, violation of New York services for victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking,” in a lawsuit, according to In Touch Weekly. The other members of Danity Kane, which was formed on MTV’s Making the Band 3 in the early 2000s, were Aundrea Fimbres, Shannon Bex, Aubrey O’Day, and D. Woods.

According to the lawsuit, Combs “flagrantly exploited” Richard’s “musical talent as a singer and writer while withholding her rightful earnings, stealing her copyrighted works, and subjecting her to years of inhumane working conditions which included groping, assault, and false imprisonment, among other violations.”

In addition to Combs allegedly making “disparaging gender-based remarks” against the women on Making the Band 3, Richard alleged that Combs deprived her and the other Danity Kane members of “adequate food and sleep.” Combs allegedly forced the Danity Kane members to record and rehearse their music for 36 to 48 hours without breaks.

Another point in the lawsuit details Richard’s trip to the hospital. She claimed that Combs made her drink only peanut butter shakes. Around the summer of 2010, she was hospitalized after experiencing “abdominal pain, swollen glands, and a fever.” Doctors diagnosed her with arthralgia. When she presented the diagnosis to Combs, he allegedly demanded that she attend another multi-day recording session.

Dawn Richard once discussed a fight she had with Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs

Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs and Dawn Richard standing side by side while holding microphones to their mouths and performing on stage
Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs and Dawn Richard performing at ‘MTV Crashes Glasgow – headlined by Diddy-Dirty Money’ in 2010 | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for MTV
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Dawn Richard spoke about a fight with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs while on Making the Band 3.

“He was definitely someone who had a reputation to be difficult,” she started while speaking on Sway’s Universe in 2012.

Richard explained one incident that resulted in her worst altercation with Combs. She said that Danity Kane was set to perform on Saturday Night Live, but she didn’t know when she was supposed to arrive for rehearsals. “He was like, ‘Ya’ll don’t want it’ — he always goes with the, ‘Ya’ll don’t want it,’ the Jedi mind treatment,” she said. “He makes you believe that you suck all to hell, and you’ve been working all hours of the night. And me and him got into a huge argument.”

Richard noted that she always talked respectfully to Combs, but she raised her voice during this fight.

“I threw my purse down and was like, ‘Well, you want to go? We can go,'” she continued. “There was this chest battle that happened between him and me.”

Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day said the hip-hop mogul made sexual comments toward her

Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day remains outspoken against Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. She spoke on the No Jumper podcast about her personal experience with Combs, which included him using derogatory sexual language against her.

“I’m, right now, taking inventory of my experience,” O’Day said. ” … I’m finding out, so many times, even very early on, when Diddy was making comments like, ‘Oh, now you’re f***able. You look great, I could f*** you now. And things like that. I don’t even remember.”

O’Day added that there are “so many witnesses” and “so many victims” of Combs.

How to get help: In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area. 

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