Toxic Femininity: ‘Bachelorette’ Meredith Phillips claims sexual assault by show’s female masseuse

Meredith Phillips, star of The Bachelorette season 2, claimed on an episode of the Reality Steve podcast that a female masseuse drugged and sexually assaulted her during production of the ABC television program in late 2003.

Toxic Femininity: 'Bachelorette' Meredith Phillips claims sexual assault by show's female masseuse

PEOPLE reports that Phillips alleged she was drugged and molested by a female massage therapist, who she said was hired by the TV show.

“I just assumed it was an aspirin or something to loosen up my back, or Tylenol, or something. And it definitely wasn’t that, that’s for sure,” Phillips said during the podcast.

“The last thing I remember was she got naked and she was in the tub with me, and rubbing my back and rubbing areas probably she shouldn’t have. And then I was put in bed. I woke up naked. Don’t remember much,” said Meredith Phillips.

As for why she did not report the allegations during her time on the show, Phillips said she “wanted to protect the franchise, which is f—ed-up.

Phillips, who opened up about her battle with alcoholism in June 2013, said she had not been drinking at the time of the incident.

She mentioned the incident to Reality Steve after being asked what was the “hardest thing” she “had to deal” with as the bachelorette.

“This is hard for me to talk about. I think I’ve put it somewhere else in my brain so when you bring this up, it’s definitely right there in the forefront as we’re speaking,” she said. “I remember everything until a certain point and when the pill kicked in I literally couldn’t even move my body, so I have no idea what the pill was at all.”

Phillips added, “All I know is that I was told that, ‘This will make you feel better.’ ”

“It is a huge deal. I have worked through it and thrown it in the back of my mind. I had no control. Zero,” Phillips said. “I think that was the hardest part for me, that I couldn’t even lift my arms to say no.”

She also claimed that another person, whom she did not identify, confided in her about a similar incident of being “roofied and in a hot tub and kind of accosted” during production.

Warner Bros. had “no comment” to share regarding Meredith Phillips’ accusations.

258060cookie-checkToxic Femininity: ‘Bachelorette’ Meredith Phillips claims sexual assault by show’s female masseuse

Toxic Femininity: ‘Bachelorette’ Meredith Phillips claims sexual assault by show’s female masseuse

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