Contemporary Christian music (CCM) singer Stacie Orrico has filed a lawsuit against her former manager, Britt Ham, along with Universal Music Group, ForeFront Records, and related entities, alleging Ham sexually abused her repeatedly over several years while she was a minor and that label executives knew about the inappropriate relationship but failed to protect her or intervene.
When Stacie Orrico was 13 she entered a singing contest and won, catching the attention of a Music Executive who offered her a contract. She signed with ForeFront Records and released her debut album, Genuine, in 2000.
Best known for crossover hits including “Don’t Look at Me”, “Stuck”, “(There’s Gotta Be) More to Life”, and “I’m Not Missing You”, she released three studio albums and sold millions of copies worldwide.
In her lawsuit, she alleges that she was sexually assaulted between the ages of 13 and 17 by Ham while on tour to promote her music, and that “the Christian music industry failed to implement safeguards to protect her from sexual abuse while she traveled specifically to California, to promote their mutual interests. The Christian music industry disregarded signs of abuse and then abandoned her when the abuse surfaced.”
She is suing for “Negligence, Negligent Supervision and Failure to
Warn, Negligent Failure to Warn, Train, or Educate, Sexual Battery, Gender Violence, Childhood Sexual Abuse, and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress,” and is seeking a jury trial.
She explains that after being discovered “label executives such as Eddie DeGarmo and Greg Ham presented Defendant Britt Ham as a trusted member of the Forefront family and broader Christian music industry family,” and that “the Defendants placed significant emphasis on Plaintiff’s Christian faith and it was always clear that she was being signed as a Christian child artist. Defendants determined and advised Plaintiff that her Christian image was integral to their management, packaging and promotion of her musical career.”
This promotion involved an extensive touring schedule. She recounts that the first abuse happened at 14.
While in this situation:
“Greg Ham contacted Plaintiff’s father and advised he witnessed Plaintiff and Defendant Britt Ham at a pool where there appeared to be too much touching going on such that it raised his concern that the amount of physical contact was not healthy.
In 2002, Eddie DeGarmo told Plaintiff that he was aware of her inappropriate relationship with Defendant Ham, told her that he had received similar reports from employees at Defendant Forefront, blamed her for the relationship, and told her that it could jeopardize her career.
Years later, agent Greg Ham admitted to the Brentwood Police Department that he knew that the then minor Plaintiff and Defendant Ham were in an inappropriate relationship. He stated that he confronted all involved parties but that they all denied the relationship.”
The abuse continued into her late teens, with Ham ultimately having penetrative sex with her.
She eventually terminated the relationship with Ham and her record company when she was 18, but the whole ordeal left her wrecked. She writes:
“As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants’ acts, Plaintiff suffered and has continued to suffer many harms including but not limited: anxiety; depression; stress; panic attacks; interpersonal relationship dysfunction; muscle cramping; sensitivity to noise; artistic and creative impairment; performance anxiety, and spiritual harm.
While Orrico seemed to have a long music career ahead of her, with her first two albums sold millions, her third and final album, Beautiful Awakening, came out in 2006, when she was twenty year old, and she never released another album.
She married singer Isaiah Johnsonin 2016 and they have two children.
One response to “CCM Star Stacie Orrico Files Lawsuit Alleging Childhood Sexual Abuse by Former Manager”
Oh, man. And just a few days ago, we heard about the alleged abuse by a gospel singer.