General (7)
Susana Barrios
From: Theresa Bass <TBass@anaheim.net>
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2024 3:59 PM
To: Theresa Bass <TBass@anaheim.net>
Cc: Jim Vanderpool <JVanderpool@anaheim.net>; Gregory Garcia <GGarcia@anaheim.net>; Robert Fabela
<RFabela@anaheim.net>; Kristin Pelletier <KPelletier@anaheim.net>
Subject: Public Comment (8/20 CCmtg) - Email/Attachment from Former Senator Joe Dunn
Mayor and City Council,
Attached please find a report and Civil suit claims submitted by Former Senator Joe Dunn. Speakers will be
addressing City Council during tonight's public comments related to abuse of women and underage girls in the
music industry; and a performer scheduled to perform at the Honda Center.
Thank you,
Theresa
Theresa Bass, CMC
City Clerk
City of Anaheim
200 S. Anaheim Blvd. #217
Anaheim, CA 92805
Email: tbass@anaheim.net
Phone: (714) 765-5166 | Fax: (714) 765-4105
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Joe Dunn <
Date: Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 10:25 AM
Subject: Large Report
To: Jim Vanderpool
Jim: here is the report again, both a link to it and a copy attached. Let me know if you have any questions.
Here it is:
https://therepproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SOUND-OFF-Make-the-Music-Industry-Safe-
Report-February-2024.pdf
Sent from my iPhone
1
February 27, 2024
This comprehensive report chronicles the
scathing history and financial impact of
decades of sexual abuse and coverups,
from the 1950s to the present.
MAKE THE MUSIC
INDUSTRY SAFE REPORT:
TRIGGER / ACTIVATION WARNING
This report contains numerous accounts of sexual violence.
Please take measures to protect your mental health.
2
Table of Contents
This report is gathered from public information available as of February 22, 2024 and details
instances of reported sexual abuse, harassment, and related misconduct within the music
industry carried out by artists, executives, managers, producers, and other prominent players.
While there are lawsuits identifying some of these alleged perpetrators, many of these
allegations have not been fully evaluated in a civil court. Accordingly, the allegations should be
considered just allegations and should not be considered proven or substantiated in a court of
law. All individuals should be considered innocent until proven guilty.
Executive Summary ................................................................................................ 5
Abuse by Artists & Musicians ................................................................................ 19
Ryan Adams .............................................................................................................................. 20
Jimmie Allen ............................................................................................................................. 23
Nick Carter ................................................................................................................................ 28
Danny Elfman ........................................................................................................................... 37
Justin Geever aka Justin Sane .................................................................................................. 40
Clifford Harris Jr. aka “T.I.” and Tameka “Tiny” Harris .......................................................... 47
Cornell Haynes Jr. aka Nelly ..................................................................................................... 49
Don Henley ................................................................................................................................ 55
Daniel Hernandez aka Tekashi69 ............................................................................................. 56
Jacob Hoggard .......................................................................................................................... 59
Jermaine Jackson ...................................................................................................................... 62
Melissa Viviane Jefferson aka Lizzo .......................................................................................... 63
Robert Kelly aka R. Kelly ........................................................................................................... 67
Anthony Kiedis .......................................................................................................................... 74
Thomas “Tommy” Lee ............................................................................................................... 78
Jerry Lee Lewis .......................................................................................................................... 80
Prince Rogers Nelson aka Prince ............................................................................................... 81
Tremaine Neverson aka Trey Songz .......................................................................................... 83
Ted Nugent ................................................................................................................................ 87
Paul Oakenfold .......................................................................................................................... 88
Dieuson Octave aka Kodak Black .............................................................................................. 90
Jimmy Page ............................................................................................................................... 93
Thomas Wesley Pentz aka Diplo ............................................................................................... 97
3
Elvis Presley ............................................................................................................................. 105
Rolling Stones .......................................................................................................................... 107
William Bruce “Axl” Rose Jr. ................................................................................................... 110
Cherilyn “Cher” Sarkisian ........................................................................................................ 113
Nikki Sixx ................................................................................................................................. 114
Gordon Sumner aka Sting ........................................................................................................ 115
Steven Tallarico aka Steven Tyler ............................................................................................ 118
Kaallan “KR” Walker ................................................................................................................ 123
Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson ......................................................................................... 124
Abuse by Producers, Executives, and Other Industry Figures ............................. 139
Jeff Aldrich .............................................................................................................................. 140
Irving & Rochelle “Shelli” Azoff ............................................................................................... 141
Rodney Bingenheimer .............................................................................................................. 143
Mike Bone.................................................................................................................................148
Richard Branson ...................................................................................................................... 150
Sean Combs aka Diddy ............................................................................................................. 151
Stephen Cooper ........................................................................................................................ 156
Edgardo Díaz ............................................................................................................................ 159
Ahmet Ertegun ......................................................................................................................... 162
Noel Fisher aka Detail ..............................................................................................................168
Kim Fowley ............................................................................................................................... 172
Lukasz Gottwald aka Dr. Luke ................................................................................................. 178
Michael “Mike” Greene ............................................................................................................ 182
Jimmy Iovine ............................................................................................................................184
Abbey Konowitch .....................................................................................................................186
Nigel Lythgoe .......................................................................................................................... 188
Kenny MacPherson ................................................................................................................. 190
Lenard McKelvey aka Charlamagne Tha God .......................................................................... 195
David Mueller ........................................................................................................................... 196
Lou Pearlman ...........................................................................................................................198
Harve Pierre ............................................................................................................................ 202
Neil Portnow ........................................................................................................................... 203
Antonio “L.A.” Reid ................................................................................................................. 206
Russell Simmons ..................................................................................................................... 209
Abe Somer ................................................................................................................................ 214
4
Ron Thorn ................................................................................................................................ 215
Charlie Walk ............................................................................................................................. 217
Methodology ....................................................................................................... 222
5
Executive Summary
For decades, the music industry has condoned, perpetuated, and often marketed a culture of
sexual abuse of women and underage girls. Thousands of artists, executives, and shareholders
have made billions of dollars in profit – while engaging in and/or covering up criminal sexual
behavior. Women who spoke to Vice as part of a 2018 investigation into sexual misconduct
within the music industry “told stories of powerful men who took advantage of their positions,
and explained the risks inherent in speaking out against them. They detailed an industry beset
by financial pressure and fierce competition, increasingly reliant on a freelance workforce
vulnerable to gaps in labor protections.” The report found that the problem of sexual
misconduct in the music industry “doesn't stem from any one of these factors alone—it’s a
perfect storm that clears a path for sexual abuse to continue unabated. Blocking that path will
require reckoning with the very nature of music and the industry and cultures that surround it.”1
“…it’s a perfect storm that clears a path for
sexual abuse to continue unabated.”
Ignoring sexual misconduct has been an act of self-preservation for “an industry that has
undergone an extraordinary amount of upheaval in the past 20 years. Following a series of
mergers dating back to 1998, the ‘Big Six’ major labels that once ruled the industry—Warner
Music Group, EMI, PolyGram, Sony Music, MCA, and BMG—are today the ‘Big Three,’”
becoming Sony Music Entertainment (SME), Universal Music Group (UMG), and Warner Music
Group (WMG).2 At the end of the third quarter of 2023, those three companies accounted for
more than 84 percent of overall market share in the music industry.3 Together, they had a total
market cap of nearly $192 billion as of January 2024.4
Given market value in the hundreds of billions of dollars, there are significant financial risks to
these companies from failing to act on sexual misconduct, covering it up, and in some instances,
having executives who perpetuate the misconduct. Research published in April 2021 in the
Journal of Corporate Finance found that the stock price of companies facing a sexual
harassment scandal decreased 1.5 percent in the next trading day, and there was a larger
decrease when the scandal involved the CEO or if there was high media coverage of the firm’s
1 vice.com, March 15, 2018
2 vice.com, March 15, 2018
3 billboard.com, October 5, 2023
4 companiesmarketcap.com, accessed January 18, 2024; companiesmarketcap.com, accessed January 18, 2024;
companiesmarketcap.com, accessed January 18, 2024
6
scandal.5 For the “Big Three,” a 1.5 percent decrease in stock value would translate into a $1.8
billion drop for Sony, $800 million for UMG, and $277 million for WMG, based on their market
caps as of January 2024.6
The music industry has followed a playbook for dealing with sexual abuse that shields predators,
including musicians, producers, managers, executives, and other behind-the-scenes players,
from liability. In many instances, victims of sexual assault at the hands of artists and industry
professionals “are silenced with ironclad NDAs, while powerful male executives are protected
against a public airing of allegations against them.”7 Survivors also face retaliation for coming
forward, such as getting sued in court, demoted, fired, and/or blacklisted from working in the
industry altogether. Further, even in the wake of the #MeToo movement, “fans and industry
professionals have continued to support and elevate the careers of men who are accused o f
harassment, assault, and abuse.”8
Meanwhile, “women are ‘forced out’ of the music industry after becoming victims of sexual
harassment while perpetrators ‘move up the workforce,’” according to John Shortell, head of
equality, diversity, and inclusion at the Musicians’ Union (MU).9 Vice also reported, “those who
weren’t on the end of abuse were often pushed out if they didn’t fall in line.” One individual who
worked in dance music but left after ten years said on the condition of anonymity, “I always tried
to say something if I wasn't comfortable, or if I saw something that I didn't like, but a lot of the
time when I did that, I was gaslit. I was kind of worked out of situations because people would
just gloss over stuff.”10
This report sets out to detail the prevalence of sexual abuse and misconduct in the music
industry and how its very culture opens the door to such behaviors. Additionally, this report
details how major record companies ignored allegations, silenced victims, and even enabled
such abuse. The sections that follow illustrate how this inaction and enabling expose the “Big
Three” to substantial financial liability as changes are made to the statute of limitations for filing
civil claims of sexual misconduct, including laws creating temporary windows to file time-barred
claims. These companies also may face shareholder actions filed by activist investors, such as
the election of new directors and shareholder resolutions to address these concerns, and
shareholder litigation for breach of fiduciary duties and securities violations. Finally, companies
can be targeted by investigations from regulators, including legislative bodies.
5 sciencedirect.com, April 2021
6 companiesmarketcap.com, accessed January 18, 2024; companiesmarketcap.com, accessed January 18, 2024;
companiesmarketcap.com, accessed January 18, 2024
7 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022; washingtonpost.com, August 12, 2020
8 vice.com, March 15, 2018; independent.co.uk, May 24, 2023
9 independent.co.uk, May 24, 2023
10 vice.com, July 25. 2022
7
Changes to Statutes of Limitations
The creation of window statutes (i.e., lookback periods, to file time-barred claims
of sexual abuse and misconduct) and the elimination of certain statutes of
limitations has exposed the music industry to significant legal liability.
