Legendary singer Tom Jones claims he was a victim of sexual harassment early in his career.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Afternoon Edition, “The Voice UK” coach, said harassment and abuse isn’t just an isolated Hollywood thing — it’s also rampant in the music industry, where young performers are asked to exchange sex for career advancement, The Telegraph reported.
“Things have always happened in the music industry as well … there’s been people complaining about publicists and different things they’ve been expected to do to get a record contract, just like a film contract,” Jones said.
He added this was something he experienced in the “beginning” of his career and it made him feel “terrible.”
“There were a few things like that. But you avoid it. You just walk out … But what’s tried on women is tried on men as well.”
He went on to say people need to know how to get out of the situation.
“But then you think, ‘well, I’ve got to get away from this person and it can’t be like this’… you should know that yourself, you don’t do things just because you think, ‘I should do this.’ Your own mind will tell you that. Not just in show business, but in anything you’re in.”
He didn’t provide many details about what happened to him in his early career, saying only that it “wasn’t bad” and “somebody tried to pull… it was a question and I said ‘No, thank you.”
The “It’s Not Unusual” singer doesn’t name anyone, but it’s the not the first suggestion of untoward behavior directed at him. In 2009, his former bass player Vernon Hopkins alluded to an inappropriate encounter between Jones and the infamous music producer, Joe Meek.
“We were doing a session one day and Meek came storming in yelling that we were doing it all wrong,” Vernon recalled.
“Then suddenly, out of nowhere he just aims this pistol at us and fires it – bang! We all scattered, going ‘Woah Joe, what are you doing?’ but it turned out to have just been a starting pistol filled with blanks.”
Vernon also made a reference to another incident where Meek may have made a sexual pass at Jones.
“There was the time when he tried touching Tom up. That didn’t go down too well,” Vernon said.
“I remember loading the equipment in the van outside Joe’s and Tom running down the stairs shouting: ‘He just touched my b——ks! That bastard grabbed my b——ks!’”