Nine-time Grammy Award-winning American singer Sheryl Crow says she learned a “life lesson” in the music industry after being sexually harassed by Michael Jackson’s manager Frank DiLeo.
Sheryl Crow is opening up about the sexual harassment she faced from the late singer Michael Jackson’s manager – Frank DiLeo while on tour with the “King of Pop” in the late 1980s, according to People.
Sheryl Crow, 59, recalled her big career break in 1987 when she auditioned for Michael Jackson’s first solo world tour in an interview with The Independent.
“It was amazing for a young person like me to come from a small town in Missouri and go into the world of fame, working with the biggest pop star. But I also got a life lesson in the music industry,” the singer said.

Sheryl Crow toured with the “King of Pop” Michael Jackson in the late 1980s

Sheryl Crow said that the press once reported that Michael Jackson had a crush on a “very sexy backup singer” and that Michael even offered her $2 million to have a child. In her memoir Words+Music , published in September 2020, Sheryl Crow revealed that stories like these were planted by DiLeo “to make the audience think that Michael Jackson was interested in women.”

Sheryl Crow claimed that it was DiLeo who paid her attention, promising to make her a pop star while sexually harassing her. She also alleged that DiLeo threatened to end her career if she refused his advances. Sheryl Crow complied before returning to her Los Angeles apartment in 1989, where she suffered a prolonged bout of depression.
DiLeo worked with a number of famous artists over the years, most notably Michael Jackson. He managed the “King of Pop” in the late 1980s and again in 2009, until Jackson’s death in June 2009. DiLeo died in August 2011 from complications following heart surgery at the age of 63.
“When I go back and look at some of the memorabilia and the experiences that came with it, it all brings back memories of the long period of sexual harassment I endured while touring with Michael Jackson. I’m speaking out in the midst of the MeToo movement,” Sheryl Crow concluded. She also told Words+Music , “it was the first time I’ve spoken about sexual abuse and it was really uncomfortable. But I feel so much stronger for speaking out.”