TORONTO, ON (CelebrityAccess) – Noire<\/strong>, a former musician, reports to Canadian correspondent Karen Bliss<\/strong> from Billboard.com<\/em> that her dream of becoming a professional artist and musician ended – after Toronto radio promoter Adrian Strong<\/strong> promised the then 28-year-old a potential record deal – enticing her to leave Toronto and head to South Carolina.<\/p>\n

Strong was the President of the now defunct DMD Entertainment – then a radio promotion service in Canada for Top 40 records and a music industry vet with a history of success at Canadian radio. Billboard<\/em> reports that Strong told Noire that the founders of a new Atlanta label urgently wanted to meet her in Hilton Head Island, SC after he played them her music demos. Instead, she alleges, he drugged, raped and held her captive for over 18 hours at a Marriott hotel in Charleston and cut a piece of her scalp to take home as a “souvenir.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cruelest thing Adrian did was leaving me alive,\u201d says Noire. Now 42, she lives in LA and long gave up her dream and the desire for a music career. She tells Billboard<\/em> she \u201cran away\u201d from Toronto in July 2010 because she had a mental breakdown. \u201cPeople are like, \u2018Well, you survived that,\u2019\u201d says Noire. \u201cBut you don\u2019t understand how I keep my head together: It\u2019s not by telling myself \u2018I survived it;\u2019 it\u2019s by telling myself, \u2018No, I died in that. This is the afterlife.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bliss reports that Noire was concerned that Strong, who still works in an industry loaded with young women, went public by posting a photo of his face with the words “INCEL RAPIST” scrawled above his head in red. Also included was a highly detailed account of what happened to her that weekend, including her allegation that he cut “a section of my scalp out as a souvenir.”\u00a0 Below is a copy of her Instagram (IG) post dated November 1, 2019.<\/p>\n

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The above post, even with the contents circulated throughout the Canadian music industry, reports Billboard<\/em> but had minimal impact, if any, on his career – then the pandemic swept in, and his company, DMD, continued to be hired. Despite Noire’s allegations, Strong kept his social media but stopped posting to his IG and Facebook (FB) accounts.<\/p>\n

According to Billboard,<\/em> Noire posted about Strong again on April 25, 2022, after seeing a photo of him with other Canadian music figures at that year\u2019s Coachella music festival. She reposted the picture, calling out Strong\u2019s \u201cindustry friends\u201d and accusing him of being a \u201cCanadian music industry serial rapist\u201d and \u201cthis monster who raped and mutilated me.\u201d Per Billboard<\/em>, the following day, Strong\u2019s Instagram, @strongstyles, was deleted; less than three months later, so was his Facebook account. (On July 7, 2023, Strong restored his Facebook and Instagram accounts, with all photos deleted.)<\/p>\n

In the three-plus years that followed Noire\u2019s initial post, five women, according to Bliss, sent empathetic messages on Instagram, telling her they had similar experiences with Strong. Two of those agreed to be interviewed for the Billboard<\/em> story provided pseudonyms identified them. The woman \u2014 18 when she met him; the other was in her mid-20s \u2014 accused Strong of using his power and position in the music industry to extort sexual favors.<\/p>\n

Billboard<\/em> reports that another woman who is not connected to the entertainment business and initially spoke on the record said she was raped by Strong the first time they met in person after connecting on the dating site Seeking Arrangement and remained in contact with him for years because she says he had taken explicit videos of her without consent and was afraid he would leak them online. Billboard<\/em> reports that after sharing her story in a two-hour Zoom interview, she decided she was not ready to share her account’s full details publicly. However, she confirmed that aspects of her experience with Strong were similar or nearly identical to the other women\u2019s accounts.<\/p>\n

In response to emails sent to Strong from Billboard<\/em>\u00a0detailing the allegations against him, he issued a statement through his US attorney, Daniel Watkins<\/strong>, a partner at Clare Locke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI categorically deny sexually assaulting or drugging anyone,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>says Strong, who provided one email, four photographs and one message exchange \u2014 referenced in the Billboard<\/em> story \u2014 that he adds <\/span>\u201cconfirms that these serious charges are untrue.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past decade, our industry has gone through a lot of change when it comes to understanding power dynamics,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>Strong\u2019s statement also reads.<\/span> \u201cIn my 20s and 30s, I had romantic relationships with artists \u2014 that were consensual \u2014 which was not uncommon in the industry. I am now accused of being sexually abusive and using my position in an exploitative way during that time. I wholeheartedly deny these claims,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>he continues<\/span>,<\/span> \u201cThese allegations have given me pause to reflect on what I have done or could be doing better. I never intended to cause anyone pain.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Strong took administrative leave from DMD. Weeks later, the company was shuttered, and two of Strong\u2019s former colleagues opened a new radio promotion company.<\/p>\n

For more detailed information on this story, please click HERE<\/span><\/a> for the full Billboard article.<\/p>\n

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TORONTO, ON (CelebrityAccess) – Noire, a former musician, reports to Canadian correspondent Karen Bliss from Billboard.com that her dream of becoming a professional artist and musician ended – after Toronto radio promoter Adrian Strong promised the then 28-year-old a potential record deal – enticing her to leave Toronto and head to South Carolina. Strong was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":138124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stc_notifier_status":"sent","_stc_notifier_sent_time":"2023-07-27 12:32:47","_stc_notifier_request":false,"_stc_notifier_prevent":false,"_stc_subscriber_keywords":"","_stc_subscriber_search_areas":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[71,51,75,22,78,108],"tags":[20280,1097],"class_list":["post-138104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artis-news","category-breaking-news","category-business-news","category-industry_news","category-international-news","category-opinion-news","tag-adrianstrong","tag-metoo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n