Lance Bass was ‘inappropriately’ touched during his ‘NSync days, he says
Someone was “inappropriately touching†Lance Bass and others when ‘NSync was in its infancy, the singer revealed Wednesday.
“When I was 16, 17 years old, when we just started, there was someone that we worked with that was inappropriately touching us,†the 36-year-old said on “The Meredith Vieira Show†during a discussion of sexual harassment sparked by Ashley Judd saying this week that she’d been harassed by a powerful Hollywood exec.
Bass, who joined ‘NSync in 1995 at age 16, was making the point that sexual harassment happens to men as well as women.
“I was even aware then, at 16, 17, that this guy was a pedophile and he was touching me oddly, but I didn’t feel victimized at the time because I was very aware of it,†he explained.
But nobody spoke up about it at the time, he said.
“With the guys, we would talk about it, kind of joke about it, but it’s not a joking thing, but as a kid, I don’t know, it was just, it was odd,†said Bass, whose bandmates were Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, JC Chazes and Chris Kirkpatrick.
------------
For the Record, 8:21 p.m.: An earlier version of this article incorrectly gave Chris Kirkpatrick’s first name as Justin.
------------
“I’m glad that we were aware of it and we didn’t feel victimized by it.â€
Bass didn’t name his alleged harasser.
Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ and Google+. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter @LATcelebs.
More to Read
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.