Sia has revealed how she prevented child actress Maddie Ziegler from flying with Harvey Weinstein on his private plane.
The disgraced 68-year-old film producer, who is now serving 23 years in prison, is said to have invited the youngster to join him on a private jet before reports of his predatory behaviour had surfaced.
Speaking on the Zach Sang Show, the Australian star explained that she had always felt protective over Maddie - who is now 17.
At the time, she begged Maddie's mum not to let the performer go with Weinstein.
"I mean, as soon as I met Maddie I felt this extreme desire to protect her, and I think that it was part of my own healing, and I felt this extreme compulsion to protect her," Sia said on the show.
The singer explained that she had discussed fame with Maddie, after she was propelled into the spotlight for appearing in her music videos.
Sia added: “The irony is that I didn’t want to be famous and I threw this child into the spotlight. She would say to me, ‘Don’t be silly, I was already famous and I wanted to be famous.’
"And I would say, ‘And you know, it can stop at any time, right? If you want it to stop, I can make it stop. You can just go back to being a normal person again.’ But she just said, ‘No, I love performing. I love dancing, and I love acting so much.’"
Sia then made the shock revelation that Weinstein wanted Maddie to join him on a plane and Sia stopped it.
“So I thought, how’s a good way I can keep her safe is just keep making projects for her, and therefore most of the time we’re working together – and you know I kept her off a plane that Harvey Weinstein tried to get her on,” she said.
"I know there’s times where my insight has really made a difference, like kept her safe… Yeah, that was really disgusting… When he invited her, that’s when I called, I told (her mom) Melissa, I had to. I just said, ‘Please don’t, do not do that, do not do that, do not do that.'”
A representative for Maddie has been contacted for comment.
During her interview, Sia also revealed that she is still in contact with Maddie and they remain close pals.
They even recorded a Tiger King parody video together during the lockdown.
Harvey was found guilty of third-degree rape and one count of a criminal sexual act in February 2020.
In April 2020, the former movie producer was found guilty of another sexual assault in Los Angeles.
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