Grammys CEO Deborah Dugan sues Recording Academy, says she was ousted for reporting sexual harassment
In an explosive expose, the ousted Grammys chief Deborah Dugan alleged that she was forced out of her CEO job last week after lodging numerous complaints via email with Human Resources against the Recording Academy in December 2019.
Although she was placed on administrative leave over a charge of misconduct last Thursday, Dugan contends in a 46-page complaint lodged with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that this was done as a retaliation and that the Academy manufactured a false pretext of "verbal abuse and mistreatment" against her in order to put her on leave.
Dugan's original claim lodged with the Recording Academy’s head of human resources had leveled sexual harassment complaints against Joel Katz, the former chairman of the Academy’s Board of Trustees. It also found issue with "egregious conflicts of interest, improper self-dealing by Board members and voting irregularities with respect to nominations for Grammy Awards, all made possible by the 'boys’ club' mentality and approach to governance at the Academy."
The suspended chief claims that during a corporate dinner in May 2019, Katz called her "baby", attempted to woo her and kiss her and commented on her looks multiple times. Katz allegedly boasted that he was "very, very rich" and that he and Dugan should spend time together.
He also reportedly told Dugan that "traveling to my many homes could be something nice for us to share". "Indeed, in every one-on-one conversation Dugan had with Katz following the May 18, 2019, dinner, he told her she was pretty and referred to her as 'baby',” read the formal complaint.
Most damning of all is the shocking revelation that former Grammys CEO Neil Portnow allegedly raped a female recording artist that same month.
Dugan claims that in May 2019 she was informed that a "foreign recording artist" and Academy member had complained that Portnow sexually assaulted her after a show at Carnegie Hall. While the foreign artist remained unnamed, "a psychiatrist has confirmed that the sexual encounter between her and Mr Portnow was likely not consensual", according to the artist’s attorney as quoted in Dugan's complaint.
Another sickening revelation is that some Academy members on the voting committees (which choose the Grammy nominees for the year) tend to have vested interests.
Some committee members have close relationships with certain nominated artists and are given the freedom to include these artists for nominations, even if that particular artist did not even make the initial 20-artist shortlist.
Dugan's complaint also alleged that a lot of manipulation is done to ensure that specific songs or albums are nominated when the producer of the Grammys (Ken Ehrlich) wants a particular song performed during the awards show.
These shocking accusations come less than a week before the 62nd Grammy Awards. In response, the Academy has stuck to its original claim, saying that it "launched independent investigations to review both Ms Dugan’s potential misconduct and her subsequent allegations. Both of these investigations remain ongoing. Ms Dugan was placed on administrative leave only after offering to step down and demanding $22 million from the Academy, which is a not-for-profit organization. Our loyalty will always be to the 25,000 members of the recording industry. We regret that Music’s Biggest Night is being stolen from them by Ms Dugan’s actions and we are working to resolve the matter as quickly as possible."