Singer-songwriter and music producer Grimes has opened up about her experiences with sexism and sexual harassment in the music industry. And, unfortunately, they’re just what you would expect.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Canadian musician shared the pressure music producers have put on her to have sex with them—otherwise they wouldn’t finish the project they’d been working on together. “I will say that I’ve been in numerous situations where male producers would literally be like, ‘We won’t finish the song unless you come back to my hotel room,’” Grimes reveals. “If I was younger or in a more financially desperate situation, maybe I would have done that.”
When asked to weigh in on Kesha’s case against Dr. Luke, Grimes denied to give her opinion, saying, “I don’t know enough about the specifics of that situation, because it seems very complicated.” However, she went on to call the music industry a “hostile environment” that doesn’t take too well to female music producers.
Grimes isn’t the first to speak out directly or indirectly about sexual harassment in the industry and especially Kesha’s case. It’s disturbing that we are not at all shocked by what Grimes had to say. Hopefully more celebrities continue to speak about their experience so that we can radically change the way women are treated in the music industry.