Ashanti hopes to shed more light onto the sexual harassment which occurs in the music industry after bravely sharing her story earlier this month.
The 42-year-old hitmaker – full name Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas – opened up to People magazine on Tuesday about the hardships that she has had to overcome during her two decade career.
She said: ‘Honestly, I’m not sure if another artist would be able to deal with what I’ve dealt with.’
Shining star: Ashanti (pictured in New York on December 13) told People magazine on Tuesday that she hopes to shed more light onto the sexual harassment which occurs in the music industry after bravely sharing her story earlier this month
Ashanti had revealed that a close-knit male music producer had offered her two songs for free, originally, before walking back on the offer and giving her the ultimatum of showering with him or paying $40,000 for each song.
Of that proposition she said: ‘I really, genuinely thought he was joking. You can feel like someone’s cool, and in the back of their mind, they have an ulterior motive.
‘Things like that can happen to Ashanti, so it can happen to anyone — and I’ve heard worse stories.’
The 42-year-old hitmaker – full name Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas – said: ‘Honestly, I’m not sure if another artist would be able to deal with what I’ve dealt with’
Earlier this month Ashanti made a startling claim about a producer attempting to ransom her songs in exchange for sex during an appearance on the radio show, The Breakfast Club.
While speaking to hosts Charlamagne tha God, DJ Envy and Angela Yee, the 42-year-old singer revealed that she was in a ‘crazy situation with one producer,’ who she said worked with her on two records.
After explaining he told her she was his ‘homie’ and was ‘not gonna charge’ her for two songs they worked on, she said everything changed when it came time to put out the album.
Not okay: Earlier this month Ashanti made a startling claim about a producer attempting to ransom her songs in exchange for sex during an appearance on the radio show, The Breakfast Club
To her horror, she said he asked her to ‘take a shower together,’ which she thought was a joke.
‘I thought he was joking,’ she explained, before he said he made it clear he was ‘dead serious’ or would expect her to pay him ‘$40,000 per track.
She continued: ‘Again, I thought he was joking because, you know, we had been working with each other, for like, I don’t know, a couple of weeks.’
Bizarre: While speaking to hosts Charlamagne tha God, DJ Envy and Angela Yee, the 42-year-old singer alleged revealed that she was in a ‘crazy situation with one producer,’ who she said worked with her on two records
Scary: After explaining he told her she was his ‘homie’ and was ‘not gonna charge’ her for two songs they worked on, she said everything changed when it came time to put out the album
Once she learned he was serious, the star said she had to ‘make some phone calls’ to get the situation under control.
Ashanti said she plans to elaborate more on the scary experience in her upcoming documentary, which she is currently working on.
Back in 2018, at the height of the #MeToo, she opened up a little about the sexual harassment, but never said the producer’s name.
Startling: To her horror, she said he asked her to ‘take a shower together,’ which she thought was a joke
She said once she turned down the producer, who had a ‘little crush’ on her, ‘all of a sudden the track became $45K.’
After her family stepped in, she said his ‘apology came in’ the form of ‘three records for free.’
‘And I got two of them mixed and mastered for free,’ the Grammy winner added.
Impressive: In April, Ashanti received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after scoring 16 top 40 hits on the Hot 100 over the past two decades; seen earlier this year
In April, Ashanti received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after scoring 16 top 40 hits on the Hot 100 over the past two decades.
She has released six albums, with her self-titled debut album selling an impressive 503,000 copies in its first week of release.
She even became a Guinness World Record holder for Fastest Selling Debut Artist (for a female) for her 2002 record.