In order to hold the music industry accountable for “enabling and profiting off sexual
predators,” survivors and advocates have “pointed to recent laws in New York and California
that dropped the statute of limitations on sexual misconduct crimes and allowed people to sue
their alleged abuser regardless of when the alleged assault took place.” These laws, which may
be extended as additional states continue to consider, allow survivors to file civil claims of sexual
abuse for actions that occurred when they were adults and/or children.11
In New York, there were over 3,800 civil suits filed under the Adult Survivors Act ahead of the
closure of the one-year window on Thanksgiving 2023, including a “flurry of attention-grabbing
suits” filed against prominent figures in the music industry. The New York Times reported that
as the sunset date approached, “the number of lawsuits filed — both in State Supreme Court and
in the Court of Claims — steadily increased after a campaign to alert people to the deadline. The
number of cases filed in State Supreme Court alone rose from 803 on Oct. 31 to 1,397 as of Nov.
22.”12
The week before the window closed “brought forward one of the widest sets of allegations to hit
the [music] industry in years as renowned artists and executives including Axl Rose, Sean
‘Diddy’ Combs, L.A. Reid, and Jimmy Iovine all faced lawsuits that detailed allegations of sexual
abuse.”13 Combs faced multiple lawsuits, including one filed by his ex-girlfriend, the singer
Cassie Ventura, who alleged he “raped, physically abused and sex trafficked her during their
decade-long relationship.”14 Two additional women filed suit against Combs ahead of the
deadline, detailing “acts of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging.”15 Another lawsuit
accused Harve Pierre, former president of Combs’s Bad Boy Entertainment, of sexual
harassment, sexual assault, and grooming, and named Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy
Records, and Combs Enterprises “as co-defendants, accusing the companies of negligence and
gender violence.”16
11 rollingstone.com, February 4, 2023
12 nytimes.com, November 27, 2023; gothamist.com, December 3, 2023
13 rollingstone.com, November 29, 2023
14 cbsnews.com, December 6, 2023
15 cbsnews.com, November 24, 2023
16 rollingstone.com, November 22, 2023
8
In an open letter to Combs addressing Ventura’s allegations against him, singer-songwriter
Tiffany Red wrote, “Recent events, such as the unveiling of accusations against numerous
former record label CEOs and artists for sexual assault due to the Adult Survivors Act in New
York, underscore the gravity of the situation. The systemic issues of rape culture and misogyny
deeply entrenched in the music industry pose a real threat to so many people’s safety every day
in this business. How can we expect meaningful change when senior leadership and superstars
face accusations of these crimes?”17
“The systemic issues of rape culture and
misogyny deeply entrenched in the music
industry pose a real threat to so many people’s
safety…”
Since the window closed in 2023, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-67), one of the sponsors
of the Adult Survivors Act, said that “the focus is shifting to new legislation that could create
another window for lawsuits or make permanent the ability to file civil lawsuits for se xual
assault beyond the statute of limitations in New York State.” State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal,
sponsor of the bill in the Senate, echoed this statement, and “Will Barclay, the Republican
minority leader in the Assembly, said that since Republicans had supported the original bill,
which brought ‘alarming cases to light and provided victims with a path to justice,’ they would
consider an expanded window.” Mallory Allen, a partner at PCVA Law who represented clients
under the Adult Survivors Act, said that while “a one-year window was a good step, it did not
provide enough time to capture everyone who could have a civil claim.”18
Some attorneys argued that “reopening the window in New York is necessary particularly
because of the lack of awareness around the bill until high-profile suits,” such as the one against
Sean “Diddy” Combs, were filed. Mariann Wang, an attorney at Cuti Hecker Wang LLP who
represented Cassie Ventura in her lawsuit against Combs, said of the window deadline, “We
were fielding and [sic] dozens in the final days, sometimes even in the final hours.” Susan
Crumiller, who “filed about a dozen claims through the Survivors Law Project,” also said “her
firm has gotten ‘10 times as many calls’” in the week leading up to the closing of New York’s
window “compared to the several months before.”19
17 rollingstone.com, December 7, 2023
18 nytimes.com, November 27, 2023
19 rollingstone.com, November 29, 2023; pbs.org, December 12, 2023
9
Previously, New York extended the Child Survivors Act, a similar law that created a one-year
window to file time-barred claims if the abuse took place as a minor. The “number of lawsuits
filed under that law more than doubled in the second year, from 4,241 to 10,857, according to an
analysis by the Sean P. McIlmail Statute of Limitations Research Institute. About 3,500 suits
were brought in just the final month — almost the total number of claims filed under the Adult
Survivors Act in the past 12 months combined, according to the state Office of Court
Administration.”20
At the start of 2023, legislation in California created two separate windows for filing claims of
time-barred sexual abuse as an adult. One window, which closed at the end of 2023, waived “the
statute of limitations entirely” and allowed “survivors to sue specifically over sexual misconduct
claims that are tied to allegations of cover-up from other entities such as companies,” as well as
“specific employees accused of cover-up.” There were “a string of high-profile California lawsuits
filed ahead of the expiration,” including against Jackson 5 member Jermaine Jackson and
Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. A second window allowed survivors to file “misconduct
claims dating back to 2009, with accusers having until the end of 2026 to file suit.”21
Other states have followed New York and California’s lead in making changes to their statutes of
limitations. Effective October 2023, Maryland eliminated the statute of limitations for filing civil
claims over sexual abuse perpetuated against minors.22 Michigan Rep. Julie Brixie introduced a
package of bills that “would extend the statute of limitations for criminal sexual conduct damage
claims from age 28 to 52,” eliminate the statute of limitations “should the perpetrator be
convicted of criminal sexual conduct,” and create “a one-time two year window” to file time-
barred claims.23 California also eliminated the statute of limitations to file claims of child sexual
assault for offenses that occur after “the bill takes effect at the start of 2024.”24
Additional legal venues are opening for survivors to hold perpetrators accountable
through changes to statutes of limitations and creating additional protections for
survivors.
Outside of these window statutes, there are also other new legal avenues for survivors to file
litigation. In 2021, New York City passed the Gender-Motivated Violence Act, granting survivors
until March 2025 to bring a time-barred “civil lawsuit against someone who they say committed
violence against them because of their gender.”25 In December 2023, a lawsuit was filed against
20 gothamist.com, December 3, 2023
21 rollingstone.com, November 29, 2023; npr.org, December 30, 2023
22 thedailyrecord.com, October 1, 2023
23 9and10news.com, December 6, 2023
24 sfchronicle.com, October 10, 2023
25 gothamist.com, December 3, 2023
10
Sean “Diddy” Combs and former Bad Boys president Harve Pierre under this law. The unnamed
Jane Doe accused the men “of gang raping her [at Combs’s music studio] in 2003 when she was
17 years old.” The lawsuit “included multiple pictures of Doe in what is allegedly [Combs's]
studio, including a picture of her sitting on Combs' lap on the night of the alleged sexual
assault.”26
In 2023, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also signed a bill that extended the statute of limitations
for filing administrative complaints over discrimination, including gender and racial
discrimination, from one to three years.27 For the 2024 legislative session, a package of bills was
introduced to make “it easier for sexual assault survivors to seek justice.” One bill would
eliminate the statute of limitations for filing civil claims of sexual abuse that occurred as a child,
and another would create a one-year window statute for filing civil claims related to sex
trafficking and increase the statute of limitations for that offense.28
“…the onus of prevention — creating safe work
environments in the first place — lies with
employers.”
In December 2023, Menaka Fernando, a California attorney focused “on gender -based issues in
the workplace,” wrote about how California “passed a range of legal protections and opened new
avenues for accountability,” which led to lawsuits against “three major music executives.”
Fernando added, “California’s workplace discrimination policies and protections are arguably
the strongest in the nation. In addition, in 2022, President Biden signed into law a federal bill
that ended forced arbitration for sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. Combined, these
laws create important protections that can enable survivors to come forward and get justice after
the fact, but the onus of prevention — creating safe work environments in the first place — lies
with employers.”29
Shareholder Activism
Music companies can be targeted by shareholder activism to hold them
accountable for failing to act on sexual misconduct and force changes to corporate
culture.
26 cbsnews.com, December 6, 2023
27 workforcebulletin.com, December 1, 2023
28 spectrumlocalnews.com, December 19, 2023; gothamist.com, December 19, 2023
29 siliconvalley.com, December 20, 2023
11
As a result of growing exposure to sexual misconduct claims, the “Big Three” music companies
may be subject to shareholder activism, including the election of new directors and passage of
shareholder resolutions. In November 2022, Dan McDermott, an adjunct professor of
shareholder activism at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, wrote, “The
#MeToo movement, shareholder activism, and the powerful empire of music are about to
collide.” McDermott was referring to Dorothy Carvello’s nomination of herself to the board of
Warner Music Group (WMG) under a new SEC rule that “allows for shareholders to nominate
themselves as directors for election on public company boards – on the same slate as the
incumbent directors – rather than separate board slates required previously.” McDermott noted
that the change “has far-reaching consequences to shareholder activism and corporate
accountability to shareholders.”30
“The #MeToo movement, shareholder
activism, and the powerful empire of music
are about to collide.”
