After years of silence and ‘systemic issues’, are rapper Diddy, country singer Garth Brooks lawsuits bringing #MeToo to music industry?
When an explosive series of accusations against R&B hitmaker R. Kelly went public five years ago, outlets including AFP asked if that was the beginning of a sea change in music. Marilyn Manson performs during the Astroworld Festival at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas November 9, 2019. — AFP pic Singer R. Kelly appears during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on September 17, 2019 in Chicago. The music industry has long evaded a #MeToo reckoning like that experienced in Hollywood or the media, but the blockbuster charges against hip hop magnate Sean Combs could finally prove an inflection point.
Since the initial lawsuit against Combs by his longtime partner Cassie Ventura, many similar lawsuits have followed. He is imprisoned on federal charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, awaiting trial. “The systemic issues of rape culture and misogyny deeply entrenched in the music industry pose a real threat to so many people’s safety every day in this business,” Red wrote.