Sheryl Crow recalls being sexually harassed by music executive on Michael Jackson tour
Sheryl Crow is opening up about her experience of being sexually harassed.
The singer, 59, says she was harassed by Michael Jackson’s manager when she was touring with the late pop star as a backup vocalist during his "Bad" tour from 1987 to 1989.
“One of the things I hadn't really talked about was my experience with being sexually harassed on the Michael Jackson tour,” Crow told Hoda Kotb on the TODAY anchor's "Making Space" podcast. “It is one of those things where we've come so far but yet we've barely gotten our feet in the room yet, you know? We've got one foot, and — it's emotional to talk about.”
Crow also shared that two songs from her first album, “What Can I Do For You” and “The Na-Na Song,” were about the experience. She added that the person who harassed her “wound up getting fired as Michael Jackson’s manager” and has since died.
Looking back now, Crow said she does “feel healed” from what she went through.
“I do, certainly,” she said. “But, you know, it's creepy when you talk about it and, you know, part of it is the secrecy, of not being able to tell anybody for fear of getting fired and just for it to fall on deaf ears and to really feel completely unprotected and disregarded. I think that’s the part for women that is the most troubling, is to have it fall on deaf ears.”
She also told Hoda how the experience gave her a different perspective on the inner workings of the music business.
“I didn't feel like the person that I was before going into that because I was very naïve,” she said. “I was raised to believe that if you're a good person, if you work hard, all good things happen. And that wasn’t the way it was.”
To hear the entire conversation, download "Making Space with Hoda Kotb" wherever you find your podcasts.
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