Following the statement released by Sasha Sokol within the framework of International Women's Day, where she announced the abuse she suffered by producer Luis de Llano as a teenager, several voices rose in her defense.
In fact, actor Mauricio Martínez took advantage of the media situation to reveal his own case of harassment, which would have occurred in the early 2000s by producer Antonio Berumen, former manager of pop bands of the time such as Mercurio, Kairo, Tierra cero and singer Fey.
Martínez mentioned that Berumen had touched him “where he shouldn't have” and assured that the businessman has a video-recording camera in the bathroom of his office to capture the men who came with him to do a casting, as he invited them to take a bath.
“I told it inspired by Sasha, for her great courage and I totally join the condemnation, with the denunciation, it is not easy to do what she did. I did it later, your hand shakes after I put 'send' to the tweet.. Not because you are a man or because you are a woman, a case is more or less important, it does not exclude gender or age,” she told Luis Cárdenas's radio program.
A few days later, Mauricio formalized the harassment complaint and even went to the Attorney General's Office of Mexico City to sue the former manager, who is away from the public eye.
Martínez also said he had multiple testimonies from young people who approached him after hearing his story, to tell him their own stories of harassment and abuse with Berumen, so he will not rest “until justice is done.”
“In the last 48 hours more than 14 victims of this man have come to me... I can't talk much about that, but of course the 14 victims want justice, so that bullies and abusers don't continue to overlap,” he added.
Now it was Alex Sirvent, who was part of Mercury in the 90s and lived closely with Berumen, who spoke about it, and although he ruled out that he had lived something similar, he expressed his full support for the victims.
“It is a very delicate subject, which must be dealt with with with tweezers. I am very sorry for what Mauricio has happened and the victims who are speaking out,” he said in an interview for Sale el sol. In addition, he added that even if they have a different point of view, they will never doubt the words of the victims: “In the end I think that we too, at some point, will talk, always respecting and from our point of view without wanting to cause any controversy.”
The also host of the program Venga la Alegría Fende de semana praised the courage of Mauricio Martínez, who decided to verbalize the harassment after almost 20 years:
“I think he's in every right. We are going through a time when raising our voice has become part of our freedom as human beings, part of our rights as and I think the internet and social media have helped our voice be heard louder. Finally, all I can tell you is that I want to be super punctual about this issue, just share our feelings with the people who have been affected.”
Sirvent remarked that thanks to the care of his parents he was able to enjoy a scandal-free career as a teenager:
“I have been blessed that my parents were very close to me always, and I think no one is safe from being in a delicate situation, but personally I think I have had a career that so far, healthy, clean and there have been well-intentioned people around me.”