O-Town Says They Have No Connection to Diddy Despite Making the Band
O-Town clarified that they have no connection to Diddy despite their group forming during the first season of ‘Making the Band’
O-Town. Gerardo Mora/Getty Images
O-Town is making it clear that they have no connection to Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“Of all the bands in Making the Band, we’re the only one not tied to him,” original member Jacob Underwood said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, January 14.“The more people confuse us with a Diddy band and post our pictures with his story, the more it goes against us. We make a living touring and can’t afford to have [bookers] Googling us to find the latest Diddy clickbait.”
Underwood, 44, pointed out that he has never even met the 55-year-old rapper.
O-Town was formed during the inaugural season of Making the Band, which aired in 2000 on ABC. During season 1, Lou Pearlman — who was the infamous mastermind behind the Backstreet Boys and ‘NSync — was on the hunt for the next great boyband. Underwood, Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Ashley Parker Angel and Ikaika Kahoano were selected at first. However, Kahoano departed the group and current member Dan Miller was brought in as a replacement. (Angel later exited the group for good in 2003.)
After season 1 ended, O’Town was signed to a record label. Following O-Town’s success a new season of Making the Band was in the works. However, the show left ABC and was then broadcast on MTV. The MTV version brought in Diddy to scout the talent where he formed the musical acts Danity Kane, Da Band, Day26 and solo artist Donnie Klang.
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While O-Town was not involved in Diddy’s version of the singing competition series, the group has claimed to suffer from fallout amid the rapper’s current legal situation. Diddy remains behind bars awaiting trial after being indicted on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering last year. Diddy has denied all the allegations and has pleaded not guilty.
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“We already inherited our own infamous producer/manager from our version of Making the Band and now another version and its mogul is affecting us.”For our livelihood to be impacted this many years after the brand was moved to him is so unfortunate, ” Estrada, 45, said to The Hollywood Reporter, referring to Pearlman’s legal scandals. In 2008, Pearlman was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding. He died of cardiac arrest in 2016 at age 62 while in prison.
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The band’s agent Matt Rafal added that O-Town has had offers “pulled due to the perception of the group being attached to Diddy” despite making it clear there was no connection between them and Diddy.
“I can’t play victim because there are people who have experienced atrocities from this person and are scarred for life,” Estrada said to the outlet. “We have financial and booking stress, but they have emotional stress. We just have to take this on the chin and keep going.”
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