Jason Derulo is facing a lawsuit over alleged quid pro quo sexual harassment.
In a lawsuit filed Oct. 5 in a Los Angeles court and obtained by E! News, singer Emaza Gibson said that in August 2021, the "Whatcha Say" artist recruited her in a joint venture between his music imprint, Future History, and Atlantic Records, under which he would make multiple albums with her. However, once their collaboration was underway, Derulo allegedly made inappropriate passes at her.
"While recording music, Derulo informed [Gibson] that if she wanted to be successful in 'this business' (aka the music industry), [she] would be required to partake in 'goat skin and fish scales,'" the lawsuit states. "which is a Haitian reference referring to conducting sex rituals, sacrificing a goat, goat blood and doing cocaine."
The filing continues, "The manner and timing of such a statement meant that Derulo was demanding sexual acts from [Gibson] in order for Derulo to fulfill his role as her mentor, supervisor and musical collaborator. This explicit demand for sex-in-exchange-for-success was reinforced through Derulo's subsequent behavior."
E! News has reached out to reps for Derulo, Atlantic Records and Future History for comment and has not heard back.
Gibson said that the following month during a late-night recording session, Derulo "directed" her to have a drink with him. She alleged in the suit that she accepted, "seeing no choice but to accept the offer from the person that was essentially her boss and access to excel in her work," and that she told him the drink was "too strong." She said he encouraged her to take another sip, which she refused, per the lawsuit.
"I told him that I wasn't a drinker," she told NBC News in an interview posted Oct. 5, "so it's like, you know, you're not listening to that the first time I tell you, and you're still pushing on me. It's, like, pressure at this point."
Gibson alleged in her suit that she traveled to meet with Atlantic executives to finalize her deal that November and that Derulo had at the last moment told her that he invited along another woman, whom she identified as Rosa. In the filing, she recalled being placed in a room with Rosa who told her that Derulo had invited her along because he "was trying to be 'on some f--k shit' with her," which Gibson interpreted to be sex.
Afterwards, Gibson said that Derulo's manager asked her how she felt about the meeting, to which she said she was "thrown off guard" by Rosa's sudden appearance, prompting the "Savage Love" singer, who sat in a car with them at the time, to get upset. "Derulo immediately lost control," the filing states, "and began aggressively hitting his arm rests screaming, 'What does she have to do with you!? We weren't going to tell you anything! We don't have to tell you anything!'" The singer then allegedly went "radio silent" with Gibson for more than six months.
Ultimately, the two did end up working again. However, the lawsuit alleges that during a June 2022 recording session, Derulo allegedly charged at Gibson and berated her because she arrived one hour late due to traffic.
"I had to step back," Gibson recalled to NBC News. "My hand just clutched my chest, because I was, like, I've, I've never been approached this way by anybody."
In the suit, she says that final meeting marked the last time she saw Derulo. And a few months later in September, Atlantic dropped her. Gibson added in the suit that no one has ever reached out to address her "concerns over Derulo's sexually, emotionally and physically inappropriate behavior towards her."
Gibson is accusing Derulo, his Future History imprint and Atlantic Records of sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, a failure to remedy workplace harassment and violation of California's civil rights act, the lawsuit says. As part of the suit, she is seeking an unspecified amount of unpaid wages, loss of earnings, deferred compensation and other employment benefits and damages for emotional distress.
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