Madonna has recalled how men asked her for sexual favours with the promise of making her pop career a success.
The Like A Virgin singer opened up on sexual misconduct in Hollywood and the music industry in an interview with Britain's The Guardian newspaper. As she discussed disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein and his "untouchable" reputation in Hollywood prior to his sexual misconduct scandal, Madonna explained that the music industry has similar issues.
"I can't tell you how many men said: 'OK, well, if you give me a b**w job' or 'OK, if you sleep with me.' Sex is the trade, you know?" the music veteran reflected, explaining her experiences as she attempted to launch her pop career and land a record deal in the 1980s.
But while she welcomed the emergence of the #MeToo movement, Madonna said she wished there were more women in the music business that were "more political and more outspoken about all things in life, not just the inequality of the sexes".
The Vogue singer was similarly candid about Weinstein, who sparked the #MeToo movement after being accused of sexual misconduct against a large number of women, many of them actresses, in 2017.
"Harvey Weinstein was untouchable," she stated. "His reputation was universal - everybody knew he was, you know, the guy that he was. I'm not into name-calling, but it was like: 'Oh, that's Harvey, that's what he does.' It just became accepted." she commented. "And I suppose that's the scary thing about it. Because if people do things enough, no matter how heinous and awful and unacceptable it is, people accept it. And that certainly exists in the music industry, too."
Madonna's 14th album Madame X was released on Friday, and the star kicks off her Madame X Tour in September.
