Ashanti is speaking up about her own experience with sexual harassment. She recently revealed a producer demanded $45,000 to work on her album after she refused to shower with him.
The singer told SiriusXM’s Conversations with Maria Menounos, “I’ve come across a situation where there was a certain producer that, you know, he had his little crush or whatever, but it wasn’t anything new, you know? And once I said ‘no,’ all of a sudden the track became $45K.”
The singer did not reveal who the producer is but did further explain what he asked her to do. “It’s funny because he said something like, ‘Well just take a shower with me and let me do this.'”
Ashanti said she later got an apology from the producer when family members confronted him about the situation. “The way that apology came in, I actually got three records for free! And I got two of them mixed and mastered for free also.”
The singer joins a number of women who have spoken out about their experiences with sexual harassment in recent months. Back in October, Lupita Nyong’o detailed the harassment she faced at the hands of Harvey Weinstein in a New York Times op-ed, calling his behavior “inappropriate and uncalled-for.”
In the #MeToo era, both Cardi B and Amber Rose have also been vocal about the lack of support Black women and women in hip-hop have received when speaking out.