Ex-Grammy CEO Denies Rape Allegation

The former chief executive of the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammy Awards, denied a rape allegation that was mentioned in a discrimination complaint filed by his successor, adding a new twist to a crisis that broke out just days before the organization’s flagship awards show.

The Wall Street Journal reports the revelation of the allegation against Neil Portnow is the latest development in a fast-moving and nasty public fight between the Recording Academy and Deborah Dugan, the group’s first female CEO.

Neil Portnoy

The battle threatens to engulf the decades-old music institution, undermine its credibility and overshadow this year’s Grammys, set for Sunday in Los Angeles.

In a complaint filed Tuesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Dugan alleged that the Academy’s general counsel, Joel Katz, sexually harassed her and that its board of directors improperly influenced nominations for the Grammy Awards. Mr. Katz denies that allegation.

Elsewhere in the same complaint, Dugan said that after agreeing on May 8 to take the reins at the organization, she was told that Portnow “allegedly raped a female recording artist, which was, upon information and belief, the real reason his contract was not renewed.”

The Recording Academy on Tuesday night said Dugan filed her EEOC complaint only after being placed on administrative leave following a subordinate’s allegations that she had engaged in “abusive and bullying conduct” and other inappropriate behavior.

Deborah Dugan

Portnow responded in a written statement on Wednesday that Dugan’s complaint was “filled with inaccurate, false and outrageous and terribly hurtful claims against me.”

Portnow’s statement went on to say that a committee of the Academy’s board of directors had been told of the rape allegation and commissioned an investigation by lawyers, who, he said, exonerated him. Representatives for the Recording Academy didn’t respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

Portnow stepped down last year after an outcry over his comments about women needing to “step up” if they wanted to climb the music industry’s ranks.

To succeed him, the Academy officially brought on Dugan, who started last August. Last week, just 10 days before the Grammys, the Academy said that it had placed Dugan on leave because of a subordinate’s allegation that she had engaged in misconduct.