Elton John has called for those accused of sexual misconduct to be given "due process".
Allegations of sexual harassment, assault, and even rape have been rife in Hollywood in recent months, sparking the #MeToo and Time's Up movements.
Many of those attending the Grammy Awards on Sunday night (28Jan18) will also pledge their support to the movements by donning white roses, with Elton among the stars set to sit in the front row of the ceremony. He was asked for his thoughts on the many sexual misconduct scandals during an interview with CNN, when he urged people to maintain an open mind when dealing with such allegations.
"We live in a funny time, a disturbing time at the moment, when people are accusing people of doing this and that," he told the outlet. "I don’t agree with people being accused of something and not having due process, I think that’s bad."
Referring to Kevin Spacey being dropped from Netflix series House of Cards amid allegations of sexual abuse, Elton added: "I think people who have been accused of something shouldn’t be dropped from (a) television series until they are proved to be guilty. But on the other hand, I can understand how women have been abused since time began."
"It’s all happened because of Harvey Weinstein, quite rightly so," the 70-year-old singer added.
Movie mogul Weinstein was accused of sexually harassing, assaulting and even raping some of Hollywood's biggest names, but has always denied any allegations of non-consensual sex. In the wake of the claims, he has been dropped from his production company and split from wife Georgina Chapman, and is currently in rehab seeking treatment for an alleged sex addiction.
It's likely this weekend's Grammy Awards will also address the scandal, and Elton is looking forward to seeing how it is dealt with during the ceremony.
"It’s going to be interesting, to see what people say, what they do," he mused.
Elton hit headlines when one of his personal security guards sued the singer for battery, sexual battery and sexual harassment in March 2016, accusing him of "unwelcomed and offensive touching and groping". The Your Song star strongly denied the allegations, and the case was later dropped, with the singer's representative stating that the bodyguard had withdrawn his lawsuit "with no payment made".
