“Nope” star Keke Palmer wants the #MeToo movement to cover not just “the actor world” but the music industry as well.
In an interview published Friday in People, the Emmy winner and singer discussed her new album and its accompanying film, which chronicles the “countless” instances of sexual misconduct she’s faced as a woman in entertainment.
“Bad [shit] ... happens in all industries, obviously, but specifically entertainment,” said Palmer, who has worked in Hollywood for two decades.
“We know bad things happen in all of them, but it’s almost like the acting world represents a union and the music industry represents non-union.”
She added that #MeToo, the online movement encouraging women to speak out against sexual misconduct in their fields, “hasn’t happened in music, and it should.”
“It’s like everybody is being paid, and everybody’s a crooked cop,” she told People. “So, it seems like nothing will ever really come to a head.”
Palmer notably accused rapper and singer Trey Songz of “sexual intimidation” in 2017 after he allegedly tricked her into being in a music video against her will.
“Being a woman is like, ‘Damn, the biggest mistake you can make is trusting somebody,’” she told People.
Palmer added that scenes in “Big Boss,” the film for her new album of the same name, were inspired by “being in an uncomfortable situation as a woman ... in a space that’s dominated mostly by men.”
“I’ve had to do so much preventative [shit] ... because I can’t trust people to behave,” said Palmer. “The sad thing is that you learn these things from being in bad situations. It almost feels like it’s a coming-of-age story for a woman.”
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.