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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Culture & Society

Spanish singer leaves band Presuntos Implicados citing extreme control and mistreatment

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Spanish singer Lydia Rodríguez has left the band Presuntos Implicados after 17 years, citing extreme control and mistreatment.
  • Rodríguez detailed systematic psychological pressure regarding her weight, appearance, and even her personal social media content.
  • She stated her bandmates were complicit in the mistreatment and did not defend her, leading her to seek a future with freedom and respect in her solo career.

Lydia Rodríguez, the vocalist for the Spanish band Presuntos Implicados for 17 years, has announced her departure, citing extreme control and mistreatment within the group. The singer revealed on social media that the public image of the band contrasted sharply with the backstage reality, where she felt systematically excluded and silenced.

For a long time, they made me feel completely excluded; I had no say in the group.

— Lydia RodríguezDescribing her feelings of exclusion and lack of agency within the band.

Rodríguez described enduring constant aesthetic pressure that took a significant psychological toll. She was systematically made to feel bad about her weight, clothing, makeup, and hair. The control extended to her personal social media, limiting her freedom of expression even on her own platforms. A particularly jarring incident involved a band manager telling her, "When you go on stage, everyone has to want to fuck you," for which she received no apology.

They systematically made me feel bad about my weight, my clothes, my makeup, and my hair.

— Lydia RodríguezDetailing the constant aesthetic pressure she faced.

Adding to her distress, Rodríguez felt a profound lack of camaraderie from the other two band members. She stated they were complicit in the mistreatment she suffered and never defended her, enduring "intolerable situations fueled by their exaggerated egos." She noted that these experiences helped her understand the reasons behind the original vocalist Sole Giménez's departure from the band.

When you go on stage, everyone has to want to fuck you.

— Band managerA quote illustrating the extreme and inappropriate comments made to the singer.

Rodríguez also mentioned financial difficulties, as she was not permitted to work when the group was not generating income, especially since they had no new albums or planned performances. She concluded that remaining in a stagnant environment with no projects, evolution, or respect was untenable. Looking forward, Rodríguez expressed excitement for her solo career, where she aims to find freedom, dignity, and respect, believing "the best is yet to come."

They were accomplices in the mistreatment I suffered and never defended me. I endured intolerable situations fueled by their exaggerated egos.

— Lydia RodríguezExpressing her disappointment with her bandmates' lack of support.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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