As McDermott wrote, “Carvello is seeking to become WMG’s agitator-in-chief. For years she has
alleged sexual assault by current and former WMG executives against herself, other former
Warner employees and WMG female artists.” According to McDermott, “Her thesis is simple:
Warner Music Group cannot attract top female artists or employees in a corporate culture that
she believes is beyond broken. She contends that change must happen from within, not from
silencing victims with NDAs and hush money.” Her campaign sought “to force WMG to fix a
culture she says is broken.”31
Prior to launching her campaign, Carvello and other former employees at WMG’s Atlantic
Records accused the label’s founder Ahmet Ertegun of sexual assault and harassment. In
December 2022, Carvello filed a lawsuit against WMG, Atlantic Records, Ertegun, former
Atlantic co-CEO and chairman Doug Morris, and former A&R executive Jason Flom. Her lawsuit
alleged that at a concert in 1988, in the presence of Flom, Ertegun “forcibly pulled down her
underwear and exposed her vagina to all present at the club,” and then, he “grabbed her
genitals, causing her significant physical pain.”32 She also claimed “Morris would ‘forcibly kiss’
her on the face and touch her inappropriately on a daily basis,” and “both Morris and Ertegun
would suggest that Atlantic would pay for her to get breast augmentation surgery.”33
30 icrinc.com, November 30, 2022
31 icrinc.com, November 30, 2022
32 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed December 4, 2022
33 billboard.com, December 5, 2022
12
In a lawsuit filed in November 2022, Jan Roeg, a former Atlantic talent scout from the mid-
1980s to the early 2000s, alleged that Ertegun “sexually harassed and assaulted her throughout
her time at the label, masturbating in front of her numerous times, forcing her head to his crotch
in attempts to engage in oral sex, digitally penetrating her and, during a dinner in 1990,
drugging her, resulting in her getting her stomach pumped.”34 She said that Atlantic “was aware
of Ertegun’s alleged behavior of sexual harassment and assault toward female employees at the
company, as well as female business associates, […] ‘yet the label allowed and enabled it to
continue for decades, imposing suffering on and hampering the careers of countless women
within and outside the company.’”35
Furthermore, Carvello’s lawsuit alleged that when sexual assault or violence “was reported, their
victims were routinely paid settlements with corporate funds in exchange for signed non-
disclosure agreements.” As an assistant to Ertegun, Carvello said she would regularly open mail
to “find Polaroid photographs of him naked, engaged in various sex acts with women, along with
letters from women blackmailing [Ertegun].” Following protocol, Carvello would then hand over
the blackmail “to another Atlantic Records executive who would make arrangements for the
blackmailers to receive cash payments (taken from a safe in Atlantic Records’ office) in exchange
for entering into nondisclosure agreements concerning the women’s interactions.”36
While Carvello’s nomination was blocked for failing to meet company bylaws, her “novel
attempt could set the stage for future bids by activists aiming to bring attention to causes not
often discussed in the staid corporate arenas of annual shareholder meetings,” according to
Billboard. Carvello also said she planned to nominate herself again in the future.37 Writing
about Carvello, McDermott argued, “Corporate boards need to be proactively listening to their
shareholders and responding to their concerns. It’s entirely possible that a self-nominated,
minority shareholder will be elected.”38
“It’s entirely possible that a self-nominated,
minority shareholder will be elected.”
Shareholders can publicly air concerns about financial liabilities and request
corporate records to investigate corporate wrongdoing.
34 theguardian.com, November 29, 2022; rollingstone.com, November 28, 2022
35 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952003/2022, filed November 28, 2022
36 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed December 4, 2022
37 billboard.com, January 3, 2023
38 icrinc.com, November 30, 2022
13
Shareholders can take other actions to bring attention to the failure of music companies to act
on claims of sexual misconduct. For instance, before nominating herself to WMG’s board,
Carvello sent a letter to WMG’s board of directors “requesting records relating to the company’s
investigations into previously-reported sexual misconduct claims and royalties accounting at the
label.” The letter said that Carvello had “concerns that WMG’s management is not doing enough
to investigate and act upon allegations of sexual misconduct at the company, and not monitoring
the distribution of artist royalties in a manner that ensures sound accounting and payment. Both
issues have the potential to expose the company to substantial liability and cause great
reputational harm to WMG … [and] raise serious concerns about the truthfulness and accuracy
of the company’s statements to investors.”39
“…issues have the potential to expose the
company to substantial liability…”
Carvello filed her request under Section 220 of Delaware’s corporate law. In Delaware, where
WMG is incorporated, shareholders can file Section 220 actions “to inspect corporate books and
records to investigate possible corporate wrongdoing or mismanagement.” Material received
through these requests can be used by shareholders to decide “whether to bring litigation” and
“has provided a basis for more particularized allegations, which has resulted in more cases
surviving the pleading stage of litigation.” Previously, a shareholder “sued Activision for access
to certain documents after filing a 220 complaint last October [2021] following allegations of
sexual harassment and workplace misconduct.” Carvello also said she was “exploring other legal
options to file similar requests” at Sony Music and UMG.40
Shareholder Litigation
Music companies may be subjected to shareholder litigation for enabling and
perpetuating sexual misconduct, as other companies have been in the wake of
#MeToo.
The music industry’s failure to act on claims of sexual misconduct, and in some cases where
executives perpetuate it, places these companies at risk of shareholder litigation for breach of
fiduciary duties and violations of securities laws. Law professors writing in the Columbia Law
Review found that from January 2017 to August 2018, in the wake of the #MeToo movement,
39 billboard.com, September 13, 2022
40 rollingstone.com, September 13, 2022; corpgov.law.harvard.edu, October 3, 2022; sec.gov, accessed December 22, 2023
14
there were lawsuits filed by shareholders at eight publicly traded companies “against corporate
directors and officers on grounds related to reported sexual misconduct.” They argued, “What a
CEO does behind closed doors is the board’s business [emphasis in original],” and concluded
“that corporate and securities law can publicize the scope and severity of sexual harassment,
incentivize proactive and productive interventions by corporate fiduciaries, and punish
individuals and entities that commit, conceal, and abet sexual misconduct in the workplace.”41
“What a CEO does behind closed doors is the
board’s business…”
There have been indications that shareholder litigation may target the “Big Three” over sexual
misconduct. In January 2023, after Carvello’s sexual harassment and assault lawsuit was filed
against WMG and former WMG executives, at least one law firm announced an investigation
into “whether members of Warner Music’s board of directors or senior management failed to
manage Warner Music in an acceptable manner, in breach of their fiduciary duties, and whether
Warner Music and its shareholders have suffered damages as a result.”42 Along the same lines,
in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Twenty-First Century Fox settled shareholder claims
over sexual harassment at Fox News, and CBS settled a securities class action alleging the
company “lost money when harassment claims surfaced against ousted CEO Leslie Moonves.”43
Record companies have continued to work with artists publicly accused of sexual
abuse and artists who publicly admitted to misconduct, allowing abuse to
continue.
High-profile cases in recent years show that record companies continued to work with artists
publicly accused of sexual misconduct. For instance, according to a Washington Post
investigation published in May 2018, “For more than two decades, the recording industry turned
a blind eye to [R. Kelly’s] behavior as his career continued to thrive and he was afforded every
luxury of a chart-topping superstar.” The disregard for Kelly’s sexual misconduct “played out on
many levels, from the billionaire record executive who first signed the dynamic young vocalist in
the early 1990s to the low-paid assistants who arranged flights, food and bathroom breaks for
his traveling entourage of young women.”44
41 chicagounbound.uchicago.edu, October 2018
42 businesswire.com, January 18, 2023
43 reuters.com, November 20, 2017; hollywoodreporter.com, April 18, 2022
44 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018; variety.com, January 18, 2019; billboard.com, April 28, 2023
15
Despite over 20 years of alleged “sexually abusive behavior by Kelly toward young women” and
minors, “RCA — Kelly’s label home for the entirety of his solo career, both directly and as part of
its partnership with Jive Records (which merged with RCA in 2007) — has stood by the singer,
primarily, sources tell Variety, because he has never been convicted of a crime and has
steadfastly maintained his innocence.”45 In 2002, as “police were investigating a sex tape that
appeared to show the R&B superstar with a 14-year-old girl,” David McPherson, an executive at
Sony’s Epic Records, willfully ignored the sex tape. Rocky Bivens, an assistant to Kelly, recalled
telling McPherson, “if I watch the tape and that’s him, I’m gone and you’re not getting those
records. […] I’m glad you did not watch those tapes.” Larry Khan, then a senior vice president
for marketing at Jive, also “said he had no problem working with Kelly even after seeing a clip of
the singer’s sex tape.”46
“…if I watch the tape and that’s him, I’m gone
and you’re not getting those records.”
Record labels also continued working with artists who openly admitted to having sexual
relationships with underage girls. In 2011, Steven Tyler wrote about “a relationship with an
underage girl both in his own memoir and in Aerosmith’s autobiography.” Julia Holcomb,
Tyler’s victim, filed suit against Tyler for the sexual assault in December 2022 in California
under the state’s window statute for childhood sexual abuse, noting she was 16 years old when
their three-year relationship started. She also alleged he convinced her “mother to grant him
guardianship over her,” allowing her to live with him and “more easily travel with her without
criminal prosecution.”47
In another case, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers was convicted of misdemeanors
for sexual battery and indecent exposure in 1989 after he “exposed himself and touched his
crotch to a woman’s face against her wishes” at a concert.48 He also admitted in his 2004
autobiography to “having sex with a 14-year-old fan in Louisiana, even after he knew she was
underage.” He claimed the girl told him “her father was chief of police in her hometown and ‘the
entire state of Louisiana is looking for me.’” Nevertheless, Kiedis claimed, “I wasn’t incredibly
scared.”49 In 2016, former Epic Records executive Julie Farman described the industry’s
disregard for allegations of sexual misconduct against Kiedis and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She
45 bbc.com, February 24, 2023
46 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
47 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022; rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022; theguardian.com, September 13, 2021; Los Angeles
County Superior Court, Case No. 22TRCV01604, filed February 1, 2023
48 faroutmagazine.co.uk, November 5, 2021; washingtonpost.com, May 13, 1990
49 nj.com, August 18, 2022; Kansas City Star, May 11, 2006
16
wrote, “No one in the music industry really gave a shit — as their legal issues made headlines,
they left EMI, and every label wanted to sign them. Including Epic. I was horrified.”50
Investigations by Regulators
Music companies may be subjected to regulatory investigations over sexual
harassment and misconduct, with executives being called to testify before
legislative bodies.
The music industry could become the target of investigations examining sexual misconduct,
which the sporting world has seen in recent years. For instance, in January 2018, the U.S.
