Jamie Foxx’s recent appearance on the Drink Champs podcast, where he described being creeped out by music icon Quincy Jones’ advances years ago, has ignited controversy and raised larger questions around sexual exploitation still occurring in the entertainment industry.
Quincy Jones’ Towering Status Built on Talent But Enabled Predatory Behavior
At age 89, Quincy Jones sits comfortably atop Mount Olympus in the music world alongside names like Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Count Basie after a legendary 60+ year career. With 28 Grammys, 79 Grammy nominations, and over 300 million records sold, Jones’ influence as a producer, composer and arranger is unmatched. His work on Michael Jackson’s best-selling albums “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad” alone sealed his place in history.
But Jones’ towering industry status also came with power that enabled disturbing behavior, if Jamie Foxx’s story is true. Back in the early 2000s when Jamie Foxx’s career was taking off, his encounter with the music icon left him unsettled. As Foxx tells it, he was eager to meet the legendary Quincy Jones when they both found themselves at the same event. But Jones’ intense focus on Foxx and the way he lavished praise on the young actor made Foxx so uncomfortable, he promptly exited the conversation.
In Foxx’s words: *“Quincy Jones passed me and he goes, ‘Hey motherf**!’ And I’m like, ‘Quincy Jones knows who I am?’ And he grabbed me and held me and he said all this stuff, and we exchanged numbers. And a few days later, he called my house, he said, ‘I want you to play me.’ I said, ‘Play you?’ He said, ‘Yeah mothafa, play me.’ I said, ‘Oh I get it, you want me to play you in the movie.’ He said, ‘No negro, play me, the instrument.’ And that’s when the horrors started with Quincy Jones.”*
This interaction hints at inappropriate intentions that are deeply troubling, especially given Foxx was just launching his career at the time. For a young aspirant hoping to get his big break, fending off a sexual predator with Jones’ amount of industry power would be extremely intimidating. Foxx’s revelation now sheds light on Jones’ alleged predatory patterns.
Oprah Also Complicit If Luring Young Talent for Jones
But even more disturbing is Foxx’s later claim that media icon Oprah Winfrey was somehow complicit in manipulating young actors and musicians into spending time alone with Quincy Jones.
Foxx recounts uncomfortably: *“Oprah hauled ass down to Quincy’s house. She said, ‘You need to come out to my house in Palm Springs.’ I go to her house in Palm Springs. It’s me, her and Quincy. And I’m like ‘What the f** is going on?’ …Why am I here? And she goes, ‘Oh I just wanted to make sure you two connect.’”
If Oprah was indeed luring young black actors under false pretenses to get them to Jones’ home, it’s incredibly problematic. As one of the most powerful women in media known for uplifting minority talent, this duplicitous behavior completely contradicts her brand. It also echoes some of the manipulation tactics used by now disgraced figures like Harvey Weinstein, where influential industry figures promise young talent career help but lead them toward predatory situations. Oprah needs to address these reputational red flags directly if these Jamie Foxx stories have any merit.
Tip of the Iceberg in Revelations Around Abuse of Power in Entertainment Industry
Sadly, these questionable accounts about Jones and Oprah seem less shocking within the wider context of #MeToo revelations exposing rampant sexual misconduct across film, music, media and comedy industries over the past five years.
Foxx’s friend and mentor, comic billionaire Byron Allen, has been vocally calling out worse racial discrimination and mistreatment people of color face trying to break through in Hollywood. He recounts to Foxx being drugged once by a powerful unnamed mogul in the 90s after being promised a career boost over drinks.
Even beloved stars aren’t immune from potentially disturbing encounters. Actress SANAA Lathan recently described an unsettling hotel suite meeting early in her career with since-disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein, where he allegedly propositioned her and touched her legs inappropriately after brainstorming a potential film.
Scores of models, actresses, singers similarly recount Weinstein dangling career promises but then pushing for sexual favors and assaulting or blacklisting them if denied. The horrific testimony suggests the entertainment industry’s glamorous facade hides disturbing coercion by men leveraging power for sexual gain.
And consider R.Kelly’s decades long pattern of sexually exploiting and dehumanizing rising young black female artists, enabled by his fame, wealth and connections. Or the nefarious sex trafficking ring run by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein involving underage girls and elite circles of politicians, CEOs and royalty.
All these revelations interconnect, pointing to deeper societal issues around consent, gender-based violence and those in positions of power abusing said influence.
While forced gay initiation rituals may sound outlandish to some, it’s likely only scratching the surface of the industry’s dark underbelly. If figures as prominent as Oprah and Quincy Jones are credibly accused of gross misconduct, who else might be complicit behind the scenes? How many victims are still afraid to come forward? A sober, unflinching industry reckoning is long overdue.
Silenced Victims Finally Ready to Speak Out En Masse Against Powerful Predators
The systemic abuse of aspiring young talent trying to succeed in entertainment spans all genders and orientations. For every confident A-lister like Brad Pitt who rejects Harvey Weinstein’s advances, hundreds of unestablished names across every field lack the ability to jeopardize their career by resisting predators with sway over their dreams.
Still the abused often blame themselves, fearing they did something to invite their assault or harassment when the real perpetrators are those exploiting power imbalances. Trauma, shame, being gaslit into silence prevents victims from reporting these violations for years or even decades.
But the cultural shift of #MeToo and #TimesUp has empowered more formerly silenced individuals to speak their truth. The allegations keep mounting against once “untouchable” titans from Harvey Weinstein to Bill Cosby to R Kelly who got away with predation for eons, until the collective voices rising in number finally initiated their overdue downfall.
The Jaime Foxx reveal on Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey may be just the tip of the iceberg in blowing open the darker secrets of Hollywood. And if moral media icons near-universally beloved like Oprah are credibly accused of enabling such activities, then no one should be above investigation.
True Culture Change Starts By Believing Victims and Limiting Concentrated Power
There’s now clearly an ugly pattern suggesting aspiring creatives trying to succeed across visual and sound arts face routine harassment, manipulation or assault by influential gatekeeping names promising access and stardom.
Grooming young talent by feigning interest in their skills but truly seeking sexual exploitation continues thriving due to the consolidated grip a select few maintain over an entire industry.
When a handful of powerful figures control all capital, casting decisions, press access, promotional routes necessary to make it big, that system will inevitably get abused to procure sexual favors.
So preventing future exploitation requires dismantling the excessive gatekeeper control by a tiny oligarchy of studio heads, media empires, record label chiefs and talent management companies.
It starts with believing victims when they find the courage to come forward, holding abusers fully accountable no matter how famous or connected. But also rethinking why such immense sway gets accorded to certain names like Harvey Weinstein or Quincy Jones in the first place.
Talent should have options to record, distribute entertainment and art without just five corporations controlling promotions and social access opportunities. Open up paths for fresh faces to participate based solely on creativity rather than demanding sexual submission as an entry fee.
If survivors like Jamie Foxx feel confident coming forward immediately when violated rather than hiding disturbing Quincy Jones encounters for 17 years, it can protect others from becoming future victims. But Foxx also notes after his creepy Palm Springs experience with Jones and Oprah: *“I got the f** out of there. I clearly wasn’t there for no mentoring.”
When self-preservation means swiftly escaping unsafe situations with powerful names rather than hoping they’ll mentor young talent, that’s proof the system remains broken. An industry culture allowing influential legends like Quincy Jones or Oprah Winfrey to potentially manipulate aspiring artists as sexual prey urgently requires radical reform.