Danity Kane’s Dawn Richard Sues Diddy for Sexual Abuse

Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Dawn Richard, who worked with Diddy for nearly a decade in Danity Kane and Diddy–Dirty Money, is suing the hip-hop mogul for sexual abuse. Her lawsuit adds to the over half-dozen already filed against Diddy along with a federal investigation. A lawyer for Diddy has denied her claims.

A lawsuit from the band

September 11, 12:19 p.m.: Dawn Richard claims Sean “Diddy” Combs abused her for years, including sexually, since she first met him on his MTV show Making the Band in 2004. Now, she’s suing him for claims including sexual abuse, TMZ reported on September 11. During Making the Band auditions, she alleged Diddy would demean contestants, calling them “fat,” “ugly,” and “bitches.” She claimed Diddy later forced her to rehearse without sleeping for days, which caused her to lose weight and develop rashes. When she began singing in Diddy’s trio, Diddy–Dirty Money, she said, Diddy would touch her breasts and butt without consent and once walked in on her naked in her dressing room. She even alleged that Diddy once locked her in a car for two hours. When her dad came to New York to help her and report Diddy to the police, she claimed, Diddy told him to “think about your daughter’s career.”

Richard additionally claims that she witnessed Diddy abusing his exes Kim Porter and Cassie. She said she once saw Porter leave a studio crying and with bruises on her face. She also alleged she has seen Diddy choke Cassie, punch her, drag her up stairs, and throw hot eggs at her. (Cassie settled a lawsuit against Diddy earlier this year.) Richard said she and her Dirty Money bandmate, Kalenna Harper, once tried to get Cassie to leave Diddy, and when he found out about their conversation, he threatened them. “I end artists,” he allegedly told them. “I shelve careers … You could be missing … You bitches want to die today?”

Richard isn’t the only Danity Kane member who has stood up to Diddy. Her former bandmate Aubrey O’Day said she’d been “trying to tell y’all” after Cassie filed her lawsuit against him. O’Day also claimed Diddy tried to make the band’s members sign nondisclosure agreements in exchange for giving them the rights to their music. “There is a lot more to all of our stories!” O’Day told Rolling Stone at the time. Richard also supported Cassie amid her lawsuit, saying she was “beautiful and brave.”

Diddy responds

September 11: A lawyer for Diddy states that the artist “is shocked and disappointed” by Richard’s lawsuit, calling her allegations “false.” “If Ms. Richard had such a negative experience with Making the Band and Danity Kane, she would not have chosen to continue working directly with Mr. Combs for Dirty Money, nor would she have returned for the Making the Band reboot in 2020 or agreed to be featured on The Love Album last year,” said attorney Erica Wolff. The Making the Band reboot was postponed owing to the pandemic and never premiered. Richard performed with Diddy–Dirty Money on The Love Album’s “Deliver Me.” “It’s unfortunate that Ms. Richard has cast their 20-year friendship aside to try and get money from him, but Mr. Combs is confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court,” Wolff said.