Photo illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images
According to NBC News, singer Emaza Gibson has accused Jason Derulo of quid pro quo sexual harassment. In a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles and obtained by the outlet, Gibson, 25, claims Derulo approached her with the promise of a record deal and then subjected her to “aggressive behavior, unwanted invitations” and “implications toward her “Had to have sex with him” to advance her music career. Gibson – who is also seeking damages from Derulo’s record label Future History as well as Atlantic Records – claims Derulo abandoned her contract after she rejected his advances. “I’m scared, I’m traumatized. “I have had to deal with inhumane work situations,” Gibson said in an interview with NBC. “I’m at a point where I’m back to square one and have nothing left.”
Gibson is best known for her role in the now-defunct LA R&B girl group Ceraadi, in which she performed alongside her sisters Saiyr and Znui Gibson. The group was signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label in 2019 before splitting up in 2021. In her lawsuit, Gibson claims that Derulo reached out to the group with an invitation to a work session and contacted them again in 2019 as a solo artist in April 2021 for a joint venture between Atlantic Records and Future History. According to the lawsuit, the terms of the contract stipulated that Gibson had to create a mixtape within four months and an album within six months, along with a single featuring Derulo to be presented to Atlantic Records executives. She says she and Derulo began working together in studio sessions, where he allegedly pressured her for drinks and dinner at members-only lounges. After declining several times, Gibson said she accepted an invitation to have drinks with Derulo at his studio sometime in September 2021; She says he gave her “inappropriately large amounts of alcohol” there and pressured her to drink even after she told him she was “not a big drinker.” Gibson said she told Derulo that she wasn’t willing to compromise her morals, after which the musician allegedly told her that to succeed she might have to participate in “goat skin and fish scales” — apparent slang for “rituals involving sex.” and goat sacrifices”. , and blood,” according to Gibson’s lawsuit.
Gibson’s lawsuit also alleges at least two verbal outbursts on Derulo’s part. The first alleged incident occurred at a meeting with Atlantic Records in New York City in November 2021, where Gibson says Derulo invited another musician, Rosa, at the last minute. Gibson says Derulo showed Rosa’s music to executives and Rosa privately implied to Gibson that she and Derulo were having a sexual relationship. In her lawsuit, Gibson recalled telling Derulo’s manager that she had been “blindsided” by Rosa’s presence, prompting Derulo to bang on his armrests and scream, “‘What does she have to do with you!?’ “We didn’t want to tell you anything! We don’t have to tell you anything!” at her. Gibson claims her contract was signed after the meeting, but that Derulo failed to assign her a project manager and either dismissed or ignored several of her work-related messages in which he allegedly told her he could “always get new records.” Gibson’s lawsuit also alleges that Derulo assaulted her in front of her mother and co-workers at a recording session in Los Angeles in 2022. “I had to step back… my hand was just clutching my chest because I was like, I’ve never been spoken to by anyone that way before,” Gibson told NBC.
Following the incidents, Gibson said that she was permanently fired from both Atlantic and Future History in September 2022 and that attempts to report Derulo’s alleged misconduct to Atlantic’s human resources department went unanswered. It seeks damages from the defendants for sexual harassment, breach of contract, failure to remedy workplace harassment, and violation of the California Civil Rights Act.
Derulo, for his part, released a statement via Instagram denying Gibson’s “false and hurtful” allegations. “I reject any form of harassment and continue to support anyone who follows their dreams,” the musician said in a video. “I have always strived to make my life positive and that is why I sit here before you and am deeply offended by these defamatory allegations. God bless.”
The Cut has reached out to both Derulo and Atlantic Records for comment. We will update this post as soon as we hear anything.
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