In a new interview with Vulture, Paramore lead Hayley Williams opened up about experiencing sexism in the music industry. She recalled a particularly disturbing moment where a friend of Taking Back Sunday guitarist John Nolan allegedly made an inappropriate comment about her when she was a teen.
"We toured with a band and we were on their bus and one of their friends said something about my pussy. In front of me," she said. "I can’t remember what this guy said because I saw red so fast, but he referred to my pussy. I was literally 16, about to turn 17. Everyone was laughing. No one paid fucking attention. I was like, 'Why do you think it’s cool to refer to my pussy?'"
When asked who the guy was friends with, Hayley revealed that it was Straylight Run.
"The band was Straylight Run — one of the guys from Taking Back Sunday [John Nolan] and his sister. She was my saving grace. It was the first time I’d ever toured with a woman. She was much older than me. But John was so pissed."
"Once I spoke how I felt into existence, it was like I created a vacuum: 'Oh, yeah, that’s not okay.' I was so much bolder when the opportunity arose for me to speak up for myself, because the internet wasn’t what it is today."
Hayley also remembered dealing with plenty of sexism during Warped Tour, which was notorious for mostly including men in the lineup. She talked about the condom incident at Warped Tour in 2006, where someone threw a condom at her chest in the middle of her set.
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"I got condoms thrown at me. In 2005, I wore T-shirts every day. In 2006, I was a little more comfortable. I’d wear a tank top. But my chest was exposed," she said. "We were in San Diego or San Francisco, and a condom flew at me, and it stuck to my chest while I performed. I was so embarrassed. I started talking shit because I was so young and arrogant. I don’t think I was wrong."
You can read the whole interview here.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated which person allegedly made the inappropriate comment to Williams.