By Yuriy Andriyashchuk
Hip-HopVibe.com Staff Writer
Chief Executive Officer of The Recording Academy, Deborah Dugan, is spilling major tea about whats really going on behind the scenes involving the GRAMMYs just four days before the awards show takes place in Los Angeles. She’s filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences after being placed on administrative leave after being harassed in the workplace.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dugan claimed that on December 22, she was sexually harassed by high-profile entertainment lawyer, Joel Katz. He also serves as the Academy’s general counsel and a former board member. Katz’s lawyer, Howard Weitzman, has quickly denied these allegations on his behalf by saying he will “cooperate in any and all investigations or lawsuits by telling the absolute and whole truth.”
Dugan’s entire lawsuit sues for unlawful gender discrimination, sexual harassment, unlawful retaliation and unequal pay. Katz supposedly tried to kiss her on a date on May 18 of last year. This happened at a steakhouse inside a Ritz Carlton hotel
Dugan was also reportedly asked to hire former CEO Neil Portnow as a consultant and give him $750,000. He supposedly made misogynistic comments about female artists too. Portnow is even being accused of raping an unnamed female artist. Portnow has since labeled these comments “ludicrous and untrue.”
As far as nominations for the GRAMMYs, Dugan leaked how the process is really handled. She explained that submissions are voted on by the 12,000 members of the Academy, followed by the top 20 selections being reviewed by “secret committees” chosen which are picked by the board chair and head of awards, Bill Freimuth. The 20 nominees are then broken down between 5-8.
The board also supposedly pushes artists that they have strong relationships with, including ones who didn’t make the top 20. The process is manipulated to the point where certain songs are guaranteed to be nominated.
Check out the entire lawsuit below.
Wow, the former president of the Recording Academy is alleging in a suit that she was sexually harassed by Joel Katz, who is probably the most powerful lawyer in the music business… pic.twitter.com/FcaLB6XDfp
— Eriq Gardner ✍️ (@eriqgardner) January 21, 2020
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