British pop singer Lily Allen has revealed she was once sexually assaulted by a record industry executive, an instance of behaviour she says is "rife" in the music industry.
Allen said in an interview with Guardian Weekend magazine that, despite the groundswell of stories of sexual abuse coming out of Hollywood over the MeToo movement, music industry insiders are remaining largely silent about the issue.
In her memoir My Thoughts Exactly, to be released later this month, she describes the industry as a hierarchical world that trades in "a potent mix of sex, youth and availability".
She also describes how she was assaulted by a music executive after falling asleep in his hotel room bed while intoxicated at a party.
She alleges: "I woke up at 5am because I could feel someone next to me pressing their naked body against my back. I was naked, too. I could feel someone trying to put their penis inside my vagina and slapping my arse as if I were a stripper in a club."
"I moved away as quickly as possible and jumped out of the bed, full of alarm … I found my clothes quickly … and ran out of his room and into my own."
The 33-year-old said she blamed herself for the incident because she had been drinking. She also expressed frustration over her inability to confront the man, and continuing to work with him over fears of being labelled "hysterical" and a "difficult woman".
"I expected him not to take advantage of my weakness," she wrote in her memoir. "I felt betrayed. I felt shame. I felt anger. I felt confused."
She says she did not report the incident to police over fears she would not be believed but signed an affidavit the week after the attack recalling the events of the night.
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