Dallas Austin has shared a story about the time Macy Gray allegedly groped him, and how despite this, he still has love for her.
The Grammy Award-winning producer made the accusation during a recent appearance on T.I.'s ExpediTIously podcast, when Tip asked Austin to recall the "wildest recording session" he’s ever done.
Austin, who is primarily based in Atlanta, said he flew to Los Angeles to work on Gray’s album and immediately noticed something peculiar about the singer's team. He told T.I. that around the second or third recording session, people kept asking him if everything was ok.
"I’m like, 'Yeah. Am I missing something?' They’re like, 'No, no, no. Keep going. You’re fine,'" he recalled.
He claimed the team asked him again a few hours later, which heighted his suspicion that something was up.
"The same night, I come to the studio," he continued. "[Gray] comes to the studio with another friend of ours — a girl I know. [Gray] come sits next to me and she sticks her hands down my pants, inside my underwear, squeezes me and then goes, 'Ooh, nice,' and then took her hand out of my pants."
Austin said the alleged incident caught him completely off guard and left him with mixed feelings.
"I was like, 'Damn. I don’t know how to feel right now,'" he told T.I. "I was like, I feel like a little bit of a bitch, at the same time I feel a little violated."
"Everyone was in the room. I guess she just decided to do it," he said before poking fun an the alleged incident. "I took that home with me that night… cried in the car. I don’t know how to feel about this shit."
T.I. was also amused by the anecdote, but told listeners that sexual assault was no laughing matter.
"Violating people…touching their privates unwelcomed or uninvited, that’s not a good thing," the host said before directly addressing Austin. "I’m laughing about it now because you’re laughing with me."
Austin said that was the last time Macy Gray had touched him inappropriately, but it wasn’t the last time she acted out of pocket.
The hitmaker said there was one night when Gray invited him to see Prince’s private midnight performance at the House of Blues. Austin said he agreed to accompany Gray to the event and even drove her in his Ferrari. But once they arrived at the venue, Austin realized there was no Prince show.
"Prince ain’t playing. It’s pitch black," he said. "At the time, we get another call that another pop star is having a party in the Hills. She’s like, 'We should go there.'" Austin obliged, once again.
He said they eventually got to the pop star’s house and began having a good time. Shortly after their arrival, Gray allegedly approached Austin and asked for the keys to his Ferrari.
"She goes, 'Let me see your keys. I left something in the car,'" Austin didn’t think anything of it and handed the keys over. Thirty minutes later, Gray is nowhere to be seen. Another 30 minutes pass, and still no sign of Gray. Austin said the party began thinning out around 2:30 in the morning, so he went outside only to find that Gray had taken his car.
But Austin didn’t rush to panic. He convinced himself that Gray possibly "went to the store" or something and would be right back.
"So, then I’m standing outside… 3 o’clock, 4 o’clock, calling, calling, don’t get an answer," he recalled. "Everyone left."
Austin said he was at the pop star’s house until after five in the morning, which is when he finally got a hold of his assistant and asked for a ride. He then returned to the studio later that day and anticipated some kind of explanation.
"I walk in, [Gray] goes, 'Hey!' and keeps walking," he said with a laugh. "I said, 'Hold on, hold, we gotta talk now. We done had a couple of violations, but now you left me and took my car… She said, 'Oh, I’m sorry. I went to get something and got lost.'"
Despite the groping and car theft, Austin and Macy managed to complete the album. "I love Macy, though," he told T.I. "The project was great… She’s just different."