By ALLISON JONES
Staff Writer
Deborah Dugan was the president and CEO of The Recording Academy from August 2019 through early January 2020. She was the first woman to hold the position as president of The Recording Academy; she was relieved of her position as president and CEO, then was made to take a leave of absence from the academy. Harvey Mason Jr., a Recording Academy chairman, took over as interim president and CEO. A few days before the Grammy Award Ceremony, Dugan released a 46-page Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint.
The document explains that in December, Dugan sent an email to Human Resources (HR). In the email, which is included in the document, she listed complaints of sexual harassment from an attorny who is general counsel to the academy. She also explained voting irregularities when it came to Grammy nominations, then she was asked by the Chair of the Board to hire the former CEO, Neil Portnow, as a consultant for a hefty sum of $750,000. This former CEO was removed from the position of CEO for making misogynistic remarks about female artists. She also claimed that Portnow allegedly raped a female recording artist, according to a Rolling Stone article by Jon Blinstein.
A main point of her 46-page complaint is the “boy’s club” mentality of the academy and that proof is how she was treated following the email. She was quickly removed from her position three weeks after the email was sent. Dugan was told by Mason that the academy would not make any statements about her leaving unless they were asked and they would reply that she had taken a leave of absence.
Dugan’s sexual harassment claims are against lawyer Joel Katz who allegedly spoke to her inapproprately over dinner. She claims that he called her babe, attractive, pretty and followed with an attempted kiss. The rape allegations are against Neil Portnow who allegedly raped a recording artist after a concert at Carnegie Hall. The name of the artist is not released, but her attorney said, “a psychiatrist confirmed that the sexual encounter between her and Mr. Portnow was likely not consensual,” according to Blinstein’s article. Portnow denied the rape allegations in a statement made to Billboard.
Dugan highlights the corruption in the academy, according to an article that appeared in Harper’s Bazaar. Many popular artists including Beyonce, Mariah Carey and Kanye West were passed up at previous Grammys award ceremonies. This is because the main awards of the night are allegedly reserved for rock, country and pop artists. In voting, members of the academy put in submissions and the top 20 are reviewed and narrowed down by smaller committees. Dugan claims that the board uses the committees to promote artists that they have relationships with. Also, she claims that they manipulate the nominations to include songs that the Grammys’ producer want performed. The Recording Academy has denied all accusations on rigged voting.
According to the Harper’s Bazaar article, a statement was leaked by the academy’s board that states that she was placed on leave following “concerns raised to the Recording Academy board of trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team.” In Dugan’s complaint, it explains that the explanation was false and made to threaten her and hurt her reputation. Following her email to HR, she informed the academy that she intended to bring claims against them. She then refused to settle the claims on terms determined by the academy.
Dugan has recently released a statement asking the academy to release her from her arbitration agreement. She believes that even though the academy may want to keep the evidence and case private, the music industry has the right to know what is going on in the academy. According to Blinstein’s article, the academy released a statement claiming that they “remain extremely disappointed in how she is choosing to handle the situation and strongly disagree with many of her claims. At this point, we are focused on the future and are excited about continuing the agenda of change and progress.”