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee “opened an investigation into USA
Gymnastics (USAG), the US Olympic Committee (USOC) and Michigan State University
(MSU).” The investigation was centered on “the USOC’s systemic failures to protect athletes
from sexual abuse and the reported filing of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to silence a
victim of abuse in relation to the Larry Nassar abuse case.”51
In the United Kingdom, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee
opened an inquiry in June 2022 focused on misogyny specifically in the music industry “as part
of its body of work looking into how policies and attitudes in society can change to help tackle
Violence Against Women and Girls.” John Shortell, head of equality, diversity, and inclusion at
the Musicians’ Union (MU), testified before the committee in May 2023 that “women are ‘forced
out’ of the music industry after becoming victims of sexual harassment while perpetrators ‘move
up the workforce.’” Shortell said that “‘fear’ of workers losing their jobs has made ‘sexual
harassment more likely and under-reported in the music industry.’”52 For example, a 2019
report from the Musicians’ Union found that about half of musicians were “forced to endure
sexual harassment in the workplace” but 85 percent did not report it, “predominantly due to the
‘culture of the industry’.”53
In one hearing, senior executives at the UK divisions of Sony Music, WMG, and UMG were
pressed on their companies’ responses to sexual misconduct, including what Dame Caroline
Dinenage, a Member of Parliament (MP), characterized as the “enormous disconnect between
what you are telling us and what we have heard.” When asked about the number of sexual
harassment claims, the UMG executive claimed there was one report in five years, WMG said
50 thegrayishcarpet.com, April 20, 2016
51 moran.senate.gov, accessed August 4, 2023
52 committees.parliament.uk, June 9, 2022; independent.co.uk, May 24, 2023
53 independent.co.uk, October 23, 2019
17
there were four in seven years, and the Sony executive cited five in 10 years. Dinenage observed
that this was “very low compared to the levels that we have had reported to us.” All of the UK
executives also denied that their companies used NDAs for sexual harassment. MP Jackie Doyle -
Price concluded, “given what we are seeing here is a disconnect between what you are telling us
and what we are getting from the industry, it does need to be driven at the highest level. I ask
you to take that back to your boards before we finish our report.”54
Furthermore, WMG’s UK executive continued to deny knowledge of details about NDAs and
said she “cannot speak about individual cases” when pressed about Samantha Maloney’s sexual
harassment accusation against WMG CEO Stephen Cooper.55 Maloney, a former vice president
of A&R at Warner Records, claimed in a letter to Warner that “she’d been propositioned by
WMG chief executive Stephen Cooper.” She received a $240,000 settlement from WMG and
signed an NDA in 2017 “that would perpetually silence her regarding speaking out about a
sexual harassment incident she allegedly experienced while working at Warner Music Group’s
flagship record label.”56 At a subsequent UK hearing, when questioned about denials by these
executives, singer Rebecca Ferguson said, “NDAs are very common in the music industry,” and
she called for banning the use of NDAs, saying, “the British court system is being used against
women.”57
At a hearing as part of this inquiry, former BBC Radio DJ Annie Macmanus further pushed back
on the claims made by executives, saying, “The people I spoke to felt infuriated to the point
where they wanted me to say this here—to say that they did not experience a lot of what these
women were saying.” Macmanus testified that “there is a ‘tidal wave’ of revelations about sexual
assault in the music industry waiting to be told,” adding, “the system is kind of rigged against
women.” Singer Rebecca Ferguson said, “Misogyny in music is the tip of the iceberg of the things
that are happening behind the scenes. If you read the unredacted version of my written
evidence, you will see how sinister music has become.”58
“…there is a ‘tidal wave’ of revelations about
sexual assault in the music industry waiting to
be told…”
54 committees.parliament.uk, June 28, 2023
55 committees.parliament.uk, June 28, 2023
56 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
57 committees.parliament.uk, September 13, 2023
58 committees.parliament.uk, September 13, 2023; BBC News, September 13, 2023
18
Investigations and other public pressure may lead to calls for additional
protections for artists and employees and regulatory changes in the music
industry.
New York passed “one of the country’s first #metoo statutes” that limited the use of
nondisclosure agreements in sexual harassment settlements, and this law was expanded over
the years to increase protections. In November 2023, amendments to the law restricted the use
of nondisclosure agreements “involving claims of harassment or retaliation in violation of laws
prohibiting discrimination.” The amendments also prohibited agreements that require victims
to sign a non-disparagement clause and pay damages or forfeit the settlement for violations.59 In
2019, legislation in California also “went into effect that prevented employers from imposing
non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) as a condition of settlement of a civil or administrative
action in which claims of sexual harassment or discrimination based on sex had been
asserted.”60
In her testimony in the UK, singer Rebecca Ferguson said, “Music has become that unregulated
that people feel they can threaten people’s lives. They feel like they can use violence. They feel
like they can use sexual violence.” She called for licensing of people within the industry, pointing
out that her husband who is a football and cricket agent is required to have a license, sit through
exams, and pass those exams to be a manager. She said, “Music does not have that, and I find
that really concerning and very odd.” She also pointed out lobbying by the music industry whe n
legislative changes were being considered, such as one bill to increase pay for musicians. As
stated in Ferguson’s opening remarks, “What is scary is that it will only get worse if the
Government doesn’t act.”61
“Music has become that unregulated that
people feel they can threaten people’s lives.”
59 natlawreview.com, January 8, 2024
60 ebglaw.com, November 19, 2021
61 committees.parliament.uk, September 13, 2023
19
Abuse by Artists & Musicians
20
Ryan Adams
Allegations
In 2019, the New York Times published an investigation detailing singer Ryan
Adams’s alleged pattern of manipulation that involved dangling career
opportunities before female artists while pursuing sexual relationships with them.
In February 2019, the New York Times published an investigation detailing sexual misconduct
claims against singer Ryan Adams. Speaking with the New York Times, “seven women and more
than a dozen associates described a pattern of manipulative behavior in which Adams dangled
career opportunities while simultaneously pursuing female artists for sex. In some cases, they
said, he would turn domineering and vengeful, jerking away his offers of support when spurned,
and subjecting women to emotional and verbal abuse, and harassment in texts and on social
media. The accounts have been corroborated by family members or friends who were present at
the time, as well as by correspondence from Adams reviewed by The New York Times.”62
Adams pursued an online relationship with an aspiring teenage bass player who
was a minor and engaged in graphic phone sex with her on video calls. Reportedly,
Adams, who was nearly 40 years old at the time, dangled lucrative career
opportunities before his victim.
Adams, who regularly communicated with fans via social media, met an aspiring bass player
named Ava on Twitter when she was 14 years old and he was nearly 40. Ava “excitedly messaged
him to say hello after she followed him and he followed her back.” In online conversations,
Adams “floated big ideas about her career prospects in their earliest messages, eventually
suggesting that she and another teenager start a band that he could produce.”63
However, “their correspondence about music turned into graphic texting. Eventually, Ava said,
they conducted video calls on Skype, where Adams exposed himself during phone sex.” In text
messages during a nine-month period when Ava was between 15 and 16, “Adams questioned Ava
repeatedly about her age, and sometimes she said she was older than she was. Though he did
not seem convinced, their sexual conversations continued. ‘i would get in trouble if someone
knew we talked like this,’ Adams wrote to her in November 2014.”64
62 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
63 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
64 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
21
A constant theme in their conversations “was Adams fretting about Ava’s age — and asking to
keep their exchanges secret — while also indulging in sexual scenarios. ‘I never see pics of you
anymore,’ Adams wrote in November 2014, when he had just turned 40 and Ava was newly 16.
‘You were blowing my mind.’ He had pet names for her body parts. Days later, Adams expressed
anxiety: ‘If people knew they would say I was like R Kelley lol,’ he wrote. Yet within 10 minutes,
the conversation again turned explicit. ‘I just want you to touch your nipple,’ he texted, before
again asking about her age. ‘And tell me that your mom is not gonna kill me if she finds out we
even text.’” Adams pled that Ava “tell him she was 18 — ‘You have to convince me,’ he wrote —
Ava at times said she was. Sometimes he asked to see identification — ‘in the hottest way that
has ever been done Lol.’ She never showed him any ID.”65
Ava told the New York Times that as their communication went on, “she grew uneasy about
their unequal dynamic. Once, she said, the two agreed to video chat, but when they connected
on Skype, Adams was already naked. ‘It was just sexual power,’ Ava said. As their relationship
waned, Adams returned to the possibility of recording together. But for Ava, the idea that she
would be objectified or have to sleep with people to get ahead ‘just totally put me off to the whole
idea’ of being a musician, she said. She never played another gig.”66
Retaliation Against Victims
Adams reportedly pursued aspiring female artists with intense flattery, mixing
professional opportunities with sexual pursuits. When relationships did not
progress, Adams harassed female artists and threatened professional retaliation.
Singer Phoebe Bridgers was among the women, according to the New York Times, who “were
subjected to Adams’s intense flattery and a bait and switch in which professional opportunities
would be commingled with sexual come-ons.” When she was 20, “Adams invited her to the Pax-
Am studio one night in fall 2014. ‘There was a mythology around him,’ she said. ‘It seemed like
he had the power to propel people forward.’” After she performed a song for Adams, he “gave
her a pricey vintage guitar, she said, and told her to return to record with him the next day.
Beguiled by Adams’s energy and enthusiasm, Bridgers brought her best songs. Adams proposed
putting them out as a 7-inch vinyl single on his label, setting her on a professional path.”67
As they discussed Bridgers’s potential record, “Adams started sending Bridgers flirty texts, she
said, and a whirlwind romance commenced. Bridgers said the singer began discussing marriage
65 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
66 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
67 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
22
less than a week into their relationship, and insisted that she open for him on his European tour
in a few weeks — ‘a golden pillar of success,’ she recalled. Adams told Bridgers’s mother that it
was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to have someone like him looking out for her.”68
However, “Adams’s attention turned obsessive and emotionally abusive, Bridgers said. He began
barraging her with texts, insisting that she prove her whereabouts, or leave social situations to
have phone sex, and threatening suicide if she didn’t reply immediately.” Eventually, Bridgers
broke off her relationship with Adams, who “became evasive about releasing the music they had
recorded together and rescinded the offer to open his upcoming concerts.”69
Even after their relationship ended, Bridgers said “Adams continued to tease opportunities
while pursuing her. He offered her a few dates opening for him on tour in 2017, and after much
discussion with her manager about Adams’s behavior, Bridgers said she accepted because it was
a big opportunity before the release of her debut album.” On the first day on tour, Bridgers said
Adams asked her to bring something to his hotel room. Bridgers told the New York Times, “I
came upstairs and he was completely nude.”70
Like Bridgers, two other “female singer-songwriters, who declined to be identified for fear of
retribution, described a similar pattern of behavior from Adams: raving about their work and
offering tour spots amid aggressive romantic pursuit, followed by harassing messages and
threats of professional retaliation when the relationships did not progress as he wanted.”71
Continued Profit for UMG
Adams’s Pax-Am label was connected to UMG’s Capitol Music Group but was
dropped following sexual misconduct allegations. However, Adams’s music
remains available on major streaming platforms where his records continue to
generate royalties for UMG.
Adams’s “Pax-Am label was connected to Capitol Music Group, a major conglomerate, and an
opening slot on one of his sold-out tours could introduce an emerging artist to fans and business
partners.” Notably, Capitol Music Group is “a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.” Until 2018,
Adams was managed by John Silva for over a decade, “who has worked with Nirvana, Beck and
St. Vincent.”72
68 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
69 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
70 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
71 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019
72 nytimes.com, February 13, 2019; universalmusic.com, accessed August 30, 2023
23
Capitol “dropped Adams’ indie label, Pax Am, from a distribution deal” following his sexual
misconduct scandal. However, as of January 2024, Adams’s music was still available on
streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music where it was generating
royalties for UMG.73
Jimmie Allen
Allegations & Criminal Complaint
Country singer Jimmie Allen allegedly raped and sexually abused a woman who
worked as his travelling assistant. Allen’s victim alleged that he made sexually
charged comments about her in front of label representatives.
