Written evidence from Rebecca Ferguson [MiM0046]

Firstly, thank you for allowing me to submit evidence.

My name is Rebecca Ferguson, I am a singer songwriter and most recently I have joined the Ivors Academy Board, I also successfully campaigned for a music industry regulatory body CIISA and was part of the round table industry meetings.

I am very happy and proud that CIISA is becoming a reality although I fear it is not enough, in my opinion music needs to be regulated and l hope that regulation and licensing is introduced ASAP so that people can operate in music without fear.

The fear I have felt for 12 years has affected my life in so many ways and changed me as a person. I can’t get those years back and I can’t change what has happened to me - I can only hope that my testimony forces change within the music industry.

Below I’ve highlighted the main problems and issues that I have experienced within the Music Industry;

 

 

 

 

 

Examples

Below I have listed multiple lived examples of behaviour that I have experienced that fits into some of the categories mentioned;

      October 15th 2010 I was coerced into a Management agreement with ‘Modest Management’ and told that if I did not sign a contract I would be kicked off The ITV show ‘X factor’.

      The solicitors Lee & Thompson  whom drafted the contract were given to me by the production company Freemantle/Syco I did not have independent legal counsel.

      My relationships were dictated to by males in senior positions e.g. Staff were instructed to ruin my personal relationships, staff were told to ignore calls from my children and to not pass messages on when they tried to call me.

      Security staff were told to infiltrate and purposefully ruin my romantic relationships. [name redacted] my head of security was threatened to be fired from his job if he did not do as requested. Comments were said to me or spoken of me such as; “When you earn as much money as you do, you do as we Fucking say”, “She’s good isn’t she, we just need to break her spirit”, “He only wants you to perform because you’re black”, “ When I tell you to do something you do as I Fucking say”.

      I witnessed other performers being encouraged to engage in messages of a sexual nature with each other.

      Members of my team told me they were ‘threatened ‘or ‘bribed’ to not work with me when I ended what I deemed to be an exploitative and abusive contract.

      My PR executive [name redacted] experienced this and my stylist [name redacted], however they continued a positive working relationship with me regardless of any interference.

      Elton John’s Management team ‘Rocket Music’ were also threatened by senior males in the music industry.

      [name redacted] a then employee at ‘Rocket music’ told me he was threatened and was alarmed by the behaviour he was witnessing.

      Colin Barlow former head of RCA records UK equally was concerned for my welfare regarding Modest Management and petitioned people more senior to step in, he contacted Nick Gatfield Former Head of Sony UK.

      Throughout my career I frequently felt coerced to contract to people, ‘Rocket Music’ was the only team I instructed independently however I was unable to continue my working relationship as I feared about the threats coming from the senior males in the industry.

      Everybody surrounded myself and my business was incestuously connected,  nobody was ever independent.

      Simon Cowell was long term friends with ‘Modest Management’ and was previously employed by ‘Richard Griffiths’, all contestants from The X factor were at that time therefore contracted to ‘Modest Management’ without any freedom of choice.

      In May 2015 I was contracted to a ‘Shell company’ with no active bank account, I was also pressured to sign a contract backstage at the VE day celebrations 2015.

      It became apparent in 2017 that I had unknowingly been paying commissions on my earnings to a company that had a very similar name to the one I was contracted too, I believe they did this to limit liability.

      The Director of the company in question is very senior within entertainment, one of the most so called powerful people in entertainment, when I reported this conduct to the police and other senior authorities I was told. A damning comment was made “This man is known to us, you’re the third lady to report him to us however he surrounds himself with very powerful people”.

      During my early career I was worked to the point I would suffer frequently with dizzy spells and at times during promotional trips I collapsed due to physical exhaustion.

      I once collapsed and was unconscious for a few minutes, in response I was given no medical attention and instead given a can of Diet Coke and sent into a studio to do a radio interview for NOVA in Australia, my speech was slurred and I wasn’t making sense so the interview was deleted.

      When I got back to my hotel room I was given 45 minutes to collect myself and then told I needed to carry on with the day.

      I was once so overworked I was asked by management to fake being well as the Chinese authorities were refusing to allow me to get on a flight to fly home.

      Eventually I was allowed to fly and a passenger who was a doctor spent the entire flight checking my vital signs. I was told that my body had suffered a complete physical and mental collapse due to exhaustion. I was unable to walk by myself and was again placed on very strong medications.

      If I was ever too exhausted I would be put to bed and made to give interviews from bed.

      I was often medicated by private doctors so that I was fit to work as I was becoming ill due to exhaustion.

      I would eat when there was time but often because schedules didn’t allow, I wouldn’t eat for a long time and I would then become very dizzy and sick, the schedules where often 5am working through until 12 at night or later.

