‘I was sexually assaulted by a famous female artist’

Tracey Emin said she was hit against a wall by “a famous artist” who sexually assaulted her at a party.

Emin, best known for a 1999 Turner Prize-nominated exhibition that showcased her unmade bed as a work of art, said of the incident: “The irony is that it happened to be a woman who grabbed my crotch [and] threw me against a wall.”

In an interview with art collector Kenny Goss, singer George Michael’s former partner, she said:

“I threatened to turn off her light. I grabbed her. Everyone said it wasn’t possible because she’s a famous artist. I was much younger and I said, ‘Yes, I can do that – she mustn’t touch me like that.’

“It doesn’t matter. What’s the difference if it’s a woman or a man?” she asked in an interview for the HIV prevention charity MTV Staying Alive. “Whether it’s someone in a higher position of power or someone who thinks he’s going to get away with who they are, that’s the problem.”