<p id=”par-1_42″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/sean-diddy-combs/”>Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs</a> famously disbanded his hip hop group Da Band, forcing the crew’s members <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/where-are-they-now-an-update-on-the-members-of-making-the-band-2-da-band.html/”>to go their separate ways</a>. Da Band’s singer, Sara Rivers, formerly Sara Stokes, came up with a believable theory as to why Diddy unceremoniously dropped his proteges.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-sara-rivers-found-out-sean-diddy-combs-abandoned-da-band”>How Sara Rivers found out Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs abandoned Da Band</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sara-Stokes-Sean-Diddy-Combs.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Sara Stokes speaking at an interview.” class=”wp-image-3785302″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Sara Rivers | Kristy Leibowitz/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_65″>Rivers was the only singer in the rap group Da Band when she first joined the team in 2003. Television audiences watched Diddy try to mold <a href=”https://polgfoundation.org/”>Rivers and her teammates into viable mainstream superstars on his hit reality TV series <em>Making the Band 2</em>. </a> Rivers competed against thousands of other singers to be a part of the program that would help launch her career.</p>
<p id=”par-3_73″>After being cast in the show, <em>Making the Band </em>quickly became popular thanks to the drama and fights between the castmates. Additionally, Diddy’s own behavior and style of mentoring, like ordering his proteges <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-diddy-made-his-group-da-band-walk-from-manhattan-to-brooklyn.html/”>to fetch him Cheesecake</a>, drew in viewers. Still, it seemed Da Band would achieve some cohesion as a group, and their success gave Rivers a taste of fame. Everywhere she went, she and her team were bombarded relentlessly by fans.</p>
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<iframe title=”Chopper on Da Band’s Sara Rivers Sleeping w/ Diddy, Freddy P & Ginuwine While Married (Part 9)” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/o8O4FMdSpyA?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-4_81″>“They would be beating down the car doors, windows, trying to get to us, grabbing at us, trying to hug us,” she once said in an interview with <a href=”https://www.freep.com/story/life/family/kristen-jordan-shamus/2016/12/21/sara-stokes-bottom-up/95515000/”>Detroit Free Press</a>. “Police had to escort us out of there. It was sweet, but it’s scary, too. At the mall, we could be shopping, and they would be off the hook, running at us going crazy. Next thing we knew, we’d have a crowd following us, especially if I had Chopper or Babs with me.”</p>
<p id=”par-5_17″>The amount of fans they were attracting to their shows also spoke to Da Band’s enduring popularity.</p>
<p id=”par-6_39″>“They were such big venues, I couldn’t even see the end of it. It was like a sea of people, thousands of people,” she said. “We were on tour with 50 Cent and 112 when they were super hot. It was big.”</p>
<p id=”par-7_42″>The group’s fame was very short-lived, however. By 2004, Diddy pulled the plug on his pet project and dropped Da Band from Bad Boy records. Rivers believed the drama that made <em>Making the Band </em>so popular, might’ve also been the group’s undoing.</p>
<p id=”par-8_58″>“I don’t know what the heck…I guess he got tired of us,” she said in an interview with <a href=”https://nekianichelle.com/interview-sara-stokes-is-coming-from-the-bottom-up/”>Nekia Nichelle</a>. “And, y’know, some of them didn’t want to come back. And then, it was just too many personalities, and six of us. So, he probably just was like, ‘Man, I can’t deal with this. Y’all driving me crazy.’”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-why-sara-rivers-is-suing-sean-diddy-combs-now”>Why Sara Rivers is suing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs now</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-3″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/sean-diddy-combs-sara-stokes-1.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Sara Stokes posing at the 2016 Soul Train Music Awards” class=”wp-image-3785341″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Sara Rivers | Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-9_96″>Rivers recently joined a long list of clients who’ve <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/who-filed-the-first-civil-lawsuit-against-sean-diddy-combs.html/”>filed lawsuits against Diddy</a> for sexual assault. According to documents obtained by <a href=”https://hiphopdx.com/news/diddy-accused-sexual-harassment-making-the-band-60m-suit”>Hip Hop DX</a>, the former Da Band member is suing the Bad Boy CEO for $60 million. Rivers’ attorney asserted that she hoped to be compensated for the lifetime of pain Diddy’s actions allegedly caused her. The lawsuit detailed incidences such as when “Diddy used his left hand to adjust collar of her jacket and then ran his left hand across her breasts, while repeating the phrase if she needs anything to let him know.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_15″>However, Diddy’s attorney fought back against Rivers’ claims, and advocated for the music mogul’s innocence.</p>
<p id=”par-11_90″>“This is yet another example of false claims being filed against Mr. Combs,” Diddy’s legal team responded. “No matter how many lawsuits are filed, it won’t change the fact that Mr. Combs has never sexually assaulted or sex trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor. We live in a world where anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason. With the deadline for New York’s Gender-Motivated Violence Act expiring tomorrow, it’s clear that opportunists are rushing to file last-minute, meritless claims. Mr. Combs remains confident he will prevail in court.”</p>
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<p id=”par-13_32″><strong><em>How to get help:</em></strong><em> In the U.S., call the RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to connect with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.</em></p>