The journalist had just asked her about a traumatic experience from her youth when Chrissie Hynde said something that ended up sparking a heated debate.
In 2015, while promoting her memoir Reckless, the lead singer of The Pretenders said that at 21 she had been sexually assaulted after accompanying a member of a motorcycle gang to an empty house.
What was unexpected was that Hynde said she took “full responsibility” for putting herself, in her own words, in a dangerous situation. She also suggested that women should consider how they dress, how much they drink, or even whether they wear heels when they go out.
Her statements were quickly challenged by organizations that support survivors, who pointed out that no clothing, behavior, or alcohol consumption makes a victim responsible for an assault.
Weeks later, Hynde clarified that she was speaking from her own experience and denied having meant that a woman “asks” to be attacked. But the debate was already underway, and her words ended up becoming some of the most controversial of her career.