Neil Portnow, the former CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences that oversees the Grammy Awards, on Tuesday was accused of raping an unnamed female recording artist.
In a discrimination complaint filed Tuesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan, said that Portnow “allegedly raped a female recording artist, which was, upon information and belief, the real reason his contract was not renewed.”
Dugan, who replaced Portnow last May to become the first woman to lead the Recording Academy, did not name the artist or offer many details about when the alleged incident might have occurred.
In her complaint, Dugan said that she learned of the accusation last May while attending a three-day meeting of the Academy’s Board at the Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel after taking the job. “Ms. Dugan was hauled into a conference room and told — for the very first time — that a foreign recording artist (and member of the Academy) had accused Mr. Portnow of raping her following a performance that she gave at Carnegie Hall,” the complaint reads.
Also Read: Ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan Files Discrimination Complaint With EEOC
Portnow could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Recording Academy issued a response to Dugan’s complaint: “It is curious that Ms. Dugan never raised these grave allegations until a week after legal claims were made against her personally by a female employee who alleged Ms. Dugan had created a ‘toxic and intolerable’ work environment and engaged in ‘abusive and bullying conduct’. When Ms. Dugan did raise her ‘concerns’ to HR, she specifically instructed HR ‘not to take any action’ in response.
“Nonetheless, we immediately 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.”
Dugan’s attorneys, Douglas Wigdor and Michael Willemin, dispute the Academy’s statements. “Ms. Dugan repeatedly raised concerns throughout her entire tenure at the Academy, and even gave large presentations focused on diversity and inclusion at Board meetings,” they wrote. “The Academy has lost its way and abandoned the recording industry, instead focusing on self-dealing and turning blind eye to the ‘boys’ club’ environment, obvious improprieties and conflicts of interest.”
Her attorneys continued: “It was never Ms. Dugan’s intention to turn this into a public fight precisely because of her love for music and the members of the recording industry. Unfortunately, staying silent was made impossible by the Board’s repeated leaks and disclosures of false and misleading information to the press.”
They also disputed the Recording Academy’s claim that Dugan sought a $22 million payout to leave her position. “On the morning of the day she was put on leave, the Academy offered Ms. Dugan millions of dollars to drop all of this and leave the Academy. The Board Chair demanded an answer within the hour,” the attorneys wrote. “When Ms. Dugan refused to accept and walk away, she was put on leave. The Academy claimed that Ms. Dugan was put on leave based on accusations made against her over a month prior that the Board knows very well are meritless. That is not a credible story.”
Also Read: 26 Stars Who Only Need a Grammy to EGOT, From Liza Minnelli to Al Pacino (Photos)
In her complaint, Dugan said the the accusation was presented to her as if the Board had just learned of it but “in reality, they were well aware of the allegation at the time Ms. Dugan agreed to take the CEO position, but never told her.” Dugan also said the Recording Academy pressured her into rehiring Portnow as a consultant for the “hefty sum of $750,000,” which she said she refused to do.
Dugan also accused Joel Katz, the Academy’s general counsel, of sexually harassing her during the three-day meeting. Katz said in an email he is not responding to media inquiries: “I am currently out of the office with a respiratory infection. I will not be checking email or taking calls until I’m feeling better.”
Dugan also said that a letter sent by interim CEO Harvey Mason Jr. to the Academy membership on Monday was “designed to retaliate against Ms. Dugan, threaten her, and malign her reputation.”
In the letter, Mason Jr. said that Dugan was placed on administrative leave after the Academy’s executive committee received a letter from Dugan’s attorney saying she would agree to step down from her role as CEO and “withdraw” her accusations if she was paid out, with Billboard reporting on Monday she asked for the sum of $22 million.
You can read Dugan’s complaint with the EEOC below.
Filed EEOC Supplement by Sharon Waxman on Scribd
The Grammys and Black Music: A Timeline of Snubs and Embarrassments (Photos)
The 2018 Grammy nominations were a triumph for diversity, with far more hip-hop and R&B nominees in the top categories than ever before.
In a way, it shouldn't come as a surprise that an organization devoted to supporting and honoring music would recognize the current ascendance of hip-hop as the dominant popular music form. But it is something of a delicious shock, because since they began in the 1950s, the Grammys have not exactly been inclusive.
