Debbie Gibson was before my time, but apparently she was some kind of sensation in the 1980’s. But Gibson recently talked to Fox News about how at just 16 the “Foolish Beat” singer was exposed to what Fox calls, “the very sinister side of showbiz”:
“It is very disheartening that there are so many older men that prey on young performers,” Gibson told Tarts in an exclusive interview. “The younger you are, the more innocent you are, the more wholesome your image is, the weirder the fans become in terms of older men wanting to corrupt little girls. Even the way the paparazzi stalk the younger artists is very different from following around adults – I find that very disturbing.”
But what is even more disturbing than dirty male “fans” was the fact that Gibson’s own peeps were often the ones on the prey.
“There would be older male record executives trying to take me to parties by myself but my mom always be like ‘she’s a sixteen year old girl, she’s not going into an atmosphere with over 21-year-olds and alcohol!’ I hadn’t had enough life experience for those situations,” Gibson admitted.
At no time in the article does Gibson mention pedophilia, which is sexual attraction toward pre-pubescent children.
Sexual attraction toward post-pubescent teenagers is called “being male” and pursuing a sexual relationship with a post pubescent teenager under 18 is called “being a sleaze”. Neither however are examples of “pedophilia”, and Gibson doesn’t seem to be responsible for the inaccurate word usage.
The term appears to be an editorial insertion by FoxNews.com column author Hollie McKay.
Random video to put the “who the eff is Debbie Gibson?” question into context for this story:
She looks better now at 39 than she ever did at 16.