Mary J. Blige Opens Up About Sexual Abuse: ‘Don’t Touch Me or I’ll Kill You’

Over the recent months, many women have spoken out about sexual harassments and assaults they’ve endured. This list includes Gabrielle Union, Viola Davis, and Lupita Nyong’o, alongside with many other women.

Mary J. Blige is also a victim of sexual assault, at just five years old she was sexually abused. The queen of Hip-Hop and R&B discussed her history of sexual harassment, and while she says she has never experienced it in the music industry, she said by the time she got to the industry it was “don’t touch me or I will kill you.”

She also added, “I’m actually happy and proud of these women. They’ve been hanging on to these things forever, for God knows how long, and now they’re speaking up and being set free. It’s a beautiful thing for us to see, and for us to support because we need each other in that way. And they’ve suffered.”

Blige along with many others such as Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, and Tarana Burke (MeToo Creator) all wore black gowns in solidarity to protest against sexual harassment.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top