Macy Gray Denies Groping Allegations Amid Controversy

Macy Gray faced fierce scrutiny when she stormed off ITV's The Masked Singer last year - after being one of the first contestants to be voted out. Now the American soul singer, famous for her raspy vocals, has found herself at the centre of a very different controversy.

The I Try hitmaker, 58, is fighting allegations that she 'groped' Grammy Award-winning producer Dallas Austin, during a recording session for her third album The Trouble with Being Myself. Austin, 55, who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Gwen Stefani, said he felt 'violated' after Gray allegedly put 'her hands down my pants, inside my underwear, squeezes me and then goes, 'Ooh, nice,' and then took her hand out of my pants'.

Now, speaking publicly for the first time, Gray firmly denies the claims and tells me: 'I don't know what he [Dallas] is talking about, it doesn't sound like anything I would do.'

The Ohio-born star, who has released ten albums, and sold more than 25 million records, calls the accusations illogical. 'How would I even do that? I don't even know how you would go down into a man's pants without him even stopping you first. Or even how would you undo his belt.'

The divorced singer, who has three adult children from her marriage to mortgage broker Tracey Hinds and lives in Los Angeles, says they were left distraught by the claims. 'I talked about it with my daughter because she was really upset about it. I run into Dallas every once and a while and he's never said to me, 'remember that time you put your hand in my pants?'

While no criminal action has been taken, Gray is finding solace in her music and is putting the final touches to her new album, which she says she is planning on calling Love Songs for Big Hearts and Robots.

Macy faced fierce scrutiny when she stormed off ITV's The Masked Singer last year - and is now fighting allegations she 'groped' producer Dallas Austin during a recording session

Gray is fighting allegations that she 'groped' Grammy Award-winning producer Dallas Austin, during a recording session for her third album The Trouble with Being Myself

She tells me: 'I think that we [humans] all are half and half at this point. We're a robot when it comes to social media. You wake up, you roll over, you look at your social media. The album will have a love song for everybody.'

'How would I even do that? I don't even know how you would go down into a man's pants without him even stopping you first. Or even how would you undo his belt.'

The divorced singer, who has three adult children from her marriage to mortgage broker Tracey Hinds and lives in Los Angeles, says they were left distraught by the claims.

'I talked about it with my daughter because she was really upset with it. I run into Dallas every once and a while and he's never said to me, remember that time you put your hand in my pants?'

While no criminal action has been taken, Gray is finding solace in her music and is putting the final touches to her new album, which she says she is planning on calling 'Love Songs for Big Hearts and Robots.' She tells me: 'I think that we [humans] all are half and half at this point. We're a robot when it comes to social media. You wake up, you roll over, you look at your social media. The album will have a love song for everybody.'

Gray remains a purist when it comes to her art and says she is against AI being used in music.

Austin, 55, said he felt 'violated' after Gray allegedly put 'her hands down my pants, inside my underwear, squeezes me and then goes, 'Ooh, nice' '

'I think AI will eventually be the absolute death of music. I think if the labels and the radio stations, continue to endorse AI, I think they will kill music, because what you're doing is supporting technology.'

She explains: 'You might not have to invest as much, but you're not going to get that return. AI is never going to come up with a Bruno Mars or a Madonna or a Macy Gray. Ever since technology became such a big part of the industry, it's gotten smaller and smaller, and you would think that everybody would have learned from that.'

Macy also remains on the fence about doing reality TV again having starred in MTV's The Surreal Life: Villa of Secrets in 2024. She admits: 'It's definitely odd walking around and the camera's following you. People don't realise how much they really pull these moments from here and there.'

Having now made a name for herself on The Masked Singer Australia, USA and UK, Macy says she will now only return to the franchise, if only she's invited on as 'a judge'.

As Macy approaches, her sixties, she says she's feeling more comfortable in her skin.

'That's one thing you cannot defeat, is getting older. There's nothing you can do about it. So, I decided to just age as gracefully as I can. I'm terrified of gastric surgery because I've seen something of it and I just I'm so scared of that. I'm probably just going to look how I look.

'There's little stuff you can do, like using creams and exercise and all that stuff, but everybody just has to face it one day. You're going to get old.'

I'm a shaman, says Bianca Jagger

It's nearly 50 years since Bianca Jagger mounted a white steed and rode into history at New York's Studio 54. But her spirit remains magnificently untamed.

'I am a shaman,' Bianca, 80, assured guests at an environmental dinner at Ce LA VI  restaurant in west London.

'I have been contacted by spirits who know the risks we face if we continue down this path of destroying and destroying, with enormous consequences.'

Eugenie pal's fertility battle

Princess Eugenie's pal Poppy Jamie once revealed she discreetly excused herself during a dinner hosted by the King's niece to inject herself with fertility drugs in the toilet

Princess Eugenie's pal Poppy Jamie once revealed she discreetly excused herself during a dinner hosted by the King's niece three years ago - to inject herself with fertility drugs in the toilet.

Sadly, the television presenter, 35, still faces ongoing struggles four years after being diagnosed with extremely low fertility.

'Last year I lost two pregnancies at close to five months each,' she wrote online. 'It was incomprehensible. Not many words could describe the shock and sadness.'

Harry misses Loadsamoney

Comedian Harry Enfield isn't laughing at TV's love affair with period dramas over sketch comedy. The Loadsamoney star says finance is dwindling for his art

Comedian Harry Enfield isn't laughing at TV's love affair with period dramas over sketch comedy. The Loadsamoney star says finance is dwindling for his art.

'Half the day you're spending in make-up, changing character and stuff. In the old days you'd get a reasonable budget. You can't do it now.'

He adds: 'I got a third of the budget [that] you get for an hour of some drama where everyone's in one costume and everyone's walking around a pretty place.'

Old Etonian father of baby killer quits UK

After his daughter, Constance, was convicted of killing her baby, Victoria, and sentenced to 14 years for manslaughter last September, Napier Marten responded stoically, telling a friend that it was much as he had expected and adding that Constance had shown no remorse.

But it seems the Old Etonian, 66, who grew up in Crichel House, ­Dorset, on an estate encompassing four villages and 150 houses and cottages, feels that he'll only achieve peace of mind far from these shores.

He has, I can disclose, taken up residence in Panama.

Perhaps it will inspire his next ­collection of poetry. His first, Taplash Meditations, won the 2025 Poetry Book Awards.

Remembering lines is a prized skill for any actor but Sean Bean concedes his memory isn't what it used to be. The Sheffield-born star, 66, admits: 'I used to look at a script and go, 'Oh yeah, I've got loads of lines, brilliant'. But now, when I get a script, I have a skim through and go, 'I haven't got many lines, I'll do it'.'

The naked truth about Bridgerton star

Genevieve Chenneour has just landed her first lead Hollywood role in a forthcoming psychological thriller, Asphyxia, and says she has no qualms about filming nude scenes

Genevieve Chenneour who made headlines last year when she fought off a violent phone thief in west ­London, is also fearless on set.

The Bridgerton star, 28, who I can reveal has just landed her first lead Hollywood role in a forthcoming psychological thriller, Asphyxia, says she has no qualms about filming nude scenes.

'I don't give a f*** [about doing nude scenes],' Genevieve tells me at a party at the Royal Albert Hall.

'I did an orgy scene ... at the beginning of my career,' she recalls about her 2021 role in fantasy drama Britannia.

The Yorkshire-born actress says she has a liberal approach to nudity. 'I don't sexualise my body. I'm more European with how I see nudity.'