Chrissie Hynde Maybe Sort of Still Thinks Rape Can Be the Victim's Fault

The Pretenders’ lead singer Chrissie Hynde doesn’t know if she is standing by her recent remarks that it might be a woman’s fault if she is raped. In an interview with the Washington Post, she said her critics are “entitled to say whatever they want.”

“Do I regret saying it? I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it,” she continued.

When re-read the statement that got her in trouble (that ends with “If you don’t want to entice a rapist, don’t wear high heels so you can’t run from him”), she responded: “Sounds like common sense.”

“At the moment, we’re in one of the worst humanitarian crises in our lifetime,” she continued, referencing the picture of the Turkish paramilitary officer holding the body of a child. “These are the heartbreaking images we have and we’re talking about millions of displaced persons and people whose families have been destroyed and we’re talking about comments that I allegedly made about girls in their underwear.”

When the Post interviewer said he felt bad reading about her experiences with sexual assault, largely because he has a daughter of his own, she responded:

“I know, but most people aren’t as stupid as me. I wouldn’t expect most people to do some of the stuff I did. But then again, most people don’t get to be a rock star, either. We have to walk the plank. I don’t think that’s a sign of intelligence. I don’t know what it is a sign of. I’m not saying I was asking for it. It wasn’t the same as walking down a street in the middle of a nice evening and somebody dragging you into a bush with a knife in your throat.”

“I don’t know. I’m not a philosopher,” Hynde said. “I’m just a rock singer. And now a leading authority on rape.”