Ora claims gender bias

Rita Ora has claimed her former record label discriminated against her because she's female. The Girls singer previously filed a lawsuit to get out of her contract with Jay-Z's Roc Nation, accusing them of neglecting her in favour of other artistes, before they countersued and then settled the case in 2016. Although she insists the split from her label was amicable, Ora thinks she'd have had a "better chance" if she were a man.

She said, "I want to find the right word here, and maybe this is my interpretation, but I do feel I got discriminated against because I was a woman. I almost felt - maybe this is just my interpretation - I could have had a better chance if I'd been male."

These days Rita's business manager is her older sister, Elena, and though they don't always get along, she's "proud" of their achievements. She told the Sunday Times magazine: "To be honest, I'd always wanted to become a household name [not just a pop singer], that was my dream. My sister and I, we argue like crazy all the time, but we're very proud of what we've done up to this point."

The 27-year-old singer was previously rumoured to have had an affair with Jay because of the "Becky with the good hair" reference in the rapper's wife Beyonce's track Sorry, but Rita insists that's far from the truth. She quipped: "Hey, all I want to say to that is, dude, if I were BWTGH, wouldn't I actually have to have good hair? Look at it. It's all weave and extensions.

And, I mean, BeyoncÈ? Omigod. She's the nicest person, 'bestest' person I have ever met in the whole industry. I'm not just saying that. I'd die for her.

"Nobody can ever say anything wrong about that woman in front of me. I get emotional just talking about it."