Aubrey O’Day claimed Sean “Diddy” Combs tried to buy her silence by turning over publishing rights on Bad Boy Records.
“I received the publishing deal. I know what it says. I know how much money it was giving me,” O’Day, 40, said in a sneak peek from the documentary TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy, which releases via Tubi on Sunday, April 28.
The former Danity Kane member claimed she was going to be given $300.30 for a “full release of all claims against Diddy and many other players.”
As for what O’Day believed Diddy’s “motivation” was at the time, she alleged, “I think you would probably be making moves to keep as many people quiet as possible.”
O’Day noted that when she looked at the publishing deal, “it said anything but I’m being made whole financially again.” She added, “In fact, it asked me to not be able to have access to my story and my experience anymore. It asked me specifically to stay silent and never speak poorly about a human. So then I realized, something really bad is coming.”
A source close to Diddy, 54, with knowledge of the situation refuted O’Day’s claim about everyone signing an NDA. “Last year, when he reassigned his portion of the publishing to Bad Boy artists, an unprecedented move within the industry and which he did not have to do, not all artists signed an NDA, contrary to what she claims,” the insider told Us Weekly.
Us Weekly reached out to Diddy and O’Day’s reps for comment.
In September 2023, Diddy reassigned his Bad Boy Records publishing rights back to the artists and writers. “It’s just doing the right thing,” Diddy told Variety at the time. “I think that we as an industry, and as a people, have to look in the mirror and make a shift forward. It’s about evolving, leading by example and reforming an industry that needs it, in a world that needs reform.”
The documentary comes after Diddy’s homes in both Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security.
“Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners,” Homeland Security shared in a March statement to Us. “We will provide further information as it becomes available.”
After news of the raids broke, it was widely reported that they were in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation. Diddy’s lawyer Aaron Dyer claimed that the law enforcement used a “gross overuse of military-level force.”
“There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated,” read a statement shared with Us in March, adding that the raids were an “unprecedented ambush” and claimed they were “paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence” which resulted in “a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
The statement concluded: “There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
Since November 2023, multiple individuals have accused Diddy of sexual assault, which he has denied.
