Lance Bass has confirmed long-suspected rumors that he was inappropriately touched as a teenager while he was a member of ’N Sync.
Bass was a guest on The Meredith Vieira Show Wednesday. When the discussion turned to Ashley Judd's recent revelation that she was sexually harassed by a powerful man in Hollywood, Bass opened up about his own experience.
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"This happens to men, too," Bass told Vieira. "When I was 16, 17 years old, there was someone we worked with that was inappropriately touching us. I was even aware at 16 that this guy was a pedophile and he was touching me oddly."
Bass declined to identify the person in question, but allegations of inappropriate conduct with young boys have surrounded Lou Pearlman, the man who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, for two decades. (Pearlman is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding.)
“I mean, with the guys we would talk about,” Bass said. “We would kinda joke about it. But it’s not a joking thing.”