YEMI ALADE REVEALS SHE WAS SEXUALLY HARASSED BY MUSIC EXECUTIVES AS A TEENAGE ARTIST

Award-winning Nigerian singer Yemi Alade has bravely disclosed that she was a target of sexual harassment by music executives during her teenage years, shedding light on the predatory challenges young women face in the entertainment industry.

Speaking candidly on a recent episode of the Swift Conversations podcast, the “Johnny” hitmaker recounted her early struggles as a budding artist with immense talent but no financial backing.

“In those beginning days, all I thought I needed was just my talent because that’s what I have,” Alade shared. “I didn’t have a bank account full of money… I just had a talent and a zeal.”

She described facing repeated barriers where her talent was not enough. “There were doors I needed to walk up to, and when I walked up to the doors, they didn’t want my talent, they wanted something else,” she stated.

Alade detailed how these encounters, often involving older men, occurred in professional settings. “Many times from business meetings to studio sessions… they are trying to rub your thighs under the table. And I was just a teen,” she revealed. The singer confessed she often found herself unable to react, frozen in shock by the inappropriate behavior during what were supposed to be professional discussions.

“The sexual harassment was becoming too rampant,” she admitted, noting that the experience led her to question her future in music. However, a inner conviction told her to persevere. “Something in me told me to keep pushing my talent. So, I still showed up. If a door was left open for me, I would walk in. If it was shut in my face, I would walk away.”

Her testimony adds a powerful, firsthand account to the ongoing conversation about the abuse of power and the prevalence of sexual coercion within the African music industry.

Source:NKONKONSA.com