In 2002, O-City completed their third season of Making The Band. Months later, the present was taken over by Sean “Diddy” Combs, and now the band is saying their profession is crumbling because of the affiliation.
“Of all of the bands in Making The Band, we’re the one one not tied to him,” Jacob Underwood advised The Hollywood Reporter in a brand new interview. “The extra folks confuse us with a Diddy band and put up our photos together with his story, the extra it goes towards us. We make a dwelling touring and may’t afford to have [bookers] Googling us to search out the most recent Diddy clickbait.”
Nevertheless, their episodes had been as an alternative helmed by Lou Pearlman, their disgraced former supervisor who was convicted of operating a half-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme in 2008 and died in 2016. “We already inherited our personal notorious producer/supervisor [Pearlman] from our model of Making The Band and now one other model and its mogul is affecting us,” Erik-Michael Estrada mentioned in the identical interview. “For our livelihood to be impacted this a few years after the model was moved to him is so unlucky.”
Matt Rafal, O-City’s agent, advised the publication that a big gaming firm eliminated the band from a celebration billing because of the Diddy affiliation. “The supply was pulled because of the notion of the group being hooked up to Diddy,” Rafal mentioned. “We made it clear O-City’s Making The Band had no affiliation with Diddy, however the firm anxious visitors could also be confused. For the reason that Diddy information, we’ve obtained questions and hesitancy from a number of expertise consumers, particularly for mushy tickets like gala’s and theme parks, in addition to city-funded occasions.”
About Diddy, Estrada mentioned, “There was all the time a salacious power. He inspired folks to dip into their wild facet, however I by no means witnessed something firsthand. It wasn’t till I moved to L.A. that I began listening to how loopy issues received. Gratefully, I can look my fiancé within the face and swear I by no means attended any after-hours model of a Diddy celebration.”
The documentary Diddy: The Rise Of A Unhealthy Boy premiered on Peacock immediately, although Diddy is presently awaiting trial in jail on prices of intercourse abuse and racketeering after he was arrested in September and denied bail. Diddy continues to disclaim the many allegations.
