Sandie Shaw was warned to keep quiet over unwanted advances

Sixties music icon Sandie Shaw was allegedly warned to keep quiet about the unwanted advances of predatory older men in the entertainment industry when she was a teenage pop star. The Puppet on a String hitmaker, now 66, shot to fame as a 17 year old in the 1960s and was a regular performer on British music shows such as the BBC’s Top of the Pops.
However, Shaw has now revealed she saw a darker side of the entertainment industry but was allegedly told she risked destroying her career if she spoke out.
She tells Britain’s Daily Mirror, “People who could take advantage of that (sexually liberated era of the 1960s) did… My manager told me to shut up if I wanted to stay in work. They tried to make sure I was never left alone with them (older men), that they were never in the studio… (My manager was of) a previous generation where it was casting couch stuff so for her it was like ‘What’s the problem?’ Things were utterly different then. There’s nothing as sterile as a BBC studio these days.”
Shaw’s comments come as a police investigation in Britain is probing numerous allegations of sexual abuse after late entertainer Sir Jimmy Savile was unmasked as a serial paedophile who had abused up to 450 youngsters throughout his long-running career at the BBC.
However, Shaw insists she will not divulge any more details as she has no interest in being dragged into the inquiry.
She adds, “I’m not part of the witch hunt. I don’t want to be.”
The star also insists anyone affected by the scandal should be given the necessary support and help: “I think it’s really important that the people it affected are listened to.”