In a new interview, the former member of the girl group alleges that people close to the band took advantage of her and her former bandmates, stating that they're 'thrown into the spotlight' at such a young age.
- Dec 15, 2021
AceShowbiz - Lauren Jauregui has opened up about her time with Fifth Harmony. In a new interview, the former member of the girl group insisted that there's "sisterhood" among her groupmates, Camila Cabello, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane and Normani Kordei, despite "abusive" dynamics in the band.
When asked whether she thought the group's relationship was more like a "co-worker-ship" or a "sisterhood" during the interview with "Zach Sang Show" on Sunday, December 12, the "PRELUDE" songstress said, "I think that we went through too much life s**t together for to just be a co-worker-ship." She stressed, "I think that there's a sisterhood."
"There's just this constant love no matter what. But I think we all took our time to heal," Lauren continued. "And I think that's the path that we're on right now. Because a lot of what happened to us wasn't even us. It was all of the pieces around us."
Lauren then alleged that people close to the band took advantage of her and her former bandmates, noting that they were "thrown into the spotlight" at such a young age. "Because remember, 'The X Factor' is not even anything but a reality show that you're on TV in front of millions off the bat, and I think we all just had our own way of processing that," she elaborated.
"And that affected the group in general. And that affected us personally," Lauren continued. "And I think that now we're at a point in our lives where we're healing from it, and we're each doing what we were truly meant to do for ourselves."
Lauren later added, "[There was] no one to teach us that [communication], no one. No mental health resources anywhere along the way." She claimed, "[We were] expected to be an adult at adolescence, with zero knowledge of this industry. So many adults taking advantage of that naivete. It's abusive."
Elsewhere in the conversation, Lauren assured that she has no regrets about being in the group. "If it hadn't happened, exactly how it did, I would not be where I am. So I don't regret a second of anything that happened," so said the singer. She also noted that though there were negative aspects to being in the group, she still believes what the group did together was "beautiful."
"It was such a beautiful, inspiring experience from the outside. I think that there was a lot that we went through internally that has nothing to do with anybody, to be honest," Lauren said. "It's our own business. Unfortunately, in this music industry, internal business is always everybody's business or is assumed to be everybody's business. But what's important, I think, about what Fifth Harmony did was that we inspired so many of y'all to love yourselves and to be yourselves."
Several of her bandmates have also come forward to describe their time in the group as abusive. In May, Ally revealed that Fifth Harmony faced "mental and verbal abuse." She said, "It was hard because there was so much going on. So much behind the scenes, so much toxicity, so much abuse, so much about of power, so much mental abuse, verbal abuse, and it's just horrible and to me, it's a shame because we were so big. I should have enjoyed myself more."
Normani, in the meantime, stated that being in the group "took a toll" on her confidence. "[It] alters the perception you have of yourself," she said back in November 2020. "Having certain things happen so blatantly while also feeling like the 'other' and being so young and hearing the public compare [us] took a toll on my confidence."