In a May 2023 lawsuit, a woman who worked as a member of singer Jimmie Allen’s
management team alleged that “the country star subjected her to a ‘torrential cycle’ of ongoing
abuse and harassment. Her lawsuit claims that Allen ‘made clear her job was dependent on her
staying silent about his conduct.’”74
According to the woman’s lawsuit, who was not named to protect her identity, “Allen raped her
and repeatedly subjected her to sexual abuse and harassment over a period of 18 months.” Prior
to a May 2021 appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to promote his children’s book,
“Allen allegedly assaulted this woman as they traveled together, groping her breasts on the
plane, pushing his erect penis against her body in public and masturbating in front of her at the
hotel where they were both staying, the woman told Variety. Once they left the taping and got
into the car, she says he forced his fingers into her vagina while she tried to yank his hand
away.”75
Additionally, “Allen allegedly raped this same woman during a different work trip to Los
Angeles, in March 2021, when he was filming an episode of ‘American Idol’ as a celebrity guest.”
In her lawsuit, the woman claimed “that following a business dinner after the ‘Idol’ taping, she
woke up naked in her hotel room in severe pain and bleeding vaginally, having remembered
nothing of what happened the night before. She says Allen was laying next to her in bed, and
73 Streaming Services: Amazon Music, Apple Music, & Spotify, accessed January 16, 2024; variety.com, June 3, 2022
74 variety.com, May 11, 2023; uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00477, filed May 11, 2023
75 variety.com, May 11, 2023
24
insisted she take a Plan B pill. She realized she had lost her virginity through no choice of her
own and felt she had betrayed her faith.”76
In her lawsuit, the woman alleged “that Allen raped her while choking her, sexually abused her
at red lights when she drove him to and from business events and looked at porn on her work
computer. Jane Doe tells Variety that she said ‘no’ and tried to push Allen away during many
sexual interactions, and after she had been allegedly coerced and forced to have sexual
intercourse with Allen, she would regularly bleed, cry uncontrollably and run to the bathroom to
vomit. Despite these signs, she says Allen failed to acknowledge her physical and emotional
pain.”77
In one instance, “Allen allegedly made comments loudly in front of representatives from his
label, BBR Music Group, about whether Jane Doe was on birth control. The suit says that during
a phone call in May 2020, just one month after Jane Doe was hired to work with Allen, the
singer asked if she was a virgin.”78
Allen was accused of sexually assaulting another woman he met on a flight during
a trip to Las Vegas. Allen allegedly recorded the assault in secret.
In June 2023, a second lawsuit was filed against Allen by “a woman who said she met Allen on a
plane. She alleged that Allen secretly filmed her on his phone during a sexual assault. After
discovering the phone, she said she took it from the hotel room and reported the incident to
police.”79
According to her complaint, the woman met Allen in May 2022 on a flight to Nashville. After she
exited the plane, Allen’s bodyguard, Charles Hurd, approached her and “said that Allen wanted
Plaintiff’s phone number and suggested they could meet that evening in Nashville.” Over the
next two months, the woman and Allen “spoke via FaceTime or exchanged text messages several
times per day. Over time, Allen expressed his love for her and told her he could see a future
together. He told her he wanted to have children together and that he could see she would make
a good stepmother for his children.”80
After maintaining a long-distance relationship, the woman agreed to meet with Allen in person
in Las Vegas “where he was scheduled for several public appearances.” In Las Vegas, the woman
met Allen in his hotel suite, where she “willingly joined Allen in the bedroom.” She “told Allen
76 variety.com, May 11, 2023
77 variety.com, May 11, 2023
78 variety.com, May 11, 2023
79 apnews.com, June 12, 2023
80 uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00582, filed June 9, 2023
25
she was not on birth control and repeatedly told him she did not want him to ejaculate inside
her. He told her he would respect her request. Yet, as their encounter progressed, Allen
penetrated Plaintiff during sex with his penis and without a condom. Allen told Plaintiff he
wanted to get her pregnant. Plaintiff said no. Plaintiff told Allen to pull out before he ejaculated,
again repeating that she was not on birth control, and she did not want to get pregnant. He
refused. She repeatedly told him to pull out, but he did not and instead ejaculated inside her.”81
Following their encounter, the woman got up to leave the hotel room in distress, while Allen
passed out. According to her complaint, “As she walked past the closet in the bedroom, she was
surprised when the interior light came on inside the closet. The closet door was a sliding door
with slats and was partially open. She opened the closet door and found a cell phone focused on
the bed, recording the scene.” When the woman could not awaken Allen to delete the video, she
“took the phone with her.” Upon returning the to Nashville, Jane Doe 2 “reported the assault
and the surreptitious recording. The local police department told her they would report the
incident to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.”82
Silencing & Retaliation Against Victims
After one of Allen’s victims told her employer, management firm Wide Open
Music, about her sexual assault and harassment allegations, the company dropped
the singer. However, they also fired the victim.
In addition to Allen, one woman who accused Allen of rape also sued her former employer, Wide
Open Music, and its founder, Ash Bowers, “for gross negligence and participating in a venture
engaged in sex trafficking, among other counts.” In 2016, Bowers discovered Allen, “and with his
management firm, he helped catapult the performer to country music superstardom. He is also
credited as a producer and songwriter on all of his albums. In two conversations with Variety,
and in the lawsuit, the woman claims she was manipulated and groomed by Allen into a sexually
abusive relationship that lasted for over a year and a half.” The lawsuit alleged that despite being
aware of Allen’s behavior, the company assigned the woman “to be his Day-to-Day Manager
anyway. Wide Open Music did not adequately warn or prepare Plaintiff for, or protect her from,
the extreme sexual harassment, abuse, grooming, and manipulation she would endure in order
to keep her job.”83
81 uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00582, filed June 9, 2023
82 uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00582, filed June 9, 2023
83 variety.com, May 11, 2023
26
The woman’s lawsuit alleged that Bowers was aware of Allen’s behavior, even warning during
her hiring process that the singer “could be challenging by pushing inappropriate boundaries.”
Bowers told her “that Allen was promiscuous but ‘harmless,’ implying that it was inevitable that
Allen would make sexual advances” towards her.84
After nearly 18 months of abuse, the woman met with Bowers in October 2022 “to disclose that
‘she had been raped and sexually abused,’ the lawsuit says, and ‘told him she could not put up
with Allen’s abuse any longer, and asked that she be reassigned.’ (This was the first time she
informed Bowers of any alleged physical assault.) As she was sharing her allegations of
continuous abuse on the job, Bowers suddenly excused himself from the meeting, the suit
claims, telling Jane Doe, ‘I can’t hear any more of this.’” Rather than being reassigned, Wide
Open Music placed the woman “on leave and then fired her.”85
Furthermore, the woman claimed she was “not the first female employee to be terminated from
Wide Open Music after speaking up about Allen’s alleged conduct. Before Jane Doe was hired as
Allen’s day-to-day manager, the company had fired Allen’s previous day-to-day manager after
she ‘defended another woman who was the target of Allen’s sexual advances,’ the suit claims.
Given that Wide Open Music had fired Allen’s previous manager (who was later rehired at the
company in another division), Jane Doe ‘understood that her job was dependent on tolerating
Allen’s misconduct,’ her attorney writes.”86
A hair and makeup assistant who witnessed Allen’s misconduct was fired after she
reported his behavior to his management company. Allen subsequently required
his staff to sign non-disclosure agreements.
According to Jane Doe’s complaint against Allen alleging sexual misconduct, in April 2021, Allen
“opened a pornography website on” her work-issued computer. The incident was witnessed by
Allen’s hair and makeup assistant who reported it to Bowers, Jane Doe’s supervisor.
Subsequently, the makeup assistant “was fired for being a ‘snitch.’” Allen then “required anyone
that he hired to sign a non-disclosure agreement.”87
Allen allegedly videotaped sexual encounters with his victims to use as blackmail.
According to a lawsuit filed by one of Allen’s victims in May 2023, she alleged that Allen
“videotaped multiple sexual encounters in order to blackmail her to stay silent.”88 Another
84 uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00477, filed May 11, 2023
85 variety.com, May 11, 2023; uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00477, filed May 11, 2023
86 variety.com, May 11, 2023
87 uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00477, filed May 11, 2023
88 uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00477, filed May 11, 2023
27
victim, who Allen met on a flight, alleged that he assaulted her in a Las Vegas hotel room. When
leaving the hotel room, the victim alleged in a lawsuit that “she discovered that Allen had
surreptitiously and, without her consent, placed his cell phone in the closet facing the bed and
had been videotaping the entire event.” The woman “had not consented to being recorded and
did not know what he intended to do with the recording.” The woman could not wake Allen, who
passed out after the assault, so she “took the cell phone, turned it into the police when she
returned home, and made a police report.”89
Months after Allen’s victims came forward, the country singer filed counterclaims
against them.
In July 2023, Allen “filed counterclaims against both of his accusers.” Allen “said in a statement
that his goal in responding to the women in court is to ‘protect my reputation and refute these
claims that have caused severe damage to my family, mental health and business.’”90
In a statement to People, Beth Fegan, the attorney representing Allen’s accusers, said “that
Allen’s filings are ‘what we’d expect — claims that all his encounters with Jane Doe 1 and Jane
Doe 2 were consensual.’” Fegan noted, “It is becoming increasingly common for perpetrators to
countersue their victims, claiming defamation. This is a concerning trend, one designed to
convince victims that if they speak out, they will be the target of spurious litigation.”91
Continued Profit for BBR
Allen was dropped by his record label, BBR Music Group, and agency after public
accusations of rape and sexual assault were made against him. However, his music
remains on major streaming platforms where they continue to generate royalties.
Following the public accusations of sexual assault and harassment, Allen was “was dropped by
his record label, BBR Music Group, his agency, UTA, and his publicity firm Full Coverage
Communications. He was also removed from the performer lineup at CMA Fest in June
[2023].”92 However, as of January 2024, Allen’s music was still available on streaming services
such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music where it was generating royalties for BBR
Music Group.93
89 uscourts.gov, Case No. 3:2023cv00582, filed June 9, 2023
90 people.com, July 13, 2023
91 people.com, July 13, 2023
92 people.com, July 13, 2023
93 Streaming Services: Amazon Music, Apple Music, & Spotify, accessed January 16, 2024; variety.com, June 3, 2022
28
Nick Carter
Allegations & Criminal Complaint
A former member of 2000s girl group Dream, Melissa Schuman alleged Nick
Carter raped her in 2002. She said she was first introduced to Carter when she was
a minor, and their management teams encouraged them to date.
