Before Ricky Martin became "Livin' la Vida Roca"A member of his ex-boy band Menudo — the biggest Latin of all One time in the group — lived a nightmare.
In a new documentary,Angelo Garcia — who joined Menudo shortly after turning 11 — said he was raped in the 1988-90 quintet. He details sexual assault in a four-part documentary premiered in"Menudo: Forever Young",, in. HBOMaxThursday.
"The only thing I remember was that I fainted. When I woke up, I was naked and bleeding, so I was invaded. I knew, "Garcia said in a documentary. "For example, there were traces of these burns on the face of the carpet ... I was so confused that I couldn't understand."
Garcia said she was molested while in the group. , That wasn't the only thing. "I was raped many times while I was inMenudo, which was the way predators took advantage of me," he said in a documentary.
Other members of Menude (featuring 32 different boys during the first 20 years of execution) also had sexual abuse, bullying, drug scandals, The oppressive working conditions of "Forever Young". They said that such negligence and exploitation happened while working for the boy band mastermind Edgard Diaz. Edgard Diaz is called "their manager, producer, surrogate mother of his father". (Dias, who did not respond to interviews or requests for comment on documentary claims, has always denied abuse and misconduct in managing the group.)
"We are in his business pawn. "I did," said Ray Asebed, who was in Menudo from 1985 to 1988.
"Forever Young" tells how the creator of Diaz, Menudo, was born in 1977 inPuerto Rico. In the group's Youth Fountain Strategy, members change at the age of 16. Boys' parents (many of whom are poor) pass on much of their parental authority to the manager.
Menudo is the most famous member after the first explosion in Venezuela, causing "Spanish Beatlemania" in the United States. I found Martin, 1984. “Ricky was like a golden kid from the beginning,” says Acevedo.
However, Martin, who was not interviewed in the documentary, did not make the lives of the other members so much easier, according toSergio Blass, who was in Menudo from 1986 to 1990.
"Being with Ricky was cruel because he was older than me," Brass said. "So if someone knocked on the door, I had to open it. When the phone rang, I had to pick it up. I was like his housewife. (Martin's representative did not respond to the post's request for comment.)
Indeed, Menudo had a lot of bullying — Acevedo was held over the balcony by another member. I remembered that — and grabbed a new man. Without even proper supervision and safety, the boys were also exposed to drugs such as marijuana and cocaine.
"At one point we were in Colombia," recalled Brass in a documentary. "I'm with [Menudo's companion] Ruben [Gomes]. I'm arriving at the hotel. I'm in the room. Suddenly this random guy came in ... and he must have been about a kilogram of cocaine. I was surprised because we didn't know this person ... but the man was actually one of the producers and promoters. "
Brass and Gomes, 1990 He was expelled from Menudoafter being arrested for possession of Marijuana in the year. However, new members continued to pass through the revolving door.
Andy Blázquez, who belonged to the group from 1991 to 1997, wrote in the documentary "Extreme sexualization that happened from the beginning-like an overly sexual joke that shouldn't be said before." I remember feeling uncomfortable. child. He remembers what Edgard said. "I know the joy I get when I'm pooping. That's the feeling of anal sex."
Diaz of sexual abuse, including Roy Rossello, who appeared on television in a documentary previously condemned by other members. In the documentary, it is also said that Diaz was surrounded by an unpleasant man who preyed on a boy.
However,Menudo's heartbeatwas also hit by an endless parade of young groupies.
"They had to be taken out of my room because another person was waiting, and the first one didn't want to leave," Brass said. "When I was a teenager, I thought," Wow, this is very cool. "
