Lisa Stansfield: Being groped at meet and greets 'happens all the time'

Soul singer Lisa Stansfield says it’s not uncommon for people to touch her inappropriately while she poses for photos with them.

The All Around the World singer was talking about facing sexism in the music industry, when she revealed that awkward encounters don’t always happen behind closed doors in private, and they often happen at coordinated “meet and greets” with fans and industry professionals.

“Try having your picture taken at a meet and greet when someone tries to feel your t** all the time,” Stansfield said. “No, it happens all the time. I actually say ‘Could you get your hands off my t**?’”

Speaking to Kate Thornton on the latest episode of Yahoo’s White Wine Question Time alongside her manager Rachel George, and hair stylist Lisa Eastwood, Stansfield also revealed that she thinks there’s a dual-standard with how men in the music industry are treated compared to women.

“I was with these two promoters and they were doing this San Remo festival in Italy… I didn’t want to do [a duet they were suggesting]. I thought it was really naff to do this song with this Italian star, and I said, ‘no, I really don’t want to do it’. What they didn’t know was that I spoke Italian.

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“So over dinner they start slagging me off – you’ve never heard the end of it – ‘she’s crap anyway’ ‘stupid English woman’. After all this I just said, excuse me gentlemen, but if you want to talk about me, please do it in my own language!”

Thornton asked: “Would they have done that if the artist had been male?”

“No, they probably wouldn’t have,” conceded Stansfield.

Listen to the full episode of Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time with Lisa Stansfield, Rachel George, and Lisa Eastwood below, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify to get first access to all the celebrity confessions.

When it comes to the recent Me Too movement which has put a spotlight on sexual harassment and sexual assault around the world, Stansfield supports the idea, but thinks it may have gone a bit too far.

“I do hope that it gets back to the middle ground, where it’s not so extreme that you can go into your own workplace and you can be flirtatious with each other and not be taken to court.

“That’s a part of human nature that men and women, women and women, whatever your sexuality, you flirt with each other and it’s completely harmless and it doesn’t really mean it crosses a line… You can tell where it is.”