In April 2023, Melissa Schuman, “a former member of the 2000s girl group Dream,” sued
Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter “for alleged sexual assault and battery,” according to the Los
Angeles Times. In the lawsuit, Schuman accused “Carter of sexually assaulting her in 2002 in
Santa Monica when he was 22 and she was 18.” Schuman alleged “that Carter drugged her and
raped her after she told him ‘over and over’ that she didn’t want to have sex until marriage. She
also claims that Carter performed oral sex on her ‘against her will’ and ‘demanded’ she perform
oral sex on him after she refused to do so.” In addition to Carter, Schuman filed suit against
unnamed defendants that included “agents, representatives and/or employees” of Carter.94
Notably, Schuman’s lawsuit came “five years after Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to
file charges against the Backstreet Boys singer.” In 2018, Schuman reported to Santa Monica
police “that Carter raped her, but prosecutors opted not to pursue the case because the statute of
limitations for the alleged crime expired in 2013.” With her 2023 lawsuit, “she is now able ‘for
the first time in over a decade’ to take legal action against Carter because the statute of
limitations window for adult survivors of sexual assault opened this year.”95
At the time of the alleged rape, Schuman’s group Dream was a “multi-platinum girl group,”
which was signed to Sean “Puffy” Combs’s label, Bad Boy Records. According to the complaint in
the case, Schuman “spent her high school years on the road performing throughout the United
States and overseas with” the band. Dream’s production company “had control of the girls’
everyday lives. They had a tutor who traveled with them, and they rarely had more than a few
days off at a time.” As Dream’s success continued, the group “became a staple of MTV’s
juggernaut Total Request Live (TRL) and were often referred to as ‘P. Diddy’s Dream Team.’”96
In February 2001, when Schuman was 16, Dream “filmed a video for their song ‘This is Me
(Remix).’” During the filming, Schuman’s “managers told her that Defendant Nick Carter, who
94 latimes.com, April 12, 2023; lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
95 latimes.com, April 12, 2023
96 lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
29
was age 21, thought she was ‘cute’ and that he ‘wanted to talk to her’.” Schuman’s management
team and Carter’s team arranged for him “to call [Schuman] to speak to him on the phone
during the video shoot.” However, Schuman was not interested in “Carter romantically and told
her management team that she had a boyfriend.” Even though Schuman was a minor at the
time, her “management made it clear that they were in favor of [Schuman] ‘dating’ [Carter].”97
Carter was sued by a fan for sexually assaulting her as a minor after a concert
when he invited her on the tour bus and gave her what she believed was alcohol.
In December 2022, Shannon “Shay” Ruth, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy, “filed a civil
sexual battery lawsuit accusing Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter of assaulting her and
infecting her with HPV when she was 17 and he was 21.” Ruth’s attorney “said that Carter
sexually assaulted his client in February 2001 after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Wash.
— a claim that matched the allegations outlined in the lawsuit.” The sexual battery lawsuit was
filed in Clark County, Nevada.98
The complaint in the case claimed “that after Ruth attended the Backstreet Boys concert and
lined up for autographs, Carter invited her to join him on a tour bus, where he allegedly served
her a beverage he called ‘VIP juice,’ according to TMZ. She said she believes the drink was a mix
of alcohol and cranberry juice.” Ruth alleged “that after she drank the ‘juice,’ Carter took her to
the bus bathroom and ordered her to perform oral sex on him, according to TMZ. He then
allegedly took Ruth to a bed in the back of the bus and continued to sexually assault her while
she begged him to stop.” During a December 2022 press conference, “Ruth consistently
characterized the alleged assault as rape.”99
In 2006, Carter was accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old fan in Key West,
Florida. A police report was filed by the victim, though Carter refused to speak
with authorities and was not charged.
Radar reported that Carter “was accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a booze -fueled
house party” and “was investigated for sexual assault against a 20-year-old fan in 2006.”
According to the incident report with the West Allis Police Department in Wisconsin, “an officer
spoke with the alleged victim…at West Allis Memorial Hospital, regarding an alleged incident
that took place on March 26, 2006 and March 27, 2006.” Radar noted that the website chose not
to identify the victim “to respect her privacy.”100
97 lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
98 clarkcountycourts.us, Case No. A-22-862259-B, filed December 8. 2022; latimes.com, December 8, 2022; rollingstone.com,
December 8, 2022
99 latimes.com, December 8, 2022
100 radaronline.com, accessed July 24, 2023
30
According to the police report, “the woman told the officer that her cousin was an acquaintance
of Carter, 37, and that he offered to fly the two women to Key West, Florida from Saturday to
Monday. A friend of Carter’s picked up the women from the airport and brought them to his
home to drop off their luggage. From there, the women were brought to a Denny’s restaurant
where they met Carter and his friend Rob Kalouch. The group then spent several hours with a
real estate agent looking for houses for Carter before going out to dinner at another
restaurant.”101 The report stated, “The woman indicated that during dinner and back at the
house, Rob continuously placed his hands on her shoulders and back.” It added, “Initially, she
felt this was harmless, but as it continued she would move her body away from Rob to remove
his hands from her body.”102
After dinner, “the group returned to Carter’s friend’s house, [and] they began drinking. After
downing six shots, the woman claimed she felt ‘buzzed,’ but was not intoxicated.” Radar
reported, “‘Carter told her he wanted a picture of her a**,’ the report read. ‘The woman turned
around and Carter approached her, pulled down her pants and someone took a picture of the
woman.’ The woman and her cousin then went to a bedroom in the residence, where Kalouch
attempted to kiss the woman. She told him that she had a boyfriend and did not want to kiss. ‘At
one point, Carter and Rob pulled the victim’s tube top off her and both males touched her
breasts,’ the report read. ‘She continued to tell them that she was not that kind of girl, has a
boyfriend and wants to save herself for marriage.’ But Kalouch ‘continued to rub on her stomach
and underneath her shirt.’ Then Carter allegedly ‘unbuttoned her jeans and slid his hand down
her jeans and underpants. The woman indicated Carter briefly inserted his fingertips into her
vagina.’ When Carter pulled his hand out of her pants, he reportedly told her, ‘You’re lying, you
are not a virgin.’”103
The victim, according to the report, “then went into the bathroom, where Kalouch followed her.
She claimed he ‘pushed her to her knees and exposed his penis.’ ‘Rob pushed the woman’s head
towards his penis and inserted his penis into her mouth,’ the report continued. ‘Rob used his
hands to push the woman’s mouth back and forth on his penis.’ The woman cried, but did not
take any other action because she was afraid, according to the report. Carter then entered the
bathroom and exposed his penis.”104
The victim “went to the airport the next morning and was brought to the hospital by her sister.
She did not sustain any injuries from the alleged attacks. The West Allis Police Department
101 radaronline.com, accessed July 24, 2023
102 radaronline.com, accessed July 24, 2023
103 radaronline.com, accessed July 24, 2023
104 radaronline.com, accessed July 24, 2023
31
collected the woman’s clothes and a sexual assault examination kit was completed. Carter and
Kalouch refused to speak with investigators regarding the incident. No charges were brought
against either Carter or Kalouch, and the case was closed in June 2006.” A detective from the
Key West Police Department wrote, “The case has been thoroughly investigated, but because of
your desire not to pursue or file charges, or due to other arrangements made with the suspect,
no further action will be taken by us at this time.”105
A third woman filed suit against Carter alleging that he forced her to perform
sexual acts in Florida in 2003 when she was 15 years old. She claimed she was
drunk during at least two of the incidents.
In August 2023, a third woman filed suit against Carter in Clark County, Nevada alleging sexual
abuse. In the lawsuit, “a Pennsylvania woman, only identified by the initials A.R., claimed that
in August 2003, Carter raped her in the cabin of a yacht in Florida when she was 15 years old.
She claims she was drunk at the time and that he told her to keep the incident a secret. A few
days later, the lawsuit claims Carter and his sister Angel encouraged her to meet him at a bus on
their Florida property. When she arrived, she said Carter made her perform a sexual act on him.
The lawsuit lists a third incident that happened in October 2003 where a party was being held
on boats that Carter owned. […] According to the lawsuit, she became drunk and was taken to a
yacht cabin where Carter allegedly allowed three other men watch him have sex with her. She
states she asked him to stop several times.”106
The woman claimed that as a result of the alleged assaults, “she contracted the human
papillomavirus, also known as HPV. The woman states she told her mother about the assaults
after the third incident and it was reported to Southern York County law enforcement in
Pennsylvania in December 2003.”107
Carter’s attorneys responded to the lawsuit in a statement, “Nick is pleased with A.R.’s recent
filing as it will ensure that all of the known co-conspirators will be brought to justice together.
Anyone credulously covering these ridiculous claims should know that when A.R. first accused
Nick Carter almost two decades ago, authorities listened and thoroughly investigated – and then
informed A.R. that her allegations were meritless. In fact, at the conclusion of the police
investigation into A.R.’s claims, law enforcement concluded that A.R. ‘could herself have been
charged with a crime.’ Subsequently, in a separate incident, A.R was threatened with criminal
charges for filing a false police report.”108
105 radaronline.com, accessed July 24, 2023
106 ktnv.com, August 29, 2023
107 ktnv.com, August 29, 2023
108 ktnv.com, August 29, 2023
32
Intimidation & Retaliation Against Victims
Carter allegedly harassed Melissa Schuman who accused him of sexual assault
while her manager discouraged her from going to police to not jeopardize her
career.
In her complaint against Carter, Melissa Schuman alleged that “Carter began to manipulate and
torment her” after he raped her in 2000. In a 2017 blog post, Melissa Schuman wrote that
shortly after the assault, Carter “called me. He called me over and over and over again and I
wouldn’t pick up. I didn’t want to hear his voice. He jammed my phone with calls for weeks,
leaving me messages demanding I speak with him. Then he finally left me one last nasty, angry
message and he never called me again.”109
Schuman alleged that her “manager highly discouraged [Schuman] from going to the police to
file a police report, telling her that Defendant Carter has one of the most powerful litigators in
the country, and that her coming forward would ruin her career.” Schuman and Carter were set
to appear in the film “The Hollow” and were scheduled to appear in scenes together according to
the complaint. However, Schuman’s “manager said he would work with ‘The Hollow’ production
team to make sure she would otherwise not have to be near Defendant Carter on set.” The
following image is a screenshot of a scene from the made-for-TV movie “The Hollow,” featuring
both Schuman and Carter.110
109 melissaexplainsitall.wpcomstaging.com, accessed July 24, 2023; lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
110 lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
33
However, after filming of “The Hollow” was complete, “Carter contacted [Schuman] by phone
repeatedly, demanding to speak with her.” Schuman “did not take his calls, but he would not let
up.” Finally, Schuman took one of Carter’s calls, during which he “sounded nonchalant, until she
asked him about the night she was at his apartment.” Carter denied having sex with Schuman
and “exploded in anger and called her a ‘manipulative bitch’, and yelled at her.” Schuman
alleged that she changed her telephone number “to stop the harassment” from Carter.111
After rape accusations against Carter became public in 2017, he allegedly hired a
fan engagement firm to mount a cyberbullying and harassment campaign against
his victim.
