Pussycat Doll: Our group was a ‘prostitution ring’
Sexual Exploitation was so rife in the Pussycat Dolls pop group that it was effectively ‘a prostitution ring’, a former member has claimed.
Kaya Jones alleged she had been expected to ‘sleep with whoever they say’ while in the group, which later catapulted X Factor judge Nicole scherzinger to fame.
But band founder Robin Antin denied the claims, calling them ‘disgusting, ridiculous lies’.
she said miss Jones was a trial member rather than part of the group, adding she was ‘clearly looking for her 15 minutes [of fame]’. us website the Blast reported that a Pussycat Dolls lawyer had been instructed to warn miss Jones she would face legal action if she repeated her claims. the 33-year-old said that the entire entertainment industry needed to be held to account in the aftermath of the harvey weinstein scandal.
she wrote on twitter: ‘my truth. I wasn’t in a girl group. I was in a prostitution ring. oh and we happened
‘Being abused and used’
to sing and be famous. while everyone who owned us made the $ [dollars].
‘how bad was it? people ask – bad enough that I walked away from my dreams, band mates and a $13m (£9.7million) record deal. we knew we were going to #1 [number one].
‘we as Pussycat Dolls were paid $500 a week. while we were being abused & used. Fact!’
the group formed as a burlesque troupe in the 1990s before being rebranded as a girl band in 2003, with a line-up including miss scherzinger.
miss Jones left the group before their biggest hit Don’t Cha in 2005 and miss Antin insisted she was a just trial member. they sold 53million records before splitting in 2010, and they are rumoured to be planning a reunion.
miss Jones said she had tried to speak out but was ignored until the weinstein scandal turned a spotlight on hollywood. she told us website Infowars she had decided to speak out after surviving the massacre in Las vegas earlier this month. she said: ‘I’m a part of an industry that has covered things up for too long and I don’t want to be part of that any more.’
miss Jones said that, in the industry generally, she had been under pressure to have sex with executives and managers, but had not done so.
she said: ‘you’re doing things for money, you’re doing things for your career, and it’s being pushed onto you or you’re jumping to do it. that’s exactly what it is.’ miss Jones said women did not report the sexual harassment because they were victims of abuse and intimidation, and said she had faced death threats.
her twitter posts began on Friday october 13. meanwhile, ex-Pussycat Doll member Carmit Bachar tweeted: ‘Friday 13th really brought out the crazies.’ It is not known if the allegations are true. Publicists for miss scherzinger, miss Bachar and other former bandmates Jessica sutta and Kimberly wyatt did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for another, Ashley Roberts, said she did not want to comment, and a spokesman for melody thornton said she was in China, and unavailable for comment.
meanwhile a campaign urging women to write the words ‘me too’ on social media if they had been sexually harassed went viral. millions posted on twitter and Facebook, including actresses Patricia Arquette and Debra messing and singer Lady Gaga.
British actress Lysette Anthony, who accused weinstein of raping her in the 1980s, hit back at internet trolls who said she had made the claims to boost her career, saying: ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about.’ weinstein has apologised for some behaviour but denied allegations of rape or non-consensual sexual contact.