Fans were pretty pumped when Pretenders bandleader Chrissie Hynde announced that she was writing a tell-all memoir back in March. But now the release date for that memoir, September 8, is approaching, and Hynde has transformed that excitement into an unsettling cyclone of disappointment and sadness by going on record blaming herself for her own sexual assault in a recent interview.
Referring to the motorcycle-club member who raped her when she was 21, Hynde says, “You can’t fuck about with people, especially people who wear ‘I Heart Rape’ and ‘On Your Knees’ badges … those motorcycle gangs, that’s what they do.” Basically saying it was her fault for being there in the first place, she says, “You can’t paint yourself into a corner and then say whose brush is this? You have to take responsibility. I mean, I was naive … If you play with fire you get burnt.”
Adding that women who dress provocatively and get drunk around men should hold themselves responsible if they are assaulted, she adds:
If I’m walking around and I’m very modestly dressed and I’m keeping to myself and someone attacks me, then I’d say that’s his fault. But if I’m being very lairy and putting it about and being provocative, then you are enticing someone who’s already unhinged – don’t do that. Come on! That’s just common sense. You know, if you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him.