Making the Band reboot announces Diddy's sons as judges, casting call dates
Sean “Diddy” Combs is making the reboot of his popular MTV series Making the Band into a family affair.
The rapper and mogul has tapped his three sons — dubbed the “Combs Cartel” — to judge the revived show airing in 2020. MTV’s promo video on Wednesday introduced Christian Combs, 22, Quincy Brown, 28, and Justin Combs, 26, as they announced a four-city casting call and explained what they’re looking for in the next musical star.
“You know we had to be involved in the return of Making the Band,” Christian Combs said in the video. “It’s only right. So stay tuned, it’s a movement.”
“We not settling for just anybody,” Brown added in the clip. “If you feel like you got what it takes to compete in today’s industry — y’all know how our pops does it. So expect nothing but the best to be showing up.”
“Making The Band is back. We back, we back, we back,” Diddy said, as he joined his sons at the end of the video.
Choreographer and So You Think You Can Dance judge Laurieann Gibson, who was involved with the original Making The Band, is also set to join as a judge. A source told EW that Diddy will serve as an executive producer and will also appear on the show.
The castings will take place in Atlanta from Feb. 28-29, Houston from March 7-8, Charlotte, N.C., from March 13-14, and New York City from March 21-22. Hopefuls can also submit auditions online.
Christian Combs is a model and musician who’s performed at festivals like Rolling Loud. Brown has also released music but is probably best known for appearing in Lee Daniel’s Fox series Star. Justin Combs made waves in 2012 as a college football star at UCLA, and more recently guest-hosted Catfish alongside Nev Schulman.
Diddy first teased a Making the Band comeback in July 2019, saying on Twitter that it “will be a global talent search.” He founded, mentored, and launched pop groups on the original series, which was first fronted by Backstreet Boys and NSYNC founder Lou Pearlman on ABC. Diddy took over the series later when it moved to MTV in 2002.
The Bad Boy Records founder presided over three cycles of the show, which each had three seasons, producing the groups Da Band, Danity Kane (known for songs like “Damaged”), and Day26. Diddy had a spin-off show called Making His Band where he auditioned musicians to back him, but the show only ran one season.
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