Disgraced rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs created a “degrading” and “predatory” work environment for the members of his hit girl group Danity Kane, according to former member D. Woods.
The “Bad Boy for Life” star was always critiquing and criticizing his five band members’ appearances, said Woods, who starred on Combs’ TV series Making the Band 3 and joined his group from 2005 and 2008.
He viewed his artists as “pieces of meat,” and only valued them for their sex appeal, she told Good Morning America in a new interview that aired Monday.
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“In some of the environments, it was even scary to be by yourself,” Woods said.
Combs was arrested in September on suspicion of sex trafficking and racketeering for allegedly forcing women to participate in days-long sex parties he dubbed “freak-offs.”
More than 150 alleged victims—many of them men and boys—have since accused Combs of sexual assault, leading to more than 30 civil suits, according to The New York Times. Combs and his lawyers have denied all of the allegations.
The lawsuits have already led to multiple documentaries, including the upcoming Investigation Discovery docuseries The Fall of Diddy, which Woods participated in.
During the docuseries, Woods recalled seeing “inappropriate communications” from Combs to bandmate Aubrey O’Day, whom Combs fired along with Woods at the end of Making the Band 4. The group disbanded in 2009, but several of the original members got back together for a few years.
Asked by GMA’s Eva Pilgrim if there was anybody they could have talked to about it, Woods replied, “Absolutely not.” The members of the group could only talk amongst themselves.
“There was no one to tell?” Pilgrim repeated while Woods shook her head.
“What were they going to do?” she said. “It’s like, ‘How do we survive this?’”
Combs has denied the claims in the documentary, calling them “pure fiction.”
“The producers failed to provide sufficient time or details for his representatives to address unsubstantiated claims,” his lawyers told GMA in a statement. “[Combs] has full confidence in the facts and the judicial process, where truth will prevail.”
Asked why she chose to come forward now, Woods said it’s because she finally thinks her experience “will really be heard and actually considered and believed.”
She said she’s worried there will be reprisals against her if Combs is acquitted of the charges he’s facing. But every time she thinks she should stay quiet, she reminds herself that not talking hasn’t changed anything, she said.
Combs’ criminal trial is set to begin May 5, 2025. Until then, he’s being held in the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after the judge in the case ruled he was a flight risk and liable to threaten potential witnesses with violence.
