Outsted Grammys Chief Gets Security Detail

The case of Deborah Dugan’s ouster as president and chief executive of the Recording Academy has taken two dramatic twists.

The attorney representing Dugan says he has hired a security detail to guard the Los Angeles-based executive, who was placed on administrative leave this week due to "serious concerns" brought to the board of trustees' attention.

"Based upon credible and extremely disturbing information, Deborah Dugan now has 24-hour, round-the-clock security," Bryan Freedman tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Freedman, who also has represented Megyn Kelly and Gabrielle Union, says he has hired security for clients in the past, including Union, whose firing from America’s Got Talent prompted an NBC investigation. But the Dugan case marks the first time Freedman directly heard the threat himself. He says the threat was made on Friday night (Jan. 17) but declined to elaborate further about the nature of the warning or who communicated it.

Deborah Dugan

Her abrupt sidelining about a week before the Jan. 26 Grammy Awards has become the talk of the music and entertainment industries. The Recording Academy claims Dugan is being investigated for an allegation of misconduct, which the New York Times described as "bullying." Dugan, via Freedman, has countered that she is a whistleblower who was ousted after internally calling out organizational misconduct. She is now threatening to "expose what happens when you ‘step up’ at the Recording Academy," a reference to a comment about women made by the group’s former president Neil Portnow that sparked outrage.

In an additional twist, Champagne Billecart-Salmon has pulled out as a sponsor of the Grammy Awards, which are broadcast on CBS, and is citing the Recording Academy’s treatment of Dugan as the reason.

"I have worked with Deb Dugan for many years going back to when she was CEO of (Red)," said Geoffrey Loisel, vp Americas Champagne Billecart-Salmon. "She is a person with high ethical standards and has always been the utmost professional in our business dealings. Given what has been reported in the news reports, I feel very uncomfortable continuing to support the Grammys at this time. As a result, Champagne Billecart-Salmon is pulling its sponsorship."

Before she was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 16, Dugan filed a complaint with the Academy’s human resources department in which she raised concerns about voting and financial irregularities, excessive payments to law firms and sexual harassment within the 62-year-old institution, which is a 501(c)(6) tax exempt non-profit organization.