Jason Derulo sued for sexual assault and harassment by female artist dropped by his label
KUALA LUMPUR, October 6 — American singer Jason Derulo has been accused of sexual assault by a female artist who was allegedly dropped from his record label.
Emaza Gibson, a new singer, claimed Derulo sexually harassed her and dropped her from his record label Future History after she rejected his advances.
Derulo allegedly forced her to drink and sleep with him even though she refused to, according to Los Angeles County court documents filed yesterday.
Gibson is suing for sexual harassment, failure to prevent and/or remedy harassment, retaliation, intimidation and violence and breach of contract.
She is requesting damages for unpaid wages, loss of earnings and deferred compensation, and general damages for emotional distress among others.
In the lawsuit, Derulo reached out to Gibson in August 2021 to sign her into Future History and its joint venture label Atlantic.
She believed that Derulo would serve as her ‘mentor, supervisor, and agent for Atlantic and Future’, allegedly starting work on her debut album in November of that year, keeping regular texts with Derulo to arrange recording sessions.
However, Gibson claimed that Derulo continuously invited her for drinks and dinners which she turned down ‘repeatedly’ to keep their relationship professional.
During a meeting in New York with Atlantic executives Gibson claimed to have met another female artist who told her she was there because Derulo wanted to have sex with her.
When Gibson confronted Derulo about it, he allegedly lost his temper, questioning her in an outburst while beating his chair’s armrest.
The incident reportedly scared Gibson, causing her to insist that her mother who is also her manager be with her at recording sessions and meetings with Derulo out of fear for her own safety.
Derulo and Gibson did not meet again until June 2, 2022 when she asked him about the budget for her recording sessions.
Gibson claimed that Derulo insulted her and ignored her questions but ended up agreeing to arrange a recording session about a week later.
On that day, Gibson and her mother reportedly arrived an hour late due to heavy traffic and Derulo allegedly ‘immediately charged’ and ‘lunged at her’ making her retreat in fear before running to the toilet in tears.
Derulo’s manager, Frank Harris, allegedly defended him when Gibson complained to him about her mentor’s behaviour and said ‘he (Derulo) had the right to yell at her’.
After Derulo didn’t respond to Gibson’s texts to arrange another recording session, she was told that her ‘employment’ with Future History and Atlantic had ended.
She claimed that even after speaking to Atlantic execs and Future History’s human resource department no one has responded to her till today.
Gibson claimed she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after her experiences, needing medical care for ‘breakdowns, weight loss, insomnia, and hopelessness’ among others.
