The star got an apology from after bravely sharing her horrific experiences in the music industry but she was wary.
The 37-year-old first appeared on screens in 2010, stunning the nation with her talent but behind the scenes lay a labyrinth of , according to Rebecca.
For many years she has been but has now revealed Simon, the boss behind record company Syco and the ITV hit show,
‘Simon Cowell did apologise about my experience in music and I’m grateful for that,’ Rebecca told Metro.co.uk.
While the apology was appreciated, she added: ‘To be honest, I didn’t completely trust it. If I’m just being really plain speaking – I didn’t completely trust it but the acknowledgement is important.’
The singer, who is releasing her final album on December 6, has been campaigning for for many years, with threats made on her life in response.
She revealed a little of Simon’s apology as she shared: ‘It’s important that there was an acknowledgement of my experience, and there was acknowledgement that he wished he could have stepped in under more to keep me safe.
‘If you are running a record label, you have to take responsibility for how your artists are treated and you have to have your eye on the ball. And admittedly, as [Simon] said when he apologised to me, his eye wasn’t on the ball.’
Rebecca revealed to that she was ‘shaking’ when she told Simon about her experiences, with the mogul acknowledging her ‘distress’ and saying people had been ‘bad’ to him too.
The Liverpool-born songstress took a great risk in speaking out, with her career thrown into turmoil in response to her pushback and vocal outing of experiences on social media.
Earlier this year, she shared a screenshot of an email that she said she sent to ITV and Ofcom in 2021 making a ‘formal complaint’ in relation to the treatment of contestants on reality shows, but said ‘my concerns appeared to be fobbed off.’
After a public outcry and internal discussions, Rebecca confirmed ITV had said they were putting measures in place to safeguard contestants, although the X Factor itself is no longer on air.
Despite a private acknowledgement of her experiences, the I Hope singer confessed to Metro she ‘would have liked Simon and ITV to have made more of a public statement’ in light of her campaigning.
Alongside writing and recording for Heaven Part II – named after her first album –gave evidence on a government committee for misogyny in music, pushing for governmental change.
She worked with the Department for Culture to put in place safeguarding for musicians, as she claimed the industry was almost completely unregulated.
‘You’re dealing with people’s lives,’ Rebecca added. ‘You’re ultimately the one bringing them to this new life that they’re not experienced or equipped for.
‘So you need to make sure that everyone that is around them and in their life that you’ve given to them – by their own choice – are good people and I do believe that’s the responsibility of the company.
‘I don’t expect young working class kids to have known what was going on. That was the job of the company to make sure that we were in safe hands.’
Rebecca plans to leave the traditional music industry behind with her final studio album Heaven Part II, which is out everywhere on December 6.
Metro has reached out to Simon’s representatives for comment.
