Hot on the heels of his loss on Celebrity Big Brother and fans raking him for his behavior on the show, singer Todrick Hall is now accused of even more bad behavior.
A former assistant is has accused Hall of abuse, claiming the singer threatened to out his HIV status.
Tommy Italiano worked as Hall’s assistant in 2017 during the filming of the documentary Behind the Curtain. In an interview with the podcast The Zen Blonde, he opened up about years of exploitation and psychological abuse by the singer.
“It’s been a tumultuous relationship from the beginning,” Italiano recalled. “Workwise and personally. He is someone that’s very manipulative.”
“I was able to look past some of the things he was doing because he really made me believe I was part of his family. He would call me his brother. His mom would tell me I was like a son. So I really became invested in him as a person and as an artist.”
Related: Todrick Hall is being blasted for his problematic behavior on ‘Celebrity Big Brother’
That investment caused Italiano to stay in his job longer than he might have otherwise, despite an increasingly toxic environment.
Over the course of the interview, the former assistant recalled instances of Hall exploiting fans for free labor, refusing to pay employees, and cyberbullying a former dancer.
Things turned really toxic when Italiano came to the defense of the former dancer, Tom White, on social media. A furious Hall called Italiano with a dire threat.
“In this instance, [Hall] called me and I demanded an apology,” Italiano said. “And I said, ‘Todrick I really want you to take ownership for the things you did to me and I’m not gonna say anything. I just want an apology.'”
“He refused and he tried to turn it on me and say that I was problematic and I had all these issues. And then, basically, I said, ‘Okay, well, this is why I want to tell people now because you can’t even own it up.’ I wasn’t even gonna say anything. You call me. Like I had no contact with him. We were not speaking.”
Now, here comes the real shocker.
Related: Todrick Hall’s former videographer just made some explosive accusations and… wow
“Then in the middle of the conversation,” Italiano continued, “he started threatening me and says, ‘Well, if you say anything about me, I’m going to go on my YouTube channel and I’m going to say that you have HIV and that you have unprotected sex with people and you don’t tell them and I’m going to destroy your reputation. I’m going to destroy your career, and this will be the last time you ever work again.'”
Italiano further claimed that Hall contacted Italiano’s mother, who was not aware of his status, and outed him as HIV-positive to her.
The claims by Tommy Italiano are just the latest and most egregious in mounting accounts of bad behavior by Todrick Hall. Other former employees have shared similar claims of harassment and abuse by the singer, as well as charged that he didn’t pay his employees on time, or at all.
Hall’s recent stint on Celebrity Big Brother has also prompted a Twitter movement tagged #TodrickExposedParty in which viewers of the show document his duplicitous manipulation. The movement has also prompted several other former associates to come forward with charges of exploitation.
Queerty reached out to Hall for comment but did not hear back.
scotty
sounds like dorm name at liberty university.
jkid101
Wow this hall is turning out to be a real dirt bag I like Carson on there he had real class
MarcyMayer
From all I’ve read, Todrick Hall appears to be a really awful person.
Matthewnow
LOL
Cam
The former employees that weren’t paid should file a class action.
Mack
I guess SamB will come in and want to know why we’re talking about Todrick.
MarcyMayer
You have a real obsession with this man.
Cam
@MarcyMayer
It’s cute when another one of the troll’s screenames gets mad because the troll has been mentioned.
Beachman
WTF is Todick Hall?
Doug
Another a-hole in the entertainment industry.
powersthatbe
“I was able to look past some of the things he was doing because he really made me believe I was part of his family. He would call me his brother.”
This is the part I can relate to, and say that I’ve been in this type of abusive relationship with lovers and friends and bosses alike. Looking past someone’s behaviour is condoning it, but we stay for many reasons.
However, he’s now reached the part that I like to call, “Compromise, but don’t compromise yourself”.
jackscott
Trash!
Todrick
It’s a gosh darn shame too, the name Todrick is such a fine name.
Prax07
Tommy Italiano is his Actual name and not his porno name? Lmfao.
olu42
his real name is Thomas McKissock
DarkZephyr
OK, what has happened to him is terrible and all, and Todrick’s a jerk, etc. but “Tommy Italiano”? His last name is an ethnicity?
Kangol2
Yes, like people whose last names are French, English, German, Welsh, Scott, Irish, Deutsch, Nederlander, Brazil, Schweitzer, etc. Add Italiano to the mix.
olu42
his real name is Thomas McKissock
Brian
Todrick made his career without the support of a label, and that’s impressive. But it does keep sounding like his employees really needed the infrastructure that a label would’ve provided — policies, an HR department, a finance division, etc., all clearly laid out and separate from the talent.
Abraxas020
Indeed
strix1
Another disappointment. Just go away Mr Hall.
jonchavez2003
Oh come on, do people still come to the entertainment world, that ignorant?
Working for famous people is the LAST space where employment laws are NOT enforced and admins are mistreated.
The entertainment world is the most toxic, dark, evil, sick, twisted industry.
I’ve been an executive assistant for high profile billionaire execs, and they’re 500% more kind than people in the entertainment industry. Oh, and they never pay well. And as a result, the business world in L.A. doesn’t pay high level assistants well. There’s this deep resentful mentality that “if my assistant is getting paid six figures, then why am I making them rich?”
I hate working for famous people. They’re the worst.
Cozmo2
I can see Todrick being a petty bitch and throwing temper tantrum when he doesn’t get his way and being messy.