Ashanti hopes to shed more light on the sexual harassment that happens in the music industry after she bravely shared her story earlier this month.
The 42-year-old hitmaker, whose full name is Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas, spoke to People magazine on Tuesday about the difficulties she’s had to overcome during her two-decade career.
She said, “Honestly, I’m not sure any other artist would be able to handle 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 on the sexual harassment at play in the music industry after she bravely shared her story earlier this month Has
Ashanti had revealed that a close male music producer originally offered her two songs for free before withdrawing the offer and giving her the ultimatum of showering with him or paying $40,000 for each song.
Of the suggestion, she said: “I really thought he was joking. You can feel like someone is cool and they have an ulterior motive in the back of their minds.
“Things like that can happen to Ashanti, so it can happen to anyone – and I’ve heard worse stories.”
The 42-year-old hitmaker – whose full name is Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas – said: “Honestly, I’m not sure any other artist would be able to handle what I’ve dealt with.”
Earlier this month, Ashanti made a startling claim about a producer trying to ransom her songs in exchange for sex during an appearance on The Breakfast Club radio show.
Speaking to hosts Charlamagne tha God, DJ Envy and Angela Yee, the 42-year-old singer revealed she’s in a “crazy situation with a producer” who she said has worked with her on two albums .
After explaining that he told her she was his “homie” and would “not charge her” for two songs they were working on, she said that everything changed when it came time to release the album.
Not okay: Earlier this month, Ashanti made a startling claim about a producer trying to ransom her songs in exchange for sex during an appearance on The Breakfast Club radio show
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 saying he made it clear he was “dead serious” or expected her to pay him “$40,000 a track.”
She continued, “Again, I thought he was joking because, you know, we’d been working together for, I don’t know, a few weeks.”
Bizarre: While speaking to hosts Charlamagne tha God, DJ Envy and Angela Yee, the 42-year-old singer reportedly revealed she was in a “crazy situation with a producer” who she said was on with her worked two plates
Scary: After explaining that he told her she was his “homie” and would “not charge her” for two songs they were working on, she said that everything changed when it came time was to release the album
When she found out he was serious, the star said she needed to “make a few calls” to get the situation under control.
Ashanti said she plans to address the frightening experience more in her upcoming documentary she is currently working on.
In 2018, at the height of #MeToo, she spoke a little about the sexual harassment but never said the producer’s name.
Surprising: To her horror, she said he asked her to “take a shower together,” which she thought was a joke
She said when she turned down the producer, who had “a little bit of a crush on her,” “all of a sudden the track became $45,000.”
After her family intervened, she said his “apology” came in the form of “three free records.”
“And I got two of them mixed and mastered for free,” added the Grammy winner.
Impressive: In April, Ashanti earned her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, having had 16 Top 40 hits on the Hot 100 over the past two decades; seen earlier this year
In April, Ashanti earned 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 the Guinness World Record holder for fastest-selling debut artist (for a woman) for her 2002 record.