Key Takeaways
- Aubrey O’Day claims two unnamed music stars offered her $50,000 and $150,000 for sex during her rise in the industry, but she rejected both offers.
- She says the first artist also promised to feature on her debut single and sign her to his label, with the alleged offers reaching her through someone she described as her CAA manager at the time.
- The Danity Kane alum called the era full of “dirty play” and said industry gatekeepers’ conduct still warrants federal investigation.
Aubrey O’Day sat down with Creators Inc. Podcast host Andy Bachman and didn’t exactly keep things surface-level.
During the Sept. 3 episode, the former Danity Kane member looked back at the music industry she came up in and claimed some career opportunities came with strings attached — and very specific price tags.
“There was all kinds of pay for play,” O’Day, 42, told Bachman. “I was given an offer from a very huge star that’s on tour right now, and probably one of your favorite artists ever. $50,000 for a f**k from one of them, and he’ll be on my first single, sign me to his label, and do my first single.”
The MTV alum said another artist, whom she described as currently touring with “two other guys that are very famous,” made an even bigger offer. “I think it was like $150,” she recalled, before quickly correcting herself. “No, sorry. $150,000. The other one was $50,000. I would take neither of that, by the way.”
O’Day didn’t identify either artist, but she said the offers reached her through someone she described as her manager at CAA at the time. “It was f**king nuts what was going on there,” she said, before adding that she didn’t want to “put CAA out there” because it’s “a whole new organization” today. “But yes, I got many calls from many rappers that were like, ‘We got a single waiting for her.’”
The claims came as Bachman and O’Day were talking about the gatekeepers who once controlled who got access to the music industry. O’Day said some of them “played dirty,” adding, “There was a lot of dirty play going on that they still need to be investigating federally.”
O’Day came up in that era herself, rising to fame on MTV’s Making the Band 3 before becoming one of the five original members of Danity Kane. The group’s first two albums both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but O’Day’s original run with the group ended in 2008 when she was removed by Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Bachman, meanwhile, has been building Creators Inc. Podcast around conversations that cut across music, sports, Hollywood and internet culture. The show cracked Apple Podcasts’ Business top 15 in July, with guests including Offset, Ice-T, Ryan Garcia, Blueface, Sophie Rain, Blac Chyna and Donna Mills.
O’Day isn’t the only woman in music to describe sexual pressure tied to career opportunities. In 2017, former Pussycat Doll Kaya Jones alleged that women could be propositioned by industry figures with professional opportunities hanging in the balance.
“If you are accepting an opportunity sleeping with your boss or bosses, or being propositioned it will go further if you do this,” Jones told Inside Edition. “What is the difference between a job opportunity and cash? I don’t really see a difference.” Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin strongly denied Jones’ broader allegations.
Lady Gaga has also spoken about the power dynamics she encountered early in her career. In 2021, she recalled that when she was 19, an unnamed producer told her to take her clothes off. Gaga said she refused and left, only to be threatened that her music would be destroyed.
