Even Madonna has experienced inappropriate behaviour from men in the music industry, with the popstar recalling how men have asked her for ‘blow jobs’ with the promise of making her pop career a success.
The Like A Virgin singer has opened up on the #MeToo movement and sexual misconduct in Hollywood and the music industry but, unfortunately, she came up against similar behaviour while trying to launch her pop career and land a record deal in the 1980s.
In a frank interview with The Guardian, Madonna explained: ‘I can’t tell you how many men said: “OK, well, if you give me a blow job”, or: “OK, if you sleep with me”.
‘Sex is the trade, you know?’
Madonna, 60, said that she wished there were more women in the music industry who were ‘more political and more outspoken about all things in life’, and not just ‘the inequality of the sexes’.
The Medellin singer also mentioned disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who sparked the #MeToo movement after being accused of sexual misconduct against a large number of women in 2017, many of whom were actresses.
Addressing the Weinstein accusations, Madonna said: ‘Harvey Weinstein was untouchable.
‘His reputation was universal – everybody knew he was, you know, the guy that he was. I’m not into name-calling, but it was like: ‘Oh, that’s Harvey, that’s what he does.’ It just became accepted.’
She added: ‘And I suppose that’s the scary thing about it. Because if people do things enough, no matter how heinous and awful and unacceptable it is, people accept it. And that certainly exists in the music industry, too.’
Madonna has made a grand return to music with her new album, Madame X, released today.
It features the lead single Medellin featuring Maluma and boasts a Latin sound due to it being recorded while she spent time living in Portugal.
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