Celebrity News May 13, 2021
Ally Brooke Opens Up About Trauma and Toxicity During Her Fifth Harmony Days
Ally Brooke is speaking her truth and getting candid about her time in Fifth Harmony.
“Extra’s” Jenn Lahmers caught up with the star to chat about her new podcast, “The Ally Brooke Show,” which debuts this week.
Brooke said of the podcast, “This has been such a gift to me… It’s a chance for me to talk to my fans… to connect in a way I have never done before.”
She shared, “I am super insecure and very nervous to be vulnerable, but this calls for me to be vulnerable, not to hide behind an interview or social media or a book… This is a chance for me to be real and raw with my fans… Me just sharing my heart, sharing my stories… I’m also going to have so many fun, diverse, hilarious guests.”
Her first episode, about her time in Fifth Harmony, is getting a huge response. She said, “I did experience a lot of trauma in the group — a lot of abuse of power and verbal abuse. A lot kind of came and destroyed the light that I had.”
She went on, “I am so grateful to have been in Fifth Harmony, so I share that balance of my own experience that wasn’t great… Balancing that thankfulness that I have for it, looking at what we did accomplish and all the positives I could take from it was something powerful to share with my fans.”
Ally recounted some of what she went through, explaining, “Everything from inappropriateness at the label and from other executives to me being made fun of online for my dancing… and a lot of inner toxicity that went on.”
When she asked for help at one point, she said, “It was really terrible… There was a lot happening with the group and I went to this executive for help… This person said, ‘Oh yes, I can help you,’ and I felt so much comfort. When you are under so much distress and despair and you have to hold it all in… This man, he approached me with a thong. That was the first thing that he gave me… When you go to someone for help and all they meet you with is inappropriateness, it’s horrible… I felt embarrassed, ashamed. I felt helpless.”
She continued, “At that time, this person had a reputation, but it was accepted, so obviously I was really scared to say anything. Now, I am so happy and I say this on my show, we have this movement where we can speak up and justice in some ways is getting served.”
