The Voice contestant Jordan Pruitt is suing her former manager Keith Thomas, her former record company Hollywood Records, and its parent company The Walt Disney Company over sexual assault allegations.
The suit alleges that these companies failed to protect her from her abuser as they let her and Thomas remain unsupervised despite her young age and enabled a sexual predator every step of the way. During an interview with Variety, Pruitt shed light on the matter,
“Unfortunately, these large companies are primarily concerned with sales, money and charts. Too often they fall short of protecting the young talent that they are ‘supposed’ to be caretakers for. Time and time again we see people in positions of power fail us. I couldn’t be more disappointed in how Disney treats their underage talent like cash cows.”
The 28-year-old singer has accused Thomas of grooming her starting at the age of 14 and molesting her for almost two years. The abuse includes kissing, oral sex, taking her virginity, and drug-induced anal penetration. Various locations of where the molestation occurred include The Staples Center, Warner Bros lot soundstages, trailers, hotel rooms, and inside parked cars.
The Nashville-native signed with Hollywood records in 2005 at the age of 14 and produced two albums, one in 2007 and the other in 2008. Thomas was assigned to be her mentor and producer as he’s a veteran of the music scene with hits like “Baby Baby” by Amy Grant under his belt. He has worked with many up and coming teenage girls throughout his career.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzvy4RwARKy/
Pruitt claims Thomas groomed her by controlling every aspect of her professional life, cutting off contact with boys her own age, and putting her down with negative comments about her looks and talent. Pruit also reveals,
“At fifteen this person had brainwashed me into thinking that the things that were happening were ‘natural’ and ‘okay’. While I will spare you any of the mind-piercing details, I can honestly and unfortunately say that this man sexually abused me for almost two years of my life. I am a victim of child molestation because of him.”
After a Los Angeles Superior Court judge gave the singer permission to name the parties involved, she came forward on twitter with a powerful statement.
https://twitter.com/JordansBlog/status/1169000549162856448
While sexual misconduct and child molestation accusations are majorly taboo in the south and the country music scene, Pruitt can still be empowered by the #metoo movement in hopes that large music companies will take better care of their underage talent.
None of the parties have yet to comment on the allegations.