No hip-hop song, for instance, has ever won Record of the Year or Song of the Year. You could argue that they’ve been shortsighted when it comes to rock music and Latin music and jazz and other genres, too, that there’s an inevitable conservatism that comes from having a huge body of voters considering such a vast musical landscape.
But the decades worth of snubs and oversights are not pretty. Scroll through TheWrap's timeline:
William P. Gottlieb/Creative Commons1959
At the first Grammys, the Best Rhythm & Blues Performance category was won by a white group, the Champs, with “Tequila.” Ella Fitzgerald was the only African American nominated in the Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year categories, which were won by Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)” (record and song) and Henry Mancini’s “The Music From Peter Gunn” (album).
CMA-Marc Gordon Productions-management1968
At the 10th Grammy show, one of the top three awards is finally won by black performers: The Fifth Dimension, who win Record of the Year for “Up, Up and Away,” written by white songwriter Jimmy Webb.
Lawren/Flickr1976
After 18 years, Natalie Cole becomes the first black performer to win Best New Artist.
Getty Images1981
It's the year of Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls,” Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” Prince’s “Dirty Mind,” Smokey Robinson’s “Crusin’” and the debuts of the Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow. But the Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist awards all go to a wimpy white guy named Christopher Cross.
Getty Images1986
Prince is nominated for Album of the Year for the second and last time for “Sign o’ the Times.” That album, “Purple Rain” and “1999” will eventually enter the Grammy Hall of Fame, but he will never win the award
Steve Jurvetson/Creative Commons1988
Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” the highest ranked hip-hop album in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, is not nominated for any Grammys. But the Record of the Year and Song of the Year awards do go to a black artist: Bobby McFerrin, for “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
1989
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith) win the first-ever rap Grammy for "Parents Just Don't Understand." The award was not presented during the televised portion of the ceremony, and in protest Smith led a boycott of the show. (But DJ Jazzy Jeff did show up to accept the Grammy.)
Philippe Rous from Strasbourg1991
More than a decade after rap music began to revolutionize popular music, MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” becomes the first hip-hop song to receive a Record of the Year nomination. It loses to Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise.”
Getty Images2006
Kayne West’s “Late Registration” beats Eminem’s “Encore” in the Best Rap Album category. This remains the only one of the seven years in which a white artist was nominated in the category that the white artist did not win.
Getty Images2008
Jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock becomes the most recent black artist to win Album of the Year. He does so for an album of Joni Mitchell songs.
Christopher Polk/Getty Images2010
Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” beats Beyonce’s “I Am … Sasha Fierce” for Album of the Year. This comes four months after she beats Beyonce at the MTV Video Music Awards, where her acceptance speech is interrupted by Kanye West’s infamous “imma let you finish” moment.
Getty Images2014
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis win the Best Rap Album award over Drake, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West, the sixth time in the 19-year history of the award that a white performer had won it. Macklemore also beats Lamar for Best New Artist, and sends Lamar an apologetic text.
Getty Images2015
This time, it’s Beck’s turn to beat Beyonce in the Album of the Year category, with his “Morning Phase” scoring a surprise victory over her self-titled album.
Getty Images2016
Grammy voters’ love for Taylor Swift proves embarrassing once more, as her “1989” album beats Kendrick Lamar’s landmark “To Pimp a Butterfly.” Her floppy-haired bestie Ed Sheeran, meanwhile, beats Kendrick in the Song of the Year category.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images2017
And finally, Adele wins Album of the Year for “25,” and immediately uses her speech to say what everybody was thinking: that Beyonce deserved it for “Lemonade,” which she said was “so monumental, and so well thought-out and soul-bearing.”
2018
Jay-Z was the most nominated artist, with eight, but didn't win a single Grammy. On his joint album with Beyonce, "Everything Is Love," the song "APESH-T" included the lyric: "Tell the Grammys f--- that zero for eight s---." And while Kendrick Lamar swept the hip-hop awards for "DAMN." he lost Record and Album of the Year to Bruno Mars.
2019
Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Childish Gambino all declined invitations to perform on the show, according to producer Ken Ehrlich. And then Kendrick Lamar's "Black Panther" soundtrack lost in the Album of the Year category to Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour" (one of the two non-hip-hop albums among the eight nominees).
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