      I would often have 3 hours sleep per night. I dropped down to a size 0 this was celebrated at a photo shoot, I remember realising in that moment that this industry was not healthy and had a warped view of women.

      I had a miscarriage and was told by senior male executives that I would have to work and I was not allowed the day off.

      I needed to have pre-cancerous cells removed.. I was told that I couldn’t get treatment until after my work duties had been fulfilled, Consultant [name redacted] wrote to my Doctor very concerned that 6 months had passed and he wasn’t getting any response from my team.

      My music was blocked internationally, I believe this was in retaliation for changing my team. I flagged this years later and requested the current head of ‘Sony Music’ Jason Iley to lift the international blocks on my album Freedom. Jason Iley was unaware that my album was blocked and instructed [name redacted] to investigate.

      [name redacted] my former day to day manager was threatened and blackmailed to provide information about me, in exchange a senior industry mogul stated he would drop a claim against her in the region of £80,000.

      At 8am on a Sunday morning March 2017 the same senior mogul forced his way into my home and sat on my sofa and proceeded to talk to my child whilst I was in the shower, when asked to leave he refused until I said I would call the police. I have crime reference numbers and correspondence to confirm.

      I would frequently receive contact late in the night e.g past 10pm despite my legal advisors telling him he was to have no direct contact.

      My legal and accounting files were withheld from me so that deadlines would go unmet for VAT, TAX etc. My accountants were chosen by my managers they had full access to my accounts.

      I discussed my concerns and sought counsel from Criminal Barrister [name redacted] and my then legal team Manley’s solicitors.

      I once performed a tour that grossed over £600,000 - the tour was my chance to buy a home next to my mum, I stayed in a caravan with my children for the tour as I wanted to make as much profit as possible. I did not make any profit and was left to honour the costs personally to band members, I queried what had happened to my money but that only made matters worse. My files were then withheld from me for many months - I had to pay legal counsel to assist me in trying to retrieve my accounts the financial pressure placed on me was crippling and I had three young children to look after one was still a toddler.

      A Senior Detective [name redacted] of the Metropolitan Police contacted me in November 2018 and told me they had received intelligence and had reason to believe I was unsafe. It was around 9pm (CEST) I was pulling into Gare Du Nord train station via the Eurostar, he asked me where I was, I told him I was in Paris he said he would like some officers to greet me off a flight when I returned to the UK. He seemed very concerned about my safety. Alarmed and very fearful I walked off the platform petrified thinking somebody was going to kill me, I contacted my security [name redacted] and he advised me to not give out my location to the Detective who called and to keep my location private. I had stayed at the Shangri-la Hotel for two nights with my friend [name redacted] and I was physically distressed waking up in cold sweats through the night.

      On the 18th of September 2021 at a the Pub in the Park festival in Marlow Buckinghamshire, Mogul A’s friend approached me close to the performing stage. She said “ Oh god Rebecca it’s you, I thought you was getting killed, I thought you was supposed to be getting killed, I have been so worried about you” “ You have security right” I said yes she said “ Good as long as you’re safe” I reported this to the Metropolitan Police I have attached the records as evidence. Email correspondence Call records can be obtained via mobile phone network EE. Oral evidence can be sought from witnesses should you need them for the inquiry. Data evidence logging the report I made to the police is within my evidence folder.

      I was later contacted by a former employee that worked with Mogul A for 20 years they warned me against staying in a very well-known hotel in London. I was told that this hotel was being used to drug and rape people within the industry and also to place people into compromising positions so as to obtain funds/more power via blackmail. A few weeks later I had a performance at the hotel I was so fearful I refused to eat or drink anything whilst I was there and I had security on my door. My security was [name redacted] sadly he died three days after the event from natural causes.

      Saturday 25 February 2023 at 13.46 I was contacted by [name redacted] a private detective investigating a missing person case in entertainment. He again mentioned concerns about people being drugged and raped.

 

Summary

I believe I am the victim of trafficking/servitude and sadly there are plenty more people that share my experience. The music industry has been abusing artists for decades and it has been allowed to happen by governments, the smoke and mirrors and allure of entertainment has allowed people to be desensitised to the very real pain and suffering artists face.

Managers are currently not required to be licensed and nobody is obliged to sign a Code Of Conduct, within entertainment. This as a bare minimum requirement might start to help clean things up and put some accountability on people. No training is required to work with talent unlike other talent led industries such as football for instance which has the PFA etc.

We have a Multibillion Pound UK industry where human beings are the PRODUCT operating with no regulation, this is naturally  leading to Human Rights Abuses, Rape, Forced Sexual Favours, Blackmail, Slavery, Bullying, Coercion.

I am a mother and a woman - no woman in the UK should have to tolerate this level of abuse for just wanting to earn a living and go to work!

September 2023