For Ally Brooke, her time as a member of Fifth Harmony was marked by one negative experience after another.
In the premiere episode of her new podcast, The Ally Brooke Show, the 27-year-old star claimed that she suffered "mental abuse and verbal abuse."
"We took over the world. We took the music industry and the entertainment industry by storm," Ally reflected of her time with bandmates Camila Cabello, Normani, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane. "I'm going to say how proud I am of Fifth Harmony, how proud I am of my work in Fifth Harmony, of what we did...of what we did for girls, what we did for female empowerment."
But she admitted, "I hate saying this: My time in Fifth Harmony, I didn't enjoy it. I didn't love it."
"It was hard because there was so much going on," she shared, adding, "so much toxicity, so much abuse, so much abusive power, so much mental abuse, verbal abuse, and it's just horrible and to me, it's a shame because we were so big and I should have enjoyed myself more."
The Texas native said she still struggles to grapple with reconciling the good and bad parts of her experience, saying, "There's a weird balance of being grateful and being okay with the fact that things were not okay for me. It was traumatizing."
"There was also such inappropriateness within the label, talking to us a certain way," she alleged. "Talking to me a certain way, making me feel uncomfortable, making me feel inferior, and knowing that they could make me feel that way because I was a woman."
The "No Good" singer later opened up about an alleged incident that occurred when she and the rest of the group were "breaking." At the time, Ally said she sought help from an unidentified person working within the record label.
"The person that I tried to ask for advice," she detailed, "he tried to take advantage of me."
Ally then recalled their phone conversation, with her telling him, "Sir, we need a lot of help. I'm not sure where to go, can you please help us? He's like, 'Don't worry. I got you.'"
"I show up to meet with him and he gives me a freaking thong, which is very inappropriate because I know what he was trying to do there, and I was humiliated," she shared. "One, I'm going to him super vulnerable and exposed and [asking] please help me, please help us."
The Dancing With the Stars contestant previously detailed this moment in her memoir, Finding Your Harmony, which released last October.
She wrote in her book that after he showed her the thong, he allegedly said, "'You would look really good in this.'"
"I was deeply embarrassed and ashamed," she penned. "On another night, he texted me to invite me to his hotel room. I never wrote him back."
Following the alleged incident, Ally said on her podcast that she felt "ashamed for being there," adding, "And I still had to ask him for advice. It was a lot to balance emotionally."
The singer claimed that nothing was ever done because "at the time, that kind of behavior was accepted."
E! News has reached to both Syco Records and Epic Records for comment regarding Ally's claims. However, we have yet to receive a response from either.
But despite everything she experienced within the girl group, Ally expressed that she's still "so thankful."
"I survived that period in my life," she shared. "And, again, I take blessings with Fifth Harmony and the lessons because I learned a lot of lessons, and I hope by me sharing my story that I can help someone else to speak out, to speak up, to maybe be alert and be aware and know that there's a better way to get things done. To know that there's a better way to live and thrive in this industry."
She added, "We as women especially, we deserve our respect."
You can watch Ally's debut podcast episode in the video above, where she also discusses her body image struggles, making it in the industry as a Mexican-American and more.