En Vogue has never been short on drama. But as Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones prepare to hit the road this summer alongside TLC and Salt-N-Pepa for the It's Iconic Tour, the group is being unusually candid about the women who aren't making the trip with them.

In a new People exclusive, the trio opened up about two former members: founding singer Dawn Robinson, who first walked away in 1997, and Rhona Bennett, who quietly exited after more than 20 years with the group.

Robinson's original departure came as a shock to everyone, including her bandmates. "Never in a million years would I have thought that she would leave," Ellis said. "She would just have moments of upset and 99% of the time, we didn't even know why."

Jones, who recently rejoined the group after a decade-long absence of her own, remembers being stunned. "I remember when she left, me calling her up and saying, 'Are you crazy? Why?' I literally begged her."

Robinson left in 1997 during contract negotiations, just before the group released their third studio album. She has long maintained that the group's deal was unfair, claiming on the Cherie World podcast that the members only made two cents per record despite selling tens of millions of albums worldwide. Ellis pushed back on that characterization. "Ours was a standard contract, we all signed off on it," she said.

Jones had a blunter read on what drove Robinson out. "Egos got bigger. She became adamant about being solo. She's the star. Dawn has been that girl since day one. The wild one. She's never changed."

Robinson's living situation has since made headlines of its own. She revealed in a YouTube video that she has been living in her car for nearly three years, describing the experience not as a hardship but as a period of self-discovery. Her bandmates weren't exactly sympathetic. "You're letting the world in on what should be private moments and then they take that and run with it," Herron said. Ellis added that despite the public perception that the group has abandoned Robinson, the invitation has always been open. "The door has never been closed to Dawn. We've always wanted her back. We wish her the best."

Bennett's story is newer and, by the group's account, more avoidable.

Bennett had been with En Vogue for more than 20 years after originally stepping in as a fill-in when Robinson first departed. "She was a team player, a very quick study and an excellent vocalist," Herron said of Bennett's early days with the group.

But things soured when the group struggled to finalize a new operating agreement. "There was a lot of going back and forth between attorneys," Ellis said. "But we allowed her to continue to work even though it wasn't signed yet, just giving grace."

The breaking point came at the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. With Bennett's contract still unsigned and Jones having returned to the fold, the three original members performed without Bennett, who had a prior engagement. What happened next caught the group off guard. "Next thing we know, we hear on social media that she left, she's gone," Ellis said of Bennett's Facebook announcement that she was leaving the group and entering a "new season."

Ellis didn't mince words about how she sees it. "She could be here. She chose not to be."

For the women still standing, the message is simple. "We are moving forward," Ellis said. "And we've continued to move forward."

The It's Iconic Tour kicks off August 15. Neither Robinson nor Bennett will be on it.