Alanis Morissette: Nearly Every Woman in Music Has Been ‘Assaulted, Harassed, Raped’

By Ellise Shafer

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In a new interview with U.K. publication The Sunday Times , Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette made some revelatory comments concerning the #MeToo movement in the music industry as she reflected on her decades-long career.

With her iconic breakthrough record “Jagged Little Pill” celebrating its 25th anniversary in June, Morissette — who began her career as a teen pop star — said that the “female rage” she famously exhibited in the album is needed now more than ever.

“Female rage gets such a bad rap, but it’s part of being human,” Morissette said. “Not punching someone in the face, but anger channelled into activism or — heaven forbid — raising your voice, or saying no, or protecting your kids, or being a feminist.”

Explaining that she was subject to exploitation, financial undermining and sexual abuse starting at the age of three, Morissette was vocal about the importance of women standing up for themselves within their own timeframe, and called out the stigma behind “waiting” to open up about abuse.

“First of all, they didn’t wait,” she said. “Second, they face the threat of losing their job, reputation, or not being believed. At best it’s swept under the rug, at worst you are admonished or fired.”

Though the film world experienced a wave of women coming forward against their abusers last year with the #MeToo Movement, Morissette claimed that the problem is much larger within the music industry.

“It hasn’t even begun in the music industry. Almost every woman in the music industry has been assaulted, harassed, raped. It’s ubiquitous — more in music, even, than film,” Morissette said. “What, sex, drugs and rock’n’roll? By definition it’s crass, sweaty and aggressive. But it’s only a matter of time before it has its own explosion of stories.”

Morissette’s ninth album, “Such Pretty Forks in the Road,” was originally set for release May 1 but has been postponed until the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.