Aubrey O’Day is opening up about what she describes as the darker side of trying to build a career in the music industry, alleging that two major recording artists once offered her tens of thousands of dollars for sex while she was pursuing opportunities outside Danity Kane.

During a Sept. 3 appearance on the Creators Inc. podcast, O’Day claimed one unnamed superstar offered her $50,000 for sex while also dangling something potentially even more valuable to an aspiring solo artist: a record deal and help launching her first single.

O’Day described the man only as a “very huge star” who is currently touring and suggested he is someone many listeners would immediately recognize. She alleged that the proposition included an offer for the artist to appear on her first single and sign her to his label.

She said she turned it down.

Then, according to O’Day, another major artist made an even larger proposition.

The former Danity Kane singer said the second unnamed musician offered her approximately $150,000 for sex. She described that artist as someone currently touring alongside two other famous men, but once again stopped short of revealing his identity.

O’Day said she rejected that offer as well.

“I would take neither of that, by the way,” she told podcast host Andrew Bachman.

O’Day Says the Offers Came Through Her Manager

O’Day’s allegations went beyond saying famous men approached her privately.

She claimed the offers were relayed through someone she described as her manager at CAA at the time, placing the alleged propositions within the broader professional machinery surrounding her music career. O’Day was careful to note that she was discussing her experience from years ago and said she did not want to characterize the present-day organization based on what she says happened then.

She also alleged that she received numerous calls involving rappers interested in working with her, describing an environment in which music opportunities and sexual propositions could become intertwined.

“There was all kinds of pay-for-play,” O’Day said while discussing the music business she encountered during her rise to fame.

Her allegations have not been independently substantiated, and because O’Day declined to identify the two artists, the men she was referring to have not had an opportunity to publicly respond to the specific claims.

That makes the anonymity an important part of the story.

O’Day provided clues—one is a major artist touring now, while the other is touring with two other famous men—but she did not give names. Any attempt to identify them from those descriptions alone would be speculation.

‘Some of the Gatekeepers Played Dirty’

O’Day framed the alleged offers as examples of a much larger problem she says existed in the music industry when she was coming up.

She argued that a relatively small group of powerful gatekeepers once controlled access to the opportunities that could transform an artist into a star, and she alleged that some abused that influence.

“Some of the gatekeepers played dirty,” O’Day said.

O’Day went further, alleging that sexual access could sometimes become connected to obtaining songs or career opportunities. She told Bachman that she knew women who became successful after participating in what she characterized as that system.

Those statements represent O’Day’s account of the industry and should not be interpreted as established facts about unnamed individuals.

But they add context to why she says she rejected the two offers despite the enormous amount of money—and, in the first case, the potential career advancement—being placed in front of her.

From ‘Making the Band’ to Speaking Out

O’Day rose to national prominence through MTV’s Making the Band 3, where she became one of the original members of Danity Kane alongside Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, D. Woods and Aundrea Fimbres.

The group became an immediate commercial success. Its first two albums debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 before O’Day was removed from the group during its original run in 2008.

In the years since, O’Day has increasingly spoken publicly about what she says she experienced behind the scenes of the entertainment industry.

Her latest interview widens that conversation beyond her well-documented history with Sean “Diddy” Combs and Bad Boy Records. This time, O’Day is describing alleged encounters with other powerful artists and a broader industry culture she says allowed professional opportunity and sexual access to become dangerously intertwined.

She is not naming the two men.

But the numbers she attached to the alleged propositions are drawing attention on their own: $50,000 from one superstar, along with promises of a label deal and help with her first single, and $150,000 from another.

According to O’Day, she walked away from both.