Julio Iglesias denies sexual abuse claims by former employees

By AIMEE ORTIZ

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted two of his former employees, days after Spanish prosecutors said they were investigating their claims.

In a statement posted to his social media last Friday, Iglesias, 82, called the allegations “absolutely false.” He denied “having abused, coerced, or been disrespectful to any woman,” and said he would defend himself against the claims.

The Grammy-winning singer was accused of sexual abuse by two former employees who filed a complaint with a high court in Spain on Jan. 5, according to officials there. On the same day, two Spanish-language news outlets, elDiario.es and Univision Noticias, published a three-year joint investigation into broader allegations of sexual assault and harassment by Iglesias.

The investigation detailed testimonies from 15 former employees of Iglesias between the late 1990s and 2023. None of the employees was named. The accounts described a climate of intimidation, abuse and harassment where women were recruited for their looks and were asked inappropriate questions by Iglesias about their sexual preferences and bodies.

One of the people alleged to the outlets in graphic detail that Iglesias repeatedly sexually abused her.

“He used me almost every night,” she told the news outlets. “I felt like an object, like a slave.”

A beloved figure in Spain and Latin America, Iglesias has sold hundreds of millions of records and achieved international success through a six-decade career. He is the father of singer Enrique Iglesias.