Chris Hansen’s Dahvie Vanity Investigation Gets Help From Former BOTDF Member
Chris Hansen's investigation into sexual assault allegations against Blood on the Dance Floor bandleader Dahvie Vanity continued on Wednesday (May 7). On YouTube, the TV personality and former To Catch a Predator sleuth shared an eye-opening interview with one-time BOTDF member Fallon Vendetta.
The new installment of the investigator's Have a Seat series also included input from Jennifer Hill, a singing instructor who once worked with Vanity, the embattled artist whose real name is Jesus David Torres. Vanity stands accused of sexual assault by 21 women, with the accusations reaching back to 2007.
Watch the interviews down toward the bottom of this post.
Speaking to Hansen via video, Vendetta retraced her history with Vanity. After meeting on social media, she went on to become the singer's live-in partner as well as a bandmate in Blood on the Dance Floor. But when a friend pointed her to rumors about the performer, she questioned Vanity after learning details regarding his alleged 2009 arrest for sexual assault. (In a 2018 inquiry, HuffPost attempted to verify the arrest that purportedly took place in Colorado. However, the state's investigations bureau wouldn't confirm the info.)
As Vendetta remembered, Vanity explained away the incident as a misunderstanding. "He said, 'Hey, there was this girl and she was 17 years old, but she lied about her age, but it was at a concert in Colorado. It was totally consensual. It was oral sex, and she went home, and her parents kind of flipped out about it, and the cops picked me up. Everything was dismissed because it was consensual.' It seemed like a fair judgment on his part. But the way that he painted this picture was that [it] was the only incident."
Vendetta helped Vanity revive Blood on the Dance Floor in 2017, following longtime BOTDF foil Jayy Von Monroe's 2016 departure. But by the end of 2018, Vendetta had terminated both her participation in the group as well her relationship with Vanity, a split that she said was due to his frequent infidelity.
Still, as Vendetta indicated to Hansen, she did believe Vanity's claim of innocence when the pair were first together. She justified that past behavior in light of what she described as the artist's manipulative tactics, including ways in which Vanity would wield his power in the musical group as a preemption against her.
Hill, the vocal coach, told Hansen she worked with Vanity from 2013 until 2018. She said the performer's business offenses should also be made public. Hill claimed some of her friends "dealt with him on a professional level [and] I saw him treat them horribly, and not pay them, and put them in horrible situations."
These aren't the first of Vanity's past associates to come forward. Last month, cosmetics mogul and former musician Jeffree Star told Hansen, "Dahvie has always been horrible. I was happy that people are finally getting a voice because back in the day, I don't think a lot of people took things like this serious[ly]."
Hansen expressed his interest in pursuing Vanity earlier this year, which first became clear when a YouTube guest mentioned the musician to the Catch a Predator star. "Dahvie Vanity is on our radar," the TV host responded before releasing the first in his series of interviews with the singer's contemporaries.
Fallon Vendetta + Jennifer Hill on Have a Seat With Chris Hansen - May 6, 2020
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