In November 2017, in the wake of the #MeToo social justice movement, Schuman decided to go
public with her allegations against Carter in a blog post posted on her website titled “Don’t
worry, I won’t tell anybody.” Subsequently, Schuman’s allegations against Carter were highly
publicized. In her complaint, Schuman alleged that after she came forward with her allegations,
“a highly strategized cyber-stalking and harassment campaign against [Schuman] unfolded
through a web of individuals associated with Defendant Carter.”112
Following Schuman’s public allegations, Carter hired Wonderful Union, a fan engagement
company which was “acquired by the entertainment agency Endeavor in 2018 and now called
Please & Thank You.” Notably, “Wonderful Union was founded by Eddie Meehan, a personal
friend of Defendant Carter.” Carter turned to “his Wonderful Union’s fan engagement team to
111 lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
112 lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
34
encourage Defendant Carter’s dedicated fan base to engage in internet intimidation in [an]
effort to intimidate, blame, harass and discredit [Schuman] online.” According to People, Eddie
Meehan “has worked with the Backstreet Boys for years.” Meehan’s Wonderful Union handled
“VIP ticketing initiatives, exclusive meet-and-greets and more” for the Backstreet Boys 2017 Las
Vegas residency.113
According to Schuman’s complaint, “The online intimidation by Defendant Carter ’s friends,
associates and/or agents is an organized attempt to intimidate, blame, harass and discredit
Plaintiff and her allegations of sexual assault in the court of public opinion.” Her complaint
noted that “online intimidation by Defendant Carter’s friends, associates and/or agents is
ongoing and continues to this day.”114
Carter countersued two of his alleged victims, claiming that they sought to ruin his
reputation for personal and financial gain.
In February 2023, Vice reported that Carter was “countersuing two women who’ve accused the
Backstreet Boys singer of sexual assault, claiming they took advantage of the #MeToo movement
to ruin his reputation.” The countersuit, according to People, claimed that Shannon Ruth and
Melissa Schuman “took advantage of the #MeToo movement and used it to launch a five-year
conspiracy to ‘defame and vilify Carter and otherwise ruin his reputation for the purposes of
garnering attention and fame and/or extorting money from Carter.’” Additionally, the
countersuit claimed that “Schuman and her father Jerome Schuman groomed Ruth, who ‘was a
vulnerable and highly impressionable individual, craving attention and desperate to fit in.’”
Notably, Ruth “has autism and cerebral palsy.” Carter’s countersuit also alleged “that Schuman
took advantage of his late brother Aaron Carter, who died in November [2022].” According to
Newsweek, Aaron Carter initially sided “with Melissa Schuman after she accused Nick of
rape.”115
In response to Carter’s countersuit, Ruth “alleged that the Backstreet Bo ys member [was] using
his wealth and popularity to ‘harass and silence’ her after filing a lawsuit against him.” In a
separate lawsuit filed in February 2023, Ruth “said Carter’s move in filing a countersuit was only
submitted to harass and intimidate her even more. She added that the singer uses his celebrity
status and wealth to ‘outlast plaintiff,’ Ruth's lawyer added.”116
113 lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023; people.com, September 4, 2018; nextconf.eu, accessed July 27, 2023
114 lacourt.org, Case No. 23SMCV01577, filed April 11, 2023
115 people.com, February 3, 2023; newsweek.com, November 7, 2022
116 musictimes.com, February 27, 2023
35
In March 2023, District Judge Nancy Allf “declined to dismiss Nick Carter’s claim that a woman
who accused him of sexual assault had defamed him.” Additionally, Judge Allf “allowed the
singer’s counterclaim to move forward.”117
Shortly after the 2002 rape of a singer, Carter’s manager, Kenneth Crear, allegedly
tanked a potentially lucrative opportunity for Carter’s victim. Subsequently, the
singer’s career stalled.
After being assaulted by Carter in 2002, Schuman’s “solo career never took off.” According to
Rolling Stone, “she questioned if Carter had interfered with her career by influencing Kenneth
Crear – who managed both Carter and Schuman — to slowly ice her out.” Schuman wrote in her
blogpost that she “later signed with [Carter’s] manager, Kenneth Crear.” According to Variety,
Crear “managed Janet Jackson and the Backstreet Boys.” Schuman stated, “Kenneth Crear was a
very powerful manager who I thought could help me make my mark as a recording artist. I
quickly learned that Kenneth was thick as thieves with my abuser.”118
Schuman told “The Daily Beast that Crear actually sought her out. ‘I knew that [Carter] was on
the same roster,’ she continued, ‘but it’s very common for an agent or manager to have a whole
roster of people. It doesn’t mean that their roster will ever meet or even talk to each other. So I
didn’t know that by signing with this manager, that I was going to be putting myself in a position
where I couldn’t continue to maintain the distance that I had worked so hard to maintain.’”119
Schuman wrote, “Kenneth set up a showcase for me for a major label. We recorded a few songs,
one of them was a duet with my abuser. We never recorded together. He had pre-recorded his
part and I went in and recorded mine. Again, what was I supposed to do? I [couldn’t] tell my
manager that his best friend had raped me so I won’t record this song. I tried to justify that
maybe something good to come out of something very bad. Maybe this song might help me get
signed as a solo artist and I could move on and put everything behind me. Kenneth asked my
abuser if he would be willing to sing the duet with me live at my showcase and he agreed.”120
Schuman said that following the showcase performance with Carter, the record label executive
“mentioned the duet I did with Nick sounded amazing and that he could easily attach it to a
movie soundtrack.” The executive said, “We’ll be in touch.” Yet, Schuman wrote, “Weeks
[passed] and I heard nothing. No word from Kenneth despite calling for weeks, he was too busy
117 reviewjournal.com, March 29, 2023
118 melissaexplainsitall.wpcomstaging.com, accessed July 24, 2023; rollingstone.com, April 12, 2023; variety.com, September 13,
2012; thedailybeast.com, August 16, 2018
119 melissaexplainsitall.wpcomstaging.com, accessed July 24, 2023; variety.com, September 13, 2012; thedailybeast.com, August 16,
2018
120 melissaexplainsitall.wpcomstaging.com, accessed July 24, 2023
36
to take my call. When we finally spoke, I was surprised to hear the feedback from the same label
head I had spoke[n] to before.” Crear told Schuman that the label executive “isn’t interested in
signing you. He told me your vocals were weak in the duet and that he was interested in the song
only. Nick will be moving forward with the song elsewhere.” Schuman said, “I could tell by his
tone that he was no longer interested in working for me and I couldn’t help but wonder if Nick
had any influence in it.”121
Continued Work with Sony
In 2018, months after Schuman went public with her rape allegations against
Carter, the Backstreet Boys signed with Sony Music Entertainment’s RCA Records
and announced a new album that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
In 2018, the same year which Melissa Schuman went public with her sexual assault allegations
against Nick Carter, the Backstreet Boys signed “a new record deal with Sony’s RCA label.” Until
2011, the Backstreet Boys were signed to Jive Records. In 2004, Jive “became part of the Zomba
Label Group, a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Since 2008 it has been a label of the
Jive Label Group and RCA/Jive Label Group under Sony Music Entertainment.”122
As part of their new deal with Sony’s RCA Records, the Backstreet Boys announced a new single
titled “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” The single was released ahead of the band’s album “DNA,”
which was set to come out in January 2019. The recording “rose to No. 63 on the Hot 100,
becoming the group's highest-ranking solo single on the listing in 13 years.”123
Subsequently, Forbes reported in January 2019, “In a surprising and fairly stunning show of
sustained popularity, vocal group the Backstreet Boys debut their new album DNA at No. 1 on
the Billboard 200. Their new full-length kicks off with 234,000 equivalent units, of which
227,000 are actual sales.” DNA became “the Backstreet Boys' third No. 1 album in the U.S., and
their first in well over a decade.” They topped the Billboard 200 with Millennium in 1999, which
“opened with 1.134 million copies, making it one of the largest first weeks in history.”124
In December 2022, the Backstreet Boys filmed a Christmas special in Los Angeles titled “A Very
Backstreet Christmas.” However, ABC confirmed that it would no longer air the special “amid
121 melissaexplainsitall.wpcomstaging.com, accessed July 24, 2023
122 completemusicupdate.com, May 18, 2018; discogs.com, accessed August 7, 2023
123 completemusicupdate.com, May 18, 2018; twitter.com, May 14, 2018; usatoday.com, November 9, 2018; forbes.com, February 3,
2019; allmusic.com, accessed August 2, 2023
124 forbes.com, February 3, 2019
37
allegations that singer Nick Carter raped a 17-year-old girl during the band’s 2001 tour.”125 The
special was set to feature Carter, along with other members of the Backstreet Boys “as they
celebrate the season and perform hits from their 10th album ‘A Very Backstreet Christmas.’ Seth
Rogen, Meghan Trainor, Rob Riggle, Nikki Glaser, Ron Funches and Atsuko Okatsuka were
scheduled to appear.”126
Danny Elfman
Allegations & Criminal Complaint
Composer Danny Elfman allegedly exposed himself in front of a fellow composer,
Nomi Abadi, which she reported to police. Prior to the misconduct, she hoped that
Elfman would serve as her mentor and help launch her career.
In a November 2017 police report, composer Nomi Abadi “went to the LAPD with allegations
against Elfman that the report categorized as ‘indecent exposure.’” Abadi “claimed to the police
that over the course of nearly a year, Elfman allegedly exposed himself and masturbated
multiple times in front of her without her consent.”127
According to Rolling Stone, which reviewed Abadi’s police report, “Abadi first met Elfman in
Denver in 2015. The day after they met, according to the police report, ‘Elfman asked an
acquaintance for Abadi’s email address and the two began communicating about music.’ Abadi
— who grew up idolizing Elfman and his music — was excited, multiple friends of hers recall,
hoping he’d take her on as a mentee and be a launchpad for her career. Abadi visited Elfman at
his recording studio several times over the year, where Abadi’s misconduct claims were alleged
to have taken place.”128
Within a year of meeting, Abadi claimed that “Elfman’s demeanor turned from ostensibly
friendly to inappropriate.” According to her police report, “Elfman ‘would answer the door [at
his recording studio] in a robe with no clothes underneath.’ ‘Elfman explained this was how he
liked to work and would always justify his behavior,’ the report said. Elfman, according to the
report, allegedly masturbated in front of her without consent three times that year. ‘This made
125 variety.com, December 8, 2022
126 variety.com, December 8, 2022
127 rollingstone.com, July 19, 2023
128 rollingstone.com, July 19, 2023
38
Abadi very uncomfortable,’ the report alleges, ‘but she would just look away because Elfman
insisted it help[ed] with his creativity.’”129
In a statement to Rolling Stone, “Elfman provided a starkly different account of the nature of his
and Abadi’s relationship.” Elfman stated, “Abadi’s allegations are simply not true. I allowed
someone to get close to me without knowing that I was her ‘childhood crush’ and that her
intention was to break up my marriage and replace my wife. When this person realized that I
wanted distance from her, she made it clear that I would pay for having rejected her. I allowed
an ill-advised friendship to have far-reaching consequences, and that error in judgment is
entirely my fault. I have done nothing indecent or wrong, and my lawyers stand ready to prove
with voluminous evidence that these accusations are false. This is the last I will say on this
subject.”130
A second woman filed suit against Elfman after she read about Abadi’s complaint
and reportedly found her experience to be strikingly similar, including that he
treated her as a protégé and then began exposing his genitals in front of her
regularly.
