The Pretenders lead singer still believes that she was to blame for what happened to her years ago when she was raped by a motorcycle gang.
- Sep 4, 2015
AceShowbiz - Chrissie Hynde has no regret about her controversial rape remarks. In a new interview promoting her memoir on CBS' "Sunday Morning", she said of the sexual assault she suffered at the hands of a violent gang years ago, "If you hung out with those guys, that's what happened. That's the way it was."
"We were just trying to score pot and see bands," the rocker recalled her partying days. "And if motorcycles were part of it, then even better." However, "with a lot of these guys, once you get involved with them, you don't really get out," she added. "Especially if you're a woman - you become sort of property."
In another chat with The Washington Post, Hynde just shrugged off the backlash she got for saying that she took "full responsibility" for what happened to her. "They're entitled to say whatever they want," she said of her critics. "Do I regret saying it? I don't know. ... If you don't want my opinion, don't ask me for it."
According to her, people needed to focus on more pressing issues. "You see that picture of a Turkish policeman carrying the body of a three-year-old boy who got washed up on the shore," she said. "These are the heartbreaking images we have and we're talking about millions of displaced persons and people whose families have been destroyed and we're talking about comments that I allegedly made about girls in their underwear."
The lead singer of The Pretenders previously sparked outrage after saying that rape victims were sometimes to blame. "If I'm walking around in my underwear and I'm drunk? Who else's fault can it be?" she told the Sunday Times magazine. "You know, if you don't want to entice a rapist, don't wear high heels so you can't run from him. If you're wearing something that says 'Come and f*** me', you'd better be good on your feet."
