Alicia Keys is baring all about the time she felt taken advantage of by a photographer early in her career.
The Grammy winner made the revelation in her freshly-released book, More Myself, explaining she felt “manipulated” and “objectified” by a shutterbug who made her open her shirt and pull down the top of her jeans when she was 19 years old.
In the book, the now 39-year-old explained the photog had convinced her team he needed to work with the young artist alone before telling Alicia to “open up your shirt a little” and “pull the top of your jeans down a bit in the front.”
Video: Billie Eilish Surprises Alicia With An Epic Cover Of ‘Fallin’
Explaining how she went against her instincts to speak out in defiance, the If I Ain’t Got You singer recalled:
“My spirit is screaming that something is wrong, that this feels sleazy. But my protests, lodged in the back of my throat, can’t make their way out. I swallow my misgivings, tuck my thumb between the denim and my skin, and obey.”
After she went home, the singer — who was gearing up for the release of her acclaimed debut album Songs in A Minor at the time — said she cried about the shoot.
She mused in her book:
“This isn’t about me showing some skin, which I’ll do on my own terms, for my own purposes, in the coming years. It’s about feeling manipulated. It’s about being objectified.”
Needless to say, Keys wasn’t happy when the magazine cover came out a few months later, nor was her manager. She noted:
“I now understand why the photographer wanted my team out of that room. A nineteen-year-old girl is more pliable than a set of her grown-ass managers.”
The Voice coach said she wanted to throw up when she saw the cover on newsstands the day of the magazine’s release, adding that she was “embarrassed” and “ashamed” of the photo, and didn’t even recognize the woman in it.
But Keys hasn’t let herself be fooled twice. She wrote:
“I swear that I’ll never again let someone rob me of my power. It’s a promise I still work to keep.”
Let your light shine bright, gurl!
To celebrate the release of More Myself, the songstress took to Instagram on Tuesday to share an audio audio excerpt from the book — written and read by none other than Michelle Obama.
The former First Lady praised Keys for her unique talent in the clip, saying:
“Over the years, we’ve grown closer, and I’ve seen Alicia continue to shine in a way that only she can. Her family has grown larger now, and she’s earned even more awards. Yet what continues to impress me is her choice to grapple with the big questions: What is my purpose? What can I do for others? How can I use this fame for good? Somewhere in there is, if not an answer, at least a glimmer of the truth that I think we’re all seeking. And by sharing her music and her soul, Alicia is bringing us closer to it than even she may realize.”
More Myself is on shelves now. Will U be picking up a copy, Perezcious readers?
[Image via WENN]
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