Lance Bass appeared on Meredith Viera’s talk show today and revealed that he and other members of ‘N SYNC were inappropriately touched by an older man when they were still in their teens.
The panel was discussing Ashley Judd’s claim that she was sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein when Bass opened up and revealed that he’d suffered similar abuse:
“This also happens to men, too,” he said. “It has happened to me. When I was 16, 17 years old, and we started, there was someone that we worked with that was inappropriately touching us.
“I was even aware then, at 16, that this guy was a pedophile. He was touching me oddly.”
Bass added that he and the other members of the band – which included pop mega-star Justin Timberlake – would cope with the harassment by talking about the incidents of abuse with one another.
“With the guys we would kind of talk about it, joke about, but it’s not a joking thing…I’m glad that we were aware of it and we didn’t feel victimized at the time,” Bass said.
Many in the media have speculated that the man responsible for the abuse is disgraced ‘N SYNC manager Lou Pearlman.
Though Bass didn’t mention Pearlman by name today, the 61-year-old boy band impresario has been accused of child molestation in the past.
Pearlman is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence on unrelated charges.
