Yet that’s precisely what it got late Thursday when the advocacy organization that oversees the annual awards ceremony and accompanying prime-time CBS telecast placed its newly installed president and chief executive, Deborah Dugan, on “administrative leave” amid allegations of misconduct.
In return, Dugan’s lawyer fired back that she is prepared to “expose what happens when you ‘step up’ at the Recording Academy,” a pointed reference to a remark made by former Recording Academy Chief Executive Neil Portnow that was roundly derided as sexist.
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| Deborah Dugan |
The Recording Academy said its move was necessary despite the impending ceremony because of the seriousness of the allegation against Dugan. The academy’s statement did not detail the allegation, but a New York Times report characterized it as “bullying.”
Dugan retains her title but will remain on administrative leave while the independent investigations are ongoing, an academy spokesperson said. Board chairman Harvey Mason Jr. is serving as interim president.
An academy spokesman said the woman’s complaint about Dugan was filed to the executive committee of the academy’s board of trustees before Dugan herself raised allegations of wrongdoing.
Dugan submitted a memo less than a month ago, reportedly to the organization’s human resources department, detailing her concerns about practices she had discovered including voting irregularities, financial mismanagement, “exorbitant and unnecessary” legal fees and “conflicts of interest involving members of the academy’s board, executive committee and outside lawyers,” according to a New York Times report.
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