Since the Me Too movement came to prominence at the tail-end of last year, a number of prolific figures in the entertainment industry have been hit with accusations of varying levels of sexual misconduct.
But while stars from the worlds of film and television have come forward to shine a light on systemic sexual abuse, fewer from the music industry have done so.
Singer Lily Allen has shared her thoughts on why this is, insisting it’s not because this behaviour doesn’t go on in the music scene, but because musicians feel less comfortable speaking out for a variety of reasons.
Speaking to i News, Lily said: “I’ve had things happen that I would feel uncomfortable talking about because they’re linked with lots of people I work with. People who are in control of things that affect me.
“But like Rose McGowan, I reported it to people around me – women! – and no-one did anything.”
She continued: “My record label have a list of priority acts, pretty much all of which have a link to the person who did something to me. I know what will happen. They’ll say, ‘Let’s try and get rid of Lily because this person is worth more to us because he makes us lots of money.’
“In film and TV, you can choose not to work with any of those people again. You can move country, move out of London to LA. You can’t do that in music. It’s the same bunch of people on both sides of the Atlantic and it’s inescapable because it’s 15-year-long contracts.”
Prior to Harvey Weinstein being charged, Lily lamented that she didn’t feel the Me Too movement had sparked much real-life impact, telling Vice: “Who’s been arrested? Who’s gone to jail?
“Either we have to be honest about what we deem as being acceptable on a human level, and we need to start punishing it as such, or we just need to stop.”