Lily Allen discloses sexual assault by record industry executive

The star said such stories were common in the music industry

Lily Allen has written candidly for the first time about her alleged sexual assault by an unnamed music executive.

While she has discussed the incident in general terms before, she goes into detail in her new memoir, warning such stories were "rife" in the industry.

Allen said she met the executive in 2015, following her divorce from Sam Cooper, and "woke up to find him trying to have sex with her in a hotel room".

The singer said she initially blamed herself because she had been drinking.

In her book, titled My Thoughts Exactly, Allen explained how the executive had initially offered to help her with her addictions, only to get her drunk on tequila.

She brushed off her initial concerns and met him again at a party. When she got "smashed," he settled her in his hotel room to sleep it off, which was when the alleged assault took place.

"I woke up at 5am because I could feel someone next to me pressing their naked body against my back. I was naked, too.

She said she could feel him trying to have sex with her.

"I moved away as quickly as possible and jumped out of the bed, full of alarm … I found my clothes quickly … and ran out of his room and into my own."

The 33-year-old expressed frustration that she did not confront the man or report his behaviour - although she approached her lawyer and signed a sworn statement detailing her experience.

Speaking to The Guardian, Allen said she had wanted to name her alleged attacker in the book, but was advised against it by her publisher's legal team.

The incident had damaged her career, she added, after she turned down a Radio 1 gig because the executive would have been there.

"I didn't want to be around him and I got punished by Radio 1 with no airplay for my next single, Trigger Bang," she told the newspaper.

"I just couldn't tell them why I couldn't take the slot."

(In fact, Radio 1 did play Trigger Bang - the single was on the B playlist for five weeks. The B list includes the songs on the second-highest rotation on the station's daytime shows).

The star added that such experiences were not uncommon in the music industry.

Allen's memoir also goes into frank detail about the death of her son in 2010, her infidelity and addictions.

It is released on Thursday, the same day that Allen's latest album No Shame is up for the Mercury Prize.

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