Roy Roselló testifies in the documentary The Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed
Roy Roselló joined Grupo Menudo in 1983 and suddenly left three years later. Despite the fact that he tried to remain in the artistic world, his life after leaving the band had been fairly anonymous until he began to denounce the alleged sexual abuse he suffered in the group.
His first statements were in 2014 and they triggered a tsunami of investigations which, while none were legal, have inspired other of his colleagues to tell their stories. And boy did they talk. No one, however, has given such terrifying testimonies of what he endured in Menudo as Roselló.
And just when you thought he had it all covered, this 51-year-old Puerto Rican once again shook the entertainment world with new statements, this time concerning one of the most renowned record executives in the history of the United States, who was murdered by his two sons.
The former Menudo accused José Menéndez of the RCA Records label of drugging and raping him. His testimony could change the fate of the famous Menéndez brothers Erik and Lyle, the executive’s sons, who are serving life in prison.
READ | The murder of the father, for which the Menéndez brothers were sentenced to life imprisonment
a geographic coincidence
Roy Stephan Roselló Díaz was born on May 1, 1970 in the Puerto Rican city of Río Piedras. He was the youngest of the three boys born to Juan Rosselló (deceased) and Miriam Díaz. With his older brothers Juan and René and his sister Marie (deceased), they attended a school “two blocks from Padosa from the Menudo offices, and it so happened that the Menudo group was in Puerto Rico; when I Introducing Edgardo of the office (Díaz, the owner and manager of Menudo) the fans started coming up to me thinking I would be another Menudo and they started asking for my autographs and then Edgardo seemed to see all these reactions and sent to the secretary to send me an audition request,” he recalled in an interview.
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Roy Roselló in the center with Ricky Meléndez and Charlie Masso on his left and Ray Reyes and Draco Rosa on the left. (Getty Images)
Roselló was the only member of Menudo who didn’t go through the traditional system of open auditions attended by dozens of boys in Puerto Rico, including Luis Fonsi — who was lucky enough to be turned down. His entry into the group preceded the departure of Miguel Cancel, whose voice had changed significantly before his 15th birthday, resulting in forced expulsion.
Some time passed between this audition and his joining Menudo. Speaking on the Mexican show ‘Ventaneando’, Roselló recalled: “I started going to his mother’s (Edgardo Díaz) house in Caguas (Puerto Rico) where he would give me gifts, he would give me gifts, he could me easy to manipulate I was thinking that I was going to be famous, that the moment of my opportunity had come (sic). These pedophiles buy you with gifts, with material things and then they take advantage of you, that’s what happened to me,” he added.
Díaz lived with his mother, Doña Panchi, who, according to Roselló, knew everything and was opposed to his joining the group. “Of course she knew because she understood the consequences when I entered Menudo that this could be a worldwide scandal that I could say it at some point. She knew the disturbance Edgardo had that he was a pedophile. And his mother knew about these deviations from him, and his mother never approved of me joining Menudo. His mother said to him, “But you can’t put that boy with Menudo because you can imagine…” and I listened to them fight in the room while I was locked in his room listening to their conversations (sic)”, he remembered.
A mother’s request
While Roselló is sure of Díaz’s mother’s alleged complicity, he assures that his mother had no idea what was happening when she urged him to join Menudo because he didn’t want to. He told her to do it to help the family. At those moments, the torture would have turned into an ordeal, as captured in documentaries and even in the bio-series Get on my motorcycle, which can be seen on Prime Video.
With Menudo, Roy Rosselló was part of eight albums that sold more than 24 million copies worldwide and achieved 10 platinum records. The group also held the world record (Guinness Book of Records) on March 16, 1985, with 200,000 spectators at Brazil’s Morumbí Stadium in Sao Paulo. He also starred with Burt Reynolds in the film “Cannon Ball Run 2” with the musical theme “Like a Cannonball”.
“Yes, they abused me. I haven’t talked about it because everything in life has a moment and now I’m mentally ready to talk. Edgardo Díaz sexually abused us. I was 13 years old and it happened several times. He threatened to say yes if I refused, I would be kicked out of the group,” the singer explained on the Brazilian TV show Domingo of R7.
“I’m telling you, it was more sadness than joy, I had to let him sexually abuse me, the moment he wanted to, the moment he said, ‘Come here and take off your pants, I want to that with you.’ and I cried, I was suffering from the situation, he saw that I was about to explode, was about to end my life because my first suicide attempt was before I left Menudo, it was in the Villa in La Loma, which he didn’t say because of course he’s scared,” he added. This villa would be located in Puerto Rico.
On that occasion, Roselló assured that he saw Ricky Martin disguised as a woman and he only managed to escape that moment thanks to the help of Robi Draco, but he left the house and tried to get hit by a car.
years of trauma
Roselló left Menudo in 1986. Just as he had entered the group differently, he also left. Suddenly he disappeared and it was said that he left “for health reasons”. He’s never made it clear how this outing went, but at the pace he’s going, there’s no doubt he will at some point.
Most powerful, however, was his admission that he had attempted suicide five times due to the trauma he experienced in the group. It must not have helped either to have no support in this surreal transition, to be the center of attention of millions of people and a life structured by work and suddenly at 16 years old to be left with nothing.
His first step was a television and film production degree from the Art Institute of Florida in the city of Tampa. He later returned to Puerto Rico to work with his father to sell luxury properties to famous artists such as Chayanne, among others. He then moved to Las Vegas where he had several production companies but the art world never stopped calling him and he eventually moved to Brazil where he was one of the most popular menudos.
In 2007 he composed the songs “Dame Tu Corazón”, “Historia de Amor” and “Pais del Samba y Futebol” together with Gui Musselli and Angelino (Sapo). In the first phase it will be launched in Brazil, Portugal, Spain and in the second in Latin American countries. In 2010 he took part in the recording of the song “Volver a Empezar” by Julio Iglesias for the soundtrack of the soap opera Ti Ti Ti on Rede Globo.
He also hosted the Brazilian show Frente Jovem and was part of the duo Roy & Rhaulin with his ex-wife Martha Rhaulin.
According to the Brazilian press, he has three wives and five children.
Sorry and more confessions
Roy Roselló assured A Fazenda in 2014 that he had finally found his peace. “I left Menudo at the age of 15, it took me about 12 years to process everything that happened to me, but I will not reveal any more names because I am not emotionally or mentally prepared for what happens after the revelation something like that can happen. , but what I can tell you in my case is that Edgardo Díaz didn’t sexually abuse me, they were friends, people close to him. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who suffered sexual abuse and for many years I carried a guilt in my mind and in my soul: ‘What have I done that has caused me to suffer like this ?“.
Maybe that’s why he had so many problems in life. In 1988, the singer and then youth television presenter Mara Maravilha, with whom he had a sentimental relationship, reported him for assault. In 2011, he was accused of assault by another woman in the city of Salvador, capital of the northeastern state of Bahia.
During his participation in A Fazenda, Roselló was removed from filming by the police and spent a day in jail for failing to meet his financial obligations to one of his children. “Pursuant to a court finding, Roy left the set this Thursday morning,” TV network Record reported in a statement. He then returned but was eliminated almost immediately.
On May 2nd, the documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” will be released on the streaming platform Peacock in the US and on HBO in the rest of the world, in which Roy Roselló claims that Menéndez drugged and raped him. which could change Erick and Lyle Menendez’s theorem.