(NewsNation) — Danity Kane members Aubrey O’Day and D. Woods recently reunited on O’Day’s podcast to talk about how it was to work with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
O’Day’s podcast, “Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial,” has been focusing on the 55-year-old’s trial since it started in May. After his arrest in September 2024, Combs was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges.
In the podcast episode, Woods admitted that she hasn’t been following the trial for “mental health and spiritual protection’s sake.” She explained, “It’s really triggering. It’s really stomach-turning. … Parents and loved ones may even feel a sense of guilt because … nobody knew what we were really dealing with and what atmosphere we were really in.”
Danity Kane was a pop-R&B group that was formed by Combs on the reality competition series “Making the Band.” Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex and Aundrea Fimbres were also members of the group that was created in 2005. Before splitting up in 2009, Danity Kane released two studio albums: “Danity Kane” and “Welcome to the Dollhouse.”
Aubrey O’Day: Professional relationship with Diddy was ‘childhood trauma’
O’Day and Woods have both spoken about their alleged abuse in the past, with Woods appearing in the Investigation Discovery docuseries “The Fall of Diddy.” O’Day was allegedly rumored to be a witness in Combs’ trial and has compared her past relationship with him to “childhood trauma.”
Richard also sued Combs in September for 21 counts of sex trafficking, copyright infringement, gender discrimination and sexual assault and battery. Richard did take the stand in the rapper’s trial, testifying to the physical violence that she reportedly witnessed.
(L-R) Singers Aundrea Fimbres, Shannon Bex, Dawn Richard, Aubrey O’Day and Wanita ‘D. Woods’ Woodgette of Danity Kane pose for pictures to celebrate their #1 album at The Bank Night Club at the Bellagio March 28, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Gifford/FilmMagic) 
Aundrea Fimbres, Shannon Bex, Wanita “D. Woods” Woodgette, Dawn Richard and Aubrey O’Day of Danity Kane (Photo by G. Gershoff/WireImage) 
NEW YORK – APRIL 23: Aubrey O’Day of Danity Kane and P. Diddy attend MTV’s “Making The Band 4: The Final Chapter” live finale at The Hudson Theatre on April 23, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/WireImage)
Woods and O’Day reflected on Richard’s lawsuit, with Woods saying that while she doesn’t remember being sexualized by Combs, she allegedly saw him belittle women frequently.
“I didn’t feel the sexual exchange, or maybe I just was oblivious to that because we were mad young. But what I did experience was the dehumanizing objectification and just really feeling like I’m just like a piece of meat, just feeling like I’m being tossed to and fro [with] no consideration of our humanity,” Woods explained.
She claimed that Combs “really treated us like we were — like he said to us several different times — ‘You are not worth the (expletive) on the bottom of my shoes.'”
Aubrey O’Day, D. Woods fired from Danity Kane
The duo also spoke about how they were fired from Danity Kane in the 2008 finale of Combs’ “Making the Band 4.”
“It was sexual harassment and retaliation. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. … Because I was close to [O’Day], and it was retaliation,” Woods claimed. She said that O’Day had told her Combs sent “inappropriate” photos to her, which reportedly included “overtly pornographic” material.
She also said that, during New York Fashion Week in 2008, Combs had told O’Day she was “hot enough” now to have sex with him. Shortly after, Combs fired O’Day and Woods.
“He wanted her to feel powerless and question her worth. … I feel like that’s part of the same reason why he probably got rid of me, too,” Woods explained.