Pop singer Halsey has claimed that a “powerful” music executive once went through their private photos without consent.
The “Lucky” star, who uses they/them pronouns, recalled the incident during an interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, and said it left them feeling “demoralised” and violated.
“I guess it was quite a long time ago, but I was out and I was with this executive, like this really powerful executive who works in music in some capacity,” Halsey said.
“It was just very celebratory, and there was a lot of industry talk. I didn’t feel weird about it at all. I never felt unsafe or anything.”
Halsey, 30, said the evening took a sinister turn when the unnamed executive allegedly asked for a photo of them together to send to his niece: the pop singer took the photo then handed over their phone and said he could text it to his number, as they needed to use the bathroom.
When Halsey returned, they apparently found the executive looking through private, explicit photos on their phone.
“I was just frozen… I didn’t even know what to do,” they said. “I was like, ‘Did I just imagine that? Was that an accident?… I was thinking, ‘Did the phone scroll up? What the heck just happened?”
Halsey said they felt particularly disturbed by the idea that the executive might have gone so far as to send the photos to himself: “I was like, ‘Did he text them to himself and then delete the messages? I don’t even know where these are now.’”
The singer said they found the experience so violating that they began questioning their self-worth: “I went from being like, ‘Yeah I’m f***ing hot s*** [to]… You’re nothing… you’re still that f***ing girl who’s getting taken advantage of, or like, men are talking about you behind your back, or you’re some sort of like, collateral.’”
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They described the incident as “demoralising” and that, while they had experienced “worse” in their career, this one stood out: “Because it was so nonchalant.”
On the podcast, Halsey reflected on the dark side of power dynamics within the music industry and their status: “I’m in this exclusive space, thinking I’ve reached the ranks where I am protected… and then this invasive thing just happens on a whim.”
Halsey released their latest album, The Great Impersonator, on 25 October, which features singles including “The End” and “Lonely is the Muse”.