Former Pussycat Doll Kaya Jones: The Industry Used Me

“I wasn’t in a girl group. I was in a prostitution ring. Oh & we happened to sing & be famous. While everyone who owned us made the $. How bad was it? People ask — bad enough that I walked away from my dreams, bandmates & a 13 million dollar record deal. We knew we were going to #1.

“To be a part of the team you must be a team player. Meaning sleep with whoever they say. If you don’t they have nothing on you to leverage.

“Why don’t we report it? Because we are all abused! I personally have been warned if I tell I will … you know end up dead or no more career. I hope more women & men come out & share their abuse & pain. We must shine a light on this issue in the entertainment business.”[1]

One of the members of the group, Simone Battle, committed suicide at the age of 25 in 2014. Jones thinks that the industry is largely responsible for Battle’s death: “I want the den mother from hell to confess why another 1 of her girl group girls committed suicide? Tell the public how you mentally broke us.”[2]

Jones continued to say that if members do not do what the executives wanted, then “they have nothing on you to leverage. Yes I said leverage. Meaning after they turn you out or get you hooked on drugs they use it against you. Correct. Victimizing the victim again.”

Nicole Scherzinger was the lead singer of the Pussycat Doll. Scherzinger once declared: “To be honest with you, I sometimes wish I were more slutty. I’d probably be a lot more successful if I were… This is such a tough industry, you know. To make it, you really have to sell your soul to the devil.”[3]

So, to Scherzinger, being slutty is synonymous with having some kind of power.

As we have seen in the past, Kaya Jones is not the only person to conclude that the industry doesn’t care about their own musicians. Again, it was DMX himself who declared that

“The industry doesn’t have to do with talent; it’s about playing the game…The industry—money, bitches, hate…The industry is like ‘Wait’! But in the street we’re like, ‘Get them’!

“The industry—if you ain’t got a strong mind—will break you down, [and] it’s a matter of time. The industry vultures with nothing to feast on…The industry plays in the dirt, stays in the dirt—test the wrong one in the industry and you will get hurt.

“The industry wanted, dead or alive, new artists to sell their souls…to survive. The industry don’t give a fuck about you! But the industry couldn’t make a dime without you!”

Sinead O’Connor and the late Robin Williams came to similar conclusions. But let us be clear here: if people like Jones want to remove the heavy yoke that the industry has put on them, then they need to go back to practical reason, which is their only defense against tyranny, abuse, and covert or sophisticated manipulation.

If these people continue to to-dance around the industry in order to gain power and fame, then they are putting themselves in dangerous position. And no one, not even Rose McGowan, has been able to defend that position rationally. We will delve into this issue over the weekend.

[1] “Former Pussycat Dolls Member Opens Up About Alleged Abuse in Music Industry,” Sputnik, October 16, 2017.

[2] Jordan Sargent, “Ex-Pussycat Doll Kaya Jones Says Group Was a ‘Prostitution Ring,’” Spin, October 16, 2017.

[3] “What’s new Pussycat? Nicole Sherzinger on being a global pop star and conquering an eating disorder,” The Independent, March 10, 2013.