Musician Jill Jones has opened up about life in Prince's orbit(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

When Jill Jones sat down to share her memories ofPrincefor a newNetflixdocumentary, she had no idea the firestorm she would unwittingly release. The musician was well placed to speak. She worked with Prince, singing on his masterpiece 1999, and also had a long, complicated relationship with him. But her testimony, along with dozens of others, has never aired.

The whole series, directed by Oscar-winner Ezra Edelman, was dramatically shelved after the singer’s estate decided it would cause “generational harm” to his image. Fingers were then pointed at Jill amid claims she had spoken about Prince violently attacking her.

Now, on the 10th anniversary of his death this week, Jill is ready to reveal what really happened - and why her story, and their relationship, is far more complex than it has been portrayed. “My intention was to talk about the man as he is. He was loveable, adorable, but he could be hateful too,” she says.

So what happened? In 1984, Jill and a friend went to see Prince at a hotel where an argument broke out. Jill was left jealous after he started kissing her friend, prompting her to slap the musician. She claims Prince responded by punching her over and over in the face.

Jill wanted to press charges but was warned against it by Prince’s circle at the time. Going to hospital too was out of the equation in case the story leaked. “I was told I would ruin his career….they saw him as just money for them. They could make a lot of money. It just shows me how many people benefit,” she says.

Later that year the money-spinningPurple Raintour was set to commence. “Had I come forward…it wouldn’t have happened,” she says. “But basically, after that, we made up because I had a surgery and he gave me a ton of toys, and this is how the apology was: balloons, toys and candy.” She adds: “It was really hard for us to not be around each other. He always thought I would be there. He would always say: ‘I’m always gonna know you.’”

Jill has been wrestling for more than three decades as to whether to open up about the incident. “I’d been holding on to it for so many years….I think, because I was waiting on an apology,” she admits.

“See, this is the craziest thing with domestic violence: you wait for an apology sometimes from someone that you love, you think they’re going to, and they want to move on and not talk about it, and you allow it.”

Jill says she witnessed violence that growing up, while Prince's parents, John Nelson and Mattie Shaw, had a volatile relationship. “It was an era of time where men did knock around their wives,” she says. “It was just something that happened.”

Source: Drudge Report