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Home / Entertainment

Seal denies sexual battery claim against neighbour

By Sara Malm
Daily Mail·
16 Jan, 2018 06:37 PM3 mins to read

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Singer Seal. Photo / Getty

Singer Seal. Photo / Getty

The singer Seal has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances by a former neighbour.

Tracey Birdsall, 54, claims she visited Seal, also 54, in his Los Angeles home in 2016 and that he forced himself on her, groped her and tried to kiss her according to DailyMail.

Actress/Producer Tracey Birdsall 2017 in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty
Actress/Producer Tracey Birdsall 2017 in Los Angeles. Photo / Getty

Seal, whose real name is Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel, is now under investigation for sexual battery by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

Ms Birdsall, an actress, told TMZ that the attack took place in Seal's kitchen after she had gone over to retrieve a kitchen appliance she lent him, when he 'suddenly lunged at her'.

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She claims that she rejected his advances and that he then moved on to 'insinuate that she was asking for it' by commenting on the shorts and tank top she was wearing before groping her breasts.

View this post on Instagram

Some days are more fun than others!!! #RogueWarrior #epic #comingsoon2016 #badass #moment

A post shared by Tracey Birdsall (@traceybirdsall1) on May 23, 2016 at 11:55am PDT

Sexual battery is an unwanted form of contact with an intimate part of the body for a that is made for sexual purposes.

A representative for Seal told TMZ that he vehemently denies the 'false' allegations.

Ms Birdsall initially made the allegations in a now-removed Facebook post after Seal criticized Oprah Winfrey following her Golden Globes speech, claiming she knew about the rumors surrounding Harvey Weinstein but did nothing.

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The singer posted an Instagram meme showing two images or Oprah with Harvey Weinstein, using the hashtag #SanctimoniousHollywood.

He was soon taken to task by model Chrissy Teigen, who posted a cryptic comment on his Instagram post.

The model and cookbook author wrote: 'Hmm. Let's just say we've all heard things about each other, haven't we?'

Seal later backtracked on the criticism, saying he had not been targeting Oprah specifically, but the industry in general.

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In a video clip he shared on social media on Thursday, he claimed that has 'an enormous amount of respect for everything that Oprah has achieved and contributed in her life'.

'What I reposted was not an attack on Oprah at all. She just happened to be the person photographed with the pig in the picture.

'What I reposted was commentary on the hypocritical and double standard nature and behavior of Hollywood.'

He went on to state that none of the women who had come forward as victims of Weinstein had received any real justice.

He said that 'losing your job' for raping, sexually abusing or sexually harassing a woman 'is not punishment.'

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