Integrity is expensive
Quebec's cultural sector has a predator problem.
This past winter, I was on tour in rural Quebec. At multiple venues, I saw the names of artists who were “canceled” during the 2020 #metoo wave in the event listings (”canceled” because they were imposed a hiatus and are back on tour and on tv promoting their newfound wisdom/album). Others are back on billboards.
I want to believe redemption is possible, but based on recidivism rates, we don’t appear to have effective systems in place to reliably rehabilitate this sort of offender in particular: the profitable, the famous, the ego-drunk. There is no way to know if they’ve learned anything, or if they just parrot the script the outraged public gives them so they can return to their jobs.
When I posted a very raw video about this on TT, fellow Quebecois -- anglo, franco, and allophones -- chimed in to share their disgust at the fact that so many turn a blind eye in support of “le p’tit garcon/la p’tite fille d’ici.” I guess the logic is that Quebec’s artistic pool is small, and when someone breaks out, it brings people a sense of local pride. It would be painful and disappointing if their idol turned out to be a violent, dangerous person.
I can promise anyone who will ever read this that it is more painful and disappointing for their victims.
A few weeks ago, I had to say no to a well-paid gig that would have put me in front of tens of thousands this summer because one of the people performing has had a reputation for spiking people’s drinks.
My agent was incredibly supportive of my declining the offer: there was no debate about politics vs personal safety. But the agency was unable to let the booker know the reason, since it would put them at risk for a defamation suit. It sucks, and I get it, and it sucks. I want the booker to know, so they can make a decision about whether or not to support this person and give them more legitimacy and access via exposure. But we kind of can’t tell them, which makes me feel insane.
Quebec is small! It is a pleasure to see the same faces working at this venue, that festival, and on the road. I may be naive, but backstage at a local show is not a place I have ever been, or ever want to be on guard for my safety.
In 2020, when the head of my former label stepped down following accusations of sexual harassment and assault, I saw artists across the province share their stories of mistreatment by a variety of arts industry professionals, including fellow artists. Dis son nom, a controversial website where victims could anonymously name their abusers, popped up as a resource for people to warn each other. High-profile people lost their jobs when heaps of victims came forward about their inappropriate behaviour. Most people reading this already know I have been a victim of sexual assault, so it should come as no surprise that I advocated for and supported the victims of those events publicly. I got a lawyer and left the label.
I have been celebrated for my advocacy for sexual assault survivors so many times in my career. I have had fans come up to me after shows where I spoke and sang about trauma recovery, sharing their pain. People I’ve never met will pull me aside to confess to their suffering to me because they saw a reel I posted about my experience, and trust that I am a safe person to talk to. There are survivors dancing among predators in Quebec, and those survivors are not safe.
And so I feel disappointed that, now that sexual assault as a topic of public discussion is no longer trending, the same patterns of secrecy and protection persist. This is compounded by the rampant casual misogyny proliferated online, and the infamous Files and Academy. Where is this all coming from? Dude, I don’t know, it goes back further than the Malleus Maleficarum, than the Bible. My best guess is that capitalism uses patriarchy as a tool to divorce men (particularly but not exclusively) from their humanity so they will serve the empire or something.
In my ideal world, everyone would be truly connected to the fact that women are people, and that people feel pain, and this wouldn’t be a problem. I know women aren’t the only victims and men aren’t the only perpetrators. But the numbers are largely skewed in those directions. Sociologists, psychologists, podcast bros, drunk girls at bars, everyone has been debating why forever.
The only thing that makes me rest easy is in knowing that as stupid as the world can be, I refuse to participate in that stupidity. I am and intend to be a sanctuary. Human beings deserve to live free from abuse. I reject the values and ideas that allow someone to justify abusing another person.
There will be other gigs.
xx