Jordan Pruitt, a contestant on series three of the American version of The Voice, has filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against her former manager Keith Thomas.
The singer also sued her former record label, Hollywood Records, and its parent company, Disney, who she accused of failing to prevent the abuse that allegedly began when she was 14.
In the lawsuit, Pruitt – who used the pseudonym Jane Doe – alleges that Thomas was left unsupervised even though the label either knew or should have known that he was a danger to children.
She also accused Disney of treating their “underage talent like cash cows”.
“Unfortunately, these large companies are primarily concerned with sales, money and charts,” Pruitt told Variety. “Too often they fall short of protecting the young talent that they are ‘supposed’ to be caretakers for. Time and time again we see people in positions of power fail us. I couldn’t be more disappointed in how Disney treats their underage talent like cash cows.”
Pruitt signed with Hollywood Records in 2005 and went on to release two albums. She alleges that the abuse began when she joined the label at 14, and continued until a week before her 16th birthday. She claims that the abuse involved oral sex, and that Thomas took her virginity. She also alleges that she was drugged and anally penetrated.
The suit claims that Thomas groomed Pruitt, controlling her professional life, distancing her from boys her own age, and criticising her appearance and ability.
Thomas is a prolific Nashville producer, having worked with country music star Ronnie Milsap, gospel singers Bebe and Cece Winans and Christian pop artist Amy Grant.
For the past 20 years, he has worked with many teenage female singers and in 2013 starred on Chasing Nashville, a Lifetime reality show following four girls pursuing their country music dreams.
Disney and Hollywood Records did not comment on the complaint. Thomas directed a request for comment to his attorney, who did not respond to Variety.
The suit was originally filed under a pseudonym and was amended with the real names of the parties on Tuesday.
Pruitt is currently writing a book about her experience, entitled AA: Abused Anonymous.
