Julio Iglesias, the crooner who introduced Latin music to audiences around the world, is accused by two former employees of sexual misconduct, rape, and human trafficking.
The two women, who worked respectively as a physiotherapist and a domestic worker, allege that the abuse took place in 2021 over a ten-month period at Iglesias’ properties in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. According to their testimonies, the singer allegedly subjected them to “sexual harassment, regularly searched their mobile phones, restricted their ability to leave the home where they worked, and required them to work up to 16 hours a day without days off.”
According to the BBC, organizations such as Amnesty International and Women’s Link Worldwide argue that the allegations could constitute “a crime of human trafficking for the purposes of forced labor” and “crimes against sexual freedom.”
Iglesias responded in a statement published on Instagram, writing: “It is with profound sadness that I respond to the accusations made by two people who previously worked for me. I have never felt such malice, but I still have the strength to make the whole truth known and to defend my dignity in the face of such a serious accusation.”
The singer also thanked the “many dear people who sent me messages of affection and loyalty,” saying he found “great comfort” in them.
This is not the first controversy involving the 82-year-old artist. The most popular Spanish singer of all time, and the recipient of more than 1,600 gold and platinum records, was implicated in the Panama Papers scandal in 2017, which exposed the schemes used by some of the world’s wealthiest individuals to conceal their money. In 2021, his name also appeared in the Pandora Papers, a similar investigation.
The artist, who is the father of singer Enrique Iglesias, ended his professional career in 2015.
