Aubrey O’Day, Dawn Richard and Shannon Bex of Danity Kane, the Pop-R&B girl group conceived then disbanded from Diddy’s 2005 MTV reality show Making The Band, spoke candidly about their harrowing experiences in the music industry in an exclusive interview with Cosmopolitan.
Aubrey and Dawn name Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine, Diddy and Donald Trump as some of the men who they’ve felt violated by over the course of their careers.
Sans former member D. Woods and Aundrea Fimbres, Danity Kane recall the exact moments when sexism and racism had a tremendous effect on their lives.
“When I was doing Celebrity Apprentice, I was doing all these old-fashioned looks,” O’Day remembers. “I have this amazing hairstylist and he would do all of these classic looks on me in the boardroom and I remember maybe the fourth or fifth episode, two producers came over to me and said, ‘Aubrey, you’re the youngest one we’ve had here. You’re running circles around everyone. Nobody thought you’d do this well, but Trump thinks you’re ugly.'”
Dawn recollects when she too was called ugly as a member of Diddy’s Dirty Money ensemble by Iovine.
“Jimmy Iovine told [Dirty Money member] Kalenna at Puff and said, ‘Why don’t you have two light skinned girls?’ In front of a boardroom of fifty people,” Richard shares. “He said, ‘These girls are too ugly. I don’t get it. What are you trying to do with this?’ I remember feeling exactly how Aubrey felt. You know you’re more than this and you’re sitting there and you’re being told as a grown woman you’re ugly…No one fought for us, ever. We’ve only had to fight for ourselves. There was no one who was willing to say, ‘We have your back.'”
Cosmopolitan reached out to Kalenna to discuss the interaction Dawn describes between her and Jimmy during the aforementioned boardroom meeting and she released a statement that Diddy personally encouraged her “to never change.”
“There were people that thought Dirty Money was a reach,” she says in an e-mail. “I heard through the grapevine that Puff was being asked why he didn’t use Cassie, etc. But Puff insisted on the sound matching the look.” She also says Iovine let her know she was, “now one of his favorite writers and favorite voices to listen to.”
According to O’Day, Richards and Bex, Iovine, Diddy nor Trump have yet to apologize for their words.
The “Damaged” trio are currently on their reunion tour and despite having their tumultuous ups and downs, especially when Dawn struck O’Day during an argument, over time they’ve been able to heal and find their way to each other.
“We’ve grown as women,” O’Day tells Cosmo. “We’ve all been through hell at the hands of many things: the industry, our egos, men. We’re at a place now where we really understand ourselves and each other better and saw the value of the loss that we were experiencing without each other.”
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Sounds like the hairstylist was a dick…he didn’t have to tell her Trump thought she was ugly. Maybe the stylist though she was ugly and just said Trump said that…seems very unnecessary to tell her something negative someone else said about her looks. Tissues for everyone, we’re gonna cry for the rest of our lives
Diddy was only concerned with getting his dong dirty in dude dust hole..Hence the name…Dirty Money
so they got called ugly? geeuz
To diddy has a twin brother? “Danity Kane Airs Out Diddy, Jimmy Iovine, Diddy & Trump For Alleged Sexist & Racist Comments”….
Sounds like not enough talent to me. Creating story’s to gain attention. Pathetic!
Aubrey was the only attractive one in the group…..
Wait, Drizzy the GOAT was in this group? I agree, he’s very handsome. Something fake drug dealer Pusha T doesn’t have.
I want to read the article but all I saw was breast.
Hopefull women and men keep airing all these clowns out. The world would be better without them.
Wow. So these reality show hos that we’re given a chance are now retrospectively spitting in their plates. How shocking. “No one had our back.” You didn’t have your own back. If it was that big of a deal, you should have walked off. To Donald Trump most of these bitches are ugly wether he said it or not. He is a billionaire. Didn’t has hundreds of millions of dollars. They bang models, these hoes are far from that. Anyone saying “you should used light skinned girls” isn’t a racist, skin tone in itself isn’t a race, dumb bitches. He didn’t say “white girls.” No one liked your garbage as music anyways. Thots thinking they’re just regular women. Lame.
It’s not that simple bro and I think you know that. You walk off from Diddy and it seriously hurts your career. If they had leverage or more power in the situation that it would’ve been easy to “just walk off”. And you’re right saying the people asking for light skinned girls was racist is inaccurate. They’re talking about colorism which is almost always bred from some racist thoughts. Be better homie.
SJW much? Hahahaha. Be better? Fuck these hos. If you have integrity you don’t give a fuck about your career. Not sucking some dick would ruin plenty of actresses careers with old Harvey. What should they have done? Either taken that load or stepped. Live in the real world for a day or two, snowflake. Be better yourself. It is that easy. We are the result of our choices. It’s called being an adult. Bunch of victim ass thots.
Wait. These transgender male to females are complaining that someone thought they were ugly? They should be happier they were mistaken for women. It’s nog an innie, it’s an outie, and I ain’t talking about a belly button, eh? Bada-bing!
Calling someone ugly is sexist? Asking why someone is going with light skinned vs dark skinned black girls is racist? Dude, life was much easier when it was the KKK and skinheads that were racist and everyone else was normal or just a jerk. This shit is confusing. How do these sensitive bitches even get dick nowadays?
This article is very confusing, in the real world grown women can loudly and proudly state I want to marry rich, I want a man who has his own home and car.. blatant materialistic shxt. Yet men can’t say we don’t want ugly women, we don’t want entertainers who are ugly women? Ugly girls are ugly we’re not out here babysitting feelings, if I work hard to get my finances looking good, and I can provide at a high standard I’m not out here looking for an ugly girl with a good heart foh.
Me: Im a strong, independent voice for women. I wont allow myself to be sexualized or demoralized by men
Also me: wears next to nothing and shows my cleavage in every picture you have ever seen me in
and Diddy and Diddy and Diddy and Diddy
They trash
Okay should talk about her affair with Trump Jr while she was filming the show. Misery loves company.
I would love suckin on Aubrey tits
All I know is D. Woods could’ve got it, fuck the other ones….that is all.
so some other guy said trump said to him then the producer said it to her and shes saying he said it to us. do you see this garbage? these guys made you famous and you came back 10 years later to trash them.
Not Hiphop, this is the reality of pop music,
You put up with it at the time because you had something to gain from it. If you felt that bad about it you could of done every woman a favour and walked away from the show and when asked why made the same speech you just did.
Band wagon jumping…