The DJ and producer breaks his silence on the accusations that he sexually assaulted several women including a hotel worker as he vehemently denies any wrongdoings.
- Nov 14, 2020
AceShowbiz - Pioneering techno DJ and producer Derrick May has denied allegations of sexual assault made by four women.
In an expose by U.K. publication DJ Mag published on Thursday (12Nov20), the women, who used pseudonyms, detailed alleged attacks from the early to late 2000s.
The accusations against May include groping, exposing himself, making sexually harassing phone calls, as well as attempting to force himself on a hotel worker.
"I tried to get past him to get to the exit, but he grabbed me and threw me against the wall. He kept me there and put his knee between my legs, pinning me against the wall," the hotel worker said.
"That's when he really started grinding on me. He was rubbing his dick on me, touching me everywhere: on my butt, my clothes, on my breasts, on my vagina. He tried to grope me everywhere and tried to kiss me."
Other accusers included a woman who had worked with the U.S. DJ on a Detroit festival in 2003 and 2004, a fan who claims he tried to assault her while she was in a state of drowsiness in a hotel bedroom, and a radio DJ who claimed he assaulted her at a party.
May, 57, has made a statement denying the allegations, saying he is a victim of music industry racism.
He said, "As a black man working in a white-dominated and openly biased industry, am I expected to have learned the painful lesson that there is no such thing as truth, fairness, or due process? When will the long, storied history of weaponising the sexuality of African American men end?"
He went on to add, "I have no interest in legitimising these distortions. Women are the conduit of life, and as such, are to be protected, and not exploited. I live by those words."
The DJ, who is credited with developing the futuristic variation of house music that would be dubbed "techno", rose to fame in the late 1980s as one of the Detroit producing trio the Belleville Three, and had a hit with club classic Strings of Life under the name Rhythim Is Rhythim.
