Jason Derulo is setting some boundaries after a recent event forced him to reevaluate his career.
While discussing a sexual harassment case that has followed him for the past two years with Graham Bensinger, the 36-year-old singer and dancer explained why the case involving singer Emaza Dilan prompted him to tell Bensinger, “Never work with women.”
Derulo acknowledged there might have been some truth in his rather blunt response, but he repeated the sentiment to drive the point home.
“I will never be alone in a room with a woman that I work with… ever, ever again,” he said. “There’s truth in every joke. But it’s a sad truth.”
When Bensinger pushed back on Derulo’s comments, the singer was adamant about his belief, especially considering one of the accusations stated that he “sacrificed a goat in a sexual ritual.”
“It’s too risky,” he said. “I lost millions of dollars off an arbitrary story that someone told. Like a crazy, crazy story that someone told. So with that said, how can I be comfortable being in a room with a woman that I work with and not feel like she can say whatever she wants? It’s not worth it to me.”
Dilan has filed suit against Derulo twice, once in California and once in Nevada. Dilan accused Derulo of sexually harassing her while the two worked together and became “hostile” toward her after she rejected him. Dilan initially named Atlantic Records and Derulo in the suit, but it was tossed by a California judge who ruled Dilan had signed artist agreements with clauses agreeing that all legal disputes would be confined to New York courts. The case was refiled in New York in September, maintaining the tenets of her original lawsuit but is now citing New York laws for her accusations of discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment, breach of contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In a 2023 Instagram post, Derulo denied Dilan’s claims, calling them “completely false and hurtful.”
According to Rolling Stone, the updated complaint alleges “Derulo exploited his power, implying that plaintiff’s success was conditioned on participating in degrading sexual rituals and cocaine use. When plaintiff resisted Derulo’s advances and later complained about his misconduct, defendants retaliated by withdrawing support, stalling her music releases, and ultimately terminating her contract under pretextual circumstances.”
Derulo denied all of the accusations levied against him in the lawsuit in his conversation with Bensinger.
“That case was dismissed twice. And I lost so many brand deals, relationships, off of a story that was not even slightly believable.”
He also wondered why the media didn’t cover the dismissals the same as they had when the initial lawsuits were filed.
“Wouldn’t that be fair? G-d damn. None of that? It’s crazy.”
