Jess Glynne may be one of the most successful British singers out there, but things haven’t always been plain sailing for her in recent years.
Jess, 34, faced criticism in March 2021 after using a transphobic slur on Mo Gilligan’s podcast.
She’s now admitted that there have been times during the past five years that she’s considered giving up the spotlight for good.
The Hold My Hand hitmaker shared: ‘I fell in and out of love with music.
‘I was deeply unhappy. I felt I was only seen as a product; I wasn’t seen as a human being,’ she added to The Telegraph.
Jess, who is bisexual, went on to speak more about sparking backlash over that transphobic slur.
She said in her new interview that she ‘felt the world caved in on me,’ adding that ‘people can be so aggressive’.
Jess insisted: ‘They hear one thing and all just jump on this bandwagon, and… it feels like the world is over. For a period, I was like, “Oh my God, I can’t breathe, how do I get out?”‘
The star didn’t know the slur she used was considered to be offensive.
She’d said the word on the podcast while sharing an anecdote about visiting a queer strip club with her friends.
Jess insisted in her latest chat that she was ‘celebrating a community that I’m a part of and that I love’.
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‘Instead of that community being supportive and saying, “Oh, by the way, Jess, you know what, that word is actually really uncomfortable,” there were death threats and all these awful things,’ Jess continued.
Jess questioned ‘How are we ever going to learn?’ if people aren’t allowed ‘space to ask questions’ or ‘to make mistakes’.
The musician – who is now dating Alex Scott – apologised back in March 2021, taking to Instagram to address the criticism.
She said in a statement that she was ‘wholeheartedly sorry’ and vowed to learn from her mistakes.
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Jess’s message included: ‘I know that in this case, sorry is not nearly enough, throughout my life I have made a lot of mistakes and what I have come to know is that the only benefit to making one is to learn from it.
‘I didn’t want to simply put out a PR apology on social media because I know that I have caused offence and pain to a community that I love and have always wanted to support.
‘To be in the knowledge that I have negatively impacted the community through my own ignorance has ripped out a piece of my heart.
‘I know I needed to address my mistake head on and educate myself about an issue I was frankly ignorant of,’ adding that she hoped she could ‘also start the conversation and others may benefit from being educated by braver souls than myself’.
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