I’ve been victim of SIX sex attacks by men in the music business.. but I was scared to speak out
SINITTA LIFTS
POP star Sinitta today opens up about being sexually assaulted by six men in the music industry, including a singer she had admired since she was a child.
The So Macho singer, 54, said that one attacker was an influential figure who tried to force her to perform a sex act.
And the latest assault was just two years ago, when a millionaire tried to force his tongue down her throat.
In a brave interview, Sinitta said she confided in close friend Simon Cowell, who later confronted two of them.
But she claims others in the industry saw her as “public enemy number one” for “snitching” on them, and she was too afraid to go public.
Now, after years of silence, the star has found the strength to speak out after the MeToo anti-harassment campaign, and in the wake of assault claims against movie boss Harvey Weinstein.
Sinitta, who fears the music industry is just as toxic as Hollywood, said: “I was afraid to speak out as I didn’t want to end up in somebody’s car boot. These men are all powerful people.
“I’m talking now as I don’t want any more girls and women in the industry to have to go through what I did.” Yesterday, Sinitta told our sister paper the Sunday Mirror how she fought off a sex attacker at Cowell’s French Riviera mansion.
The music mogul, who backs Sinitta’s decision to go public, later told the man to “keep his f***ing hands off ” her.
And in an extract from her video book, Who Put The Sin In Sinitta, the singer blows the lid on another five times she was attacked – each by a different man.
One involved a senior music industry figure trying to force her to perform a sex act during a meeting at her home in London in the 1990s. The mum of two said: “I remember being sat down and he was stood up. He started to unzip his trousers and exposed his manhood. “He grabbed the back of my head and tried to force me towards him. I pushed him away and told him my mother would be arriving soon, which was a lie. He eventually left. I felt traumatised. “I initially thought he wanted to help with my career. But, as I found later on, people always wanted more.” Years earlier, her career on the rise after her 1985 hit So Macho, she had been targeted at a party in London which X Factor boss Cowell was attending. Sinitta said: “An artist grabbed me up. He was a big star I had watched since I was tiny. I was coming out of
the toilet and he was going in. He pushed me into a corner and touched me up. He tried to put his tongue down my throat. I froze. “It was horrible. I stumbled down the stairs and told Simon. Simon went off at him. When he loses his temper it’s quite scary as you’re not used to it.” Sinitta, who began her career in musicals, also suffered two attacks at the hands of West End stars. She is still too traumatised to describe the assaults. The last ordeal was two years ago. A wealthy man grabbed her and tried to stick his tongue down her throat. Throughout it all Sinitta has described Cowell, who she dated in the 1980s, as her “guardian angel”. He told her he fully supported her whatever she wanted to do, and whether or not she wanted to go public. Yet she is reluctant to go to the police for fear of playing out her ordeal in court, and repercussions. Sinitta, who adopted two children in 2007 when married to Andy Willner, said: “I was stopped from working because I was the girl who told. It meant I was public enemy number one. It’s the Chinese whispers thing, that I’m a nightmare to work with.”
But Sinitta, who had four top 10 hits including Toy Boy in the 80s, pushed on alone. She said: “I don’t need favours for favours. If it takes longer to get to it, so be it.”
Yet she worries about others, and starts a conversation about what goes on in the industry in a series of 60 videos, available via her website on Friday.
Having only discussed her ordeal with Cowell and her mum, bringing it up again has led Sinitta to start counselling.
She is still scared to name names but said: “I’ve carried the shame and guilt, I’m talking about it now so the people who attacked me recognise who they are from my stories. I want them to realise they may get caught. You could tell it wasn’t the first time they’d done this.
“Also, the expectation you’d go along with it. I’m flirtatious, I’m fun, especially when I’m in party-girl mode, but I’m not that girl. Don’t put your hand up my dress, don’t grab my boobs. You can’t do that to me.”
Sinitta, who releases the song Shine With Pride next week, is also mentoring teenagers to prepare them for showbiz. She added: “People nowadays want to be famous... to be reality stars. It’s easier to be taken advantage of. “I’d encourage anyone going through a similar ordeal to me to speak to a relative, pal or charity like Mind for support.”
Sinitta tells her story in the video book Who Put The Sin In Sinitta, a series of 60 videos at Sinitta.com from June 22.
I’m flirtatious but I’m not that girl.. don’t put your hand up my dress or grab my boobs SINITTA HITS OUT AT MEN WHO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HER FUN PERSONALITY
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