Aubrey O’Day Says Netflix Docuseries Reshaped Her Understanding of an Alleged Assault Involving Sean Combs

In the Netflix docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning, reality star and singer Aubrey O’Day describes an alleged sexual assault involving music mogul Sean Combs, but says she has no memory of the incident itself.

Instead, O’Day, 41, reads from an affidavit filed by another woman in a civil lawsuit against Combs. The sworn statement alleges that in 2005, during a studio session in New York City, O’Day was found partially naked and intoxicated while Combs and another man sexually assaulted her. O’Day says learning about the affidavit fundamentally changed how she understands her past.

“I don’t drink or anything like that,” O’Day told People in a recent Zoom interview from Los Angeles. “There was no ‘Oh, I could have been.’ There was none of that for me.”

The allegation is among many examined in the documentary, released in December, which explores decades of accusations against Combs. He has denied wrongdoing. He is facing nearly 100 civil lawsuits and was convicted in federal court in October on prostitution-related charges, receiving a 50-month prison sentence. He is scheduled for release in May 2028.

Asked whether she believes she was sexually assaulted by Combs, O’Day stopped short of certainty. “I just don’t feel it would be responsible to say that,” she said, adding, “I take it very seriously that this is a man’s life on the line.”

Combs’ spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, declined to address specific allegations, calling the docuseries a “Netflix hit piece.”

O’Day said she had not planned to watch the documentary but found it impossible to avoid as it dominated headlines. She recalled becoming physically overwhelmed after watching it, describing hyperventilation and uncontrollable sobbing.

The series prompted her to reconsider her history with Combs, including her time in Danity Kane, the girl group he formed on MTV’s Making the Band in 2005. In the documentary, O’Day reads sexually explicit emails she says Combs sent her in 2008. She claims she repeatedly rejected his advances and believes her firing from the group later that year was retaliation.

“I absolutely felt that I was fired for not participating sexually,” O’Day says in the film.

She also said comments Combs made about her being “raunchy” or “promiscuous” shaped a public image that followed her for years and affected her career and personal relationships.

O’Day said that as the documentary was being made, she was contacted by Homeland Security and advised to limit what she could say publicly. She said she tried to verify what she could while staying within legal boundaries.

Despite encouragement from attorneys, O’Day chose not to file a lawsuit before New York’s statute-of-limitations window closed in 2023. She said the decision was influenced by her parents, both attorneys, and her desire not to make allegations without full certainty.

“I stayed in line with my integrity,” she said. “But it felt horrible.”

During a recent Danity Kane tour, O’Day said fans frequently shared their own stories of trauma with her, adding to the emotional toll. She said she was hospitalized in December after the strain became overwhelming, though she emphasized she never missed a performance.

O’Day said she is still processing what she has learned and does not see healing as a finished state. “I haven’t healed from any of it,” she said. “Healing looks like waking up every day and choosing not to carry it.”

She said practices such as breathwork, ice baths, and therapy help her manage the ongoing impact. “It doesn’t disappear,” she said. “It just finds a place inside you where it becomes manageable again.”

For now, O’Day said, that is enough to keep moving forward.