Tami Roman opens up about the challenges Black creatives face while trying to navigate the entertainment industry.
As you may know, Roman started out as an aspiring singer on one of MTV’s most famous reality shows “The Real World” in its second season back in 1993.
During an interview with State of Black Entrepreneurship: The Check-in, Tami was asked about personal challenges in the industry.
As soon as the clip started, Roman revealed that she was sexually assaulted by an agent at 23-years-old, shortly after The Real World ended.
She said, “people didn’t really know that on the show we were living our real lives, people thought we were actors and so agents started contacting me for representation.”
Roman went on to detail her account of meeting up with one of the agents and how he suggested she get a “boob job” because it could help her make it in the industry.
She said that he told her, “aesthetically there’s a certain thing they like to see from Black women.”
Tami admitted that she was so green to the situation back then that when the agent asked to see her breasts, she said “say what now, come again?”
Eventually, the agent persuaded her into showing her breasts. She said that when she left the agent’s office she felt belittled, taken advantage of, and humiliated.
Roman revealed that the agent did not sign her to his roster and even shared that he is still working in the industry today.
According to Tami, she has moved on and dealt with what happened to her but she constantly thinks about how many other women this could’ve happened to.
