Danity Kane became a huge hit after Diddy’s show Making The Band 3 on MTV. Now one of the band members is adding her name to those against the music producer.
Dawn Richard is suing Diddy, as well as Bad Boy Records and other defendants, for SA, forced labor, and more. The lawsuit came days before Diddy was arrested and refused bail for various charges.
Why Is Dawn Richard Suing Diddy?
Dawn claims that she witnessed Diddy attacking Cassie Ventura, his girlfriend at the time. Cassie had originally gone to court against Diddy for the attack, but the two settled out of court. Daen says that she tried to intervene and offered Cassie support and encouragement to leave the music producer. Whenever Diddy learned of Dawn’s actions, he would threaten her life.
In Touch got the court documents and saw there were other alleged offenses. Dawn claims that she had to endure forced labor and that Diddy was in “violation of New York services for victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking.”
There are also claims of withholding Dawn’s rightful earnings. Among the accusations are claims that Diddy stole her copyrighted works. She also claims false imprisonment, SA against herself, and more. Why would she continue working with him? She claims that he would regularly claim that being submissive to him was the only way to make a career in the industry.
It was only when Cassie stepped forward with her own allegations that Dawn looked back at everything she faced. She realized it was time to speak out.
Diddy’s lawyer, Erica Wolff, says that Diddy is shocked by the claims. He denies all the allegations, claiming that Dawn is rewriting history. Erica notes that the timing of the allegations coincides with the release of her new album and her press tour.
The Connection Between Diddy and Dawn Richard
Dawn met Diddy during the 2005 to 2006 season of Making The Band on MTV. Diddy held auditions for a girl group, leading to the creation of Danity Kane. It was during this that some of the inhumane treatment had been alleged. Dawn says that Diddy would prevent them from sleeping and wouldn’t provide food when they asked. They would allegedly have to record for 36 to 48 hours without sleep because Diddy was awake all the time due to the things that he took.
Dawn also worked with him on other occasions. She was in the band Dirty Money, which Diddy was a member of.
The allegations came just before Diddy was arrested by federal authorities for a range of SA and ST claims. While he has pled “not guilty,” he has been denied bail. According to The Associated Press, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky shared that she was concerned about “what appears to be anger issues.” Diddy claims that he is not a flight risk, even handing over his passport and the passports of his family members to prove this, but it was not enough to grant him bail.
It is unclear what this will mean for Dawn’s lawsuit at this time, as there will be more focus on the federal case at first.
