Yet another accusation of sexual misconduct is rocking the music world.
This time the accusations are coming from Jordan Pruitt, who was once a contestant on The Voice. She is suing Keith Thomas, who is her former manager, accusing him of sexually abusing her from the time she was 14.
Pruitt is further suing both Walt Disney Co. and Hollywood Records. The latter was once her record label while the former is the label’s parent company. She is accusing them of failing to stop Thomas’ abuse. She insists that Hollywood Records forced her to use Thomas as both a producer and a mentor, and that they allowed Thomas to be alone with her even though they knew — or should have known — that he was capable of abuse.
In a prepared statement, Pruitt said that companies such as Disney and Hollywood Records are concerned mostly about profit and do too little to protect the young stars they are responsible for shepherding. She further accused Disney of treating its young talent as “cash cows.”
In a Twitter post on September 3rd, Pruitt stated that she filed the lawsuit against Thomas three weeks ago as “Jane Doe.” But she added: “No more Jane Doe. I am Jordan Pruitt.”
So far, neither Hollywood Records nor Disney has commented on the lawsuit. Thomas also declined to comment.
Jordan Pruitt first signed with Hollywood Records in 2005 when she was 14. She released albums in both 2007 and 2008, but she shot to fame when she was a contestant on the third season of The Voice in 2012.
Keith Thomas is a longtime Nashville producer and has worked with performers such as Amy Grant, Ronnie Milsap and BeBe and CeCe Winans. In the past few decades, he has also worked with many teenage female singers.
Pruitt first aired accusations of sexual abuse back in June of this year. Though at that stage, she was careful then not to name any names.