In October 2023, “a 47-year-old woman in Maryland going by Jane Doe XX” filed suit against
Elfman in Los Angeles Superior Court, “alleging that Elfman sexually abused her from 1997 to
2002. She is suing Elfman and his company, Musica de la Muerta, for sexual assault, gender
violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment and negligence.” Her
complaint stated that she first “met Elfman at a party in April of 1997 while she was a 21-year-
old student at the New York Film Academy and Elfman was 47, and he began inviting her to
industry events, asking her opinions on films and music and treating her as ‘a consultant and
protegé.’”131
However, during the next five years, “when the plaintiff and Elfman were alone together, Elfman
‘removed all of his clothing until he was completely nude, and walked around nude in front of
Plaintiff, exposing his genitals. Defendant Elfman expressed to Plaintiff that this was the only
way he could work, be creative, and successful.’ Due to Elfman’s prominence in the
entertainment industry, the plaintiff felt ‘she had no choice but to always comply with his
requests, and Plaintiff felt this was a condition of their continued relationship.’” Jane Doe XX
alleged “she sometimes slept in the same bed as Elfman, ‘never removing her clothing, often
sleeping on top of the bedding,’ while Elfman slept naked next to her. In approximately 2002,
129 rollingstone.com, July 19, 2023
130 rollingstone.com, July 19, 2023
131 hollywoodreporter.com, October 19, 2023
39
she says Elfman told her, ‘Every time you have ever slept next to me, I would masturbate next to
you.’” After that, she said she “ended her relationship with Elfman.”132
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “When Maryland-based Jane Doe XX read about Abadi’s
case, she reached out to Abadi’s attorney mentioned in the story, Jeff Anderson.” Anderson said
she told him, “The similarities are so striking. Around the same age, both aspiring in the
entertainment industry, looking to him as a powerful mentor and trusting him and not in a
position to recognize that they were each being used and abused.” In her suit, Jane Doe XX was
“seeking damages ‘including but not limited to medical and incidental expenses and loss of
earnings.’”133
Silencing Victims
Elfman and his victim entered a settlement and nondisclosure agreement. Elfman
agreed to pay $830,000 over the course of five years.
In July 2018, Abadi and Elfman “entered into a settlement and nondisclosure agreement.” The
agreement “came after she’d accused him of multiple instances of sexual harassment.”
According to legal filings, the settlement “included terms that [Elfman] would make payments in
four different categories in various installments over the course of 5 years totaling
$830,000.00.”134
According to Rolling Stone, “In June 2018, Abadi and Elfman entered mediation hearings. A
source who requested anonymity recalls attending an initial hearing, which didn’t yield much
progress between the parties. Abadi’s friends say it was a difficult decision for her to take a
settlement agreement and waive her ability to speak. Abadi took the agreement, the source says,
feeling she had little choice given the difficulty of proving her claims.”135
In July 2023, Abadi sued “Elfman for failure to pay $85,000 of the $830,000 agreed upon in
the quietly settled suit.” The suit, according to the Los Angeles Times, claimed that “Elfman
missed two $42,500 payments, in July 2019 and 2021, which puts him in breach of contract.”136
132 hollywoodreporter.com, October 19, 2023
133 hollywoodreporter.com, October 19, 2023
134 rollingstone.com, July 19, 2023
135 rollingstone.com, July 19, 2023
136 latimes.com, July 20, 2023
40
Continued Work
Elfman was scheduled to be honored at a Los Angeles Concert about a week after
Jane Doe XX filed suit against Elfman, and in 2024, Elfman won an Emmy Award.
While Jane Doe XX filed suit against Elfman on October 19, 2023, Elfman appeared “at The
Hollywood Bowl on Oct. 27, 28 and 29 as part of Disney’s “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before
Christmas in Concert,” with scheduled performers Halsey, Catherine O’Hara. and Fred
Armisen,”137 though Halsey dropped out of the event due to a “scheduling conflict.”138 The event
was to honor Elfman as part of “a 30th anniversary concert for The Nightmare Before
Christmas.”139 Additionally, Elfman was nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work on the
TV series “Wednesday,” and he won the Emmy for “Outstanding Original Main Title Theme
Music” in 2024.140
Justin Geever aka Justin Sane
Allegations
Justin Geever, co-founder of the punk band Anti-Flag, allegedly sexually exploited
or assaulted at least 13 women, eight of whom were under 18 at the time, between
the 1990s and 2020.
In a September 2023 article, Rolling Stone described the stories of 13 women who claimed that
Anti-Flag band co-founder Justin Geever, the “face, voice, and outward idealism” of the band
and also known as Justin Sane, “exploited the power he wielded with younger, enamored girls
and women for his own sexual gratification. […] Seven of the women were teenagers at the time
of their encounters. An eighth was 12 years old.” These encounters date “back to the 1990s and
as recently as 2020. These allegations include predatory behavior, sexual assault, and statutory
rape, including sexual relations with a 12-year-old when Geever was a teenager.”141
137 hollywoodreporter.com, October 19, 2023; hollywoodbowl.com, accessed December 22, 2023
138 billboard.com, October 30, 2023
139 theguardian.com, October 20, 2023
140 emmys.com, accessed February 21, 2024; bmi.com, January 8, 2024
141 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
41
In July 2023, Kristina Sarhadi publicly accused Geever of violently sexually
assaulting her in 2010. Sarhadi later filed suit against Geever and his record
distribution company under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.
In July 2023, Kristina Sarhadi “appeared on a podcast to accuse the 50-year-old [Justin Geever]
of violent sexual assault.” According to Rolling Stone, in 2010, Sarhadi was at an Anti-Flag
concert in Brooklyn when “Geever locked eyes with her from the stage, she says, and approached
her after the show. While chatting, Geever mentioned he’d be near her hometown for the [film]
festival, Sarhadi says, and the two exchanged numbers.”142
Rolling Stone reported that Sarhadi and Geever met up at the film festival, “but instead of the
dinner Geever had originally mentioned, she says, he asked her to drive them to the party.
Throughout the night, Sarhadi says, she rebuffed Geever’s advances — including him trying to
persuade her to climb into the car’s back seat to have sex. Sarhadi says she was dropping Geever
off at his hotel when he asked her to go to his room to hear a new song he recorded.” Sarhadi
said on the “Enough” podcast, “He tells me ‘I just recorded a song with Billy Bragg, and no one
on Earth has heard it yet, and it's so fucking good, and you're gonna die when you hear it.’ I like
lost my mind. I was like I have to hear this song, so he was like ‘Okay, just come in my room real
quick. I'll play this song.’” Sarhadi later confirmed to Rolling Stone that she was referring to
Geever on the podcast.143
Sarhadi joined Geever at the hotel, according to Rolling Stone, where “they drank beers and took
shots [at the hotel bar] before heading upstairs, Sarhadi says, to listen to the song. Once inside
the room, Sarhadi says, Geever locked the door and playfully tackled her on the bed. ‘But as soon
as I hit the bed, he put his hand around my throat and basically turned into a monster,’ she
described on the Enough podcast. ‘To this day, I still have flashes of his face above me, holding
me down.’ Geever proceeded to sexually assault her, Sarhadi claims. ‘It went on for a very long
time,’ she added on the podcast. ‘It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t
stress how violent he was and how much I fully believed I was going to die, that he was going to
kill me.’”144
In November 2023, Sarhadi filed suit against Geever under New York’s Adult Survivors Act,
alleging that he “‘strangled her, forced her to perform oral sex on him, and raped her’ at a motel
when she was 21.” Sarhadi said in a statement published by Pitchfork, “Justin Geever used his
platform as a celebrated, self-proclaimed ‘punk rockstar’ to groom and lure vulnerable girls into
feeling safe in his presence. While he sang about protecting women and standing up to abusers,
142 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
143 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023; youtube.com, July 19, 2023
144 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
42
it appears he was hiding an addiction to power and control, harming countless women who have
been unable to speak up before now. Today I hope to encourage his survivors, and survivors of
other predators in the music industry, to feel hope again. What sexual predators take from us
cannot be restored, but we are no longer the silent victims they want us to be.”
According to Pitchfork, Sarhadi’s “lawsuit names not only Justin Sane, but also Hardwork
Distribution Inc.—the distribution arm of Anti-Flag’s A-F Records—as well as an unnamed Doe.
[…] The lawsuit argues that Hardwork and the unnamed defendant ‘knew or should have
known’ that Justin Sane ‘habitually and routinely engaged in sexual misconduct with young
women and underage girls throughout the country,’ particularly in motel rooms, and had a duty
to protect them.”145 Rolling Stone noted that Hardwork Distribution also included “bandmates
Patrick Bollinger, a.k.a. Pat Thetic, Chris Head, and Chris Barker (aka Chris No. 2)” as
“registered members.”146
Dr. Ann Olivarius, one of Sarhadi’s attorneys along with Karen Barth Menzies, said in a
statement, “I predict that in five years the music industry will be viewed the same way as the
Catholic Church or the Boy Scouts—a powerful force that also enabled and shielded sexual
predators for decades. ‘Drugs, sex & rock ‘n roll’ was a reality that meant a lot of young women
got abused. The bands had handlers who made it all happen and executives who covered it all up
because so much money depended on it.”147
Following Sarhadi’s allegation, multiple women told Rolling Stone about negative
experiences with Geever, including instances of grooming and violent assault.
A woman identified as Elizabeth described to Rolling Stone an encounter in which Geever
“almost immediately tried to put his hands down her pants, began forcibly kissing her, and
made her perform oral sex on him. […] The next day, the two were supposed to go for lunch, but
Geever asked Elizabeth to meet him at a hotel, where Elizabeth says he assaulted her. ‘He first
put a spreader bar on me, which I had never seen in my life at that point,’ she says. ‘At another
point, he flipped me over with the spreader bar and hogtied me — which again, I had never even
been restrained. It was very scary because it wasn’t anything that he asked.’”148
According to Rolling Stone, a woman identified as Suzanne began dating Geezer at age 17 after
he sought her out at a 2002 Anti-Flag concert. Geever allegedly professed his love for her and
“[took] the 17-year-old’s virginity outside of a car. […] Geever claimed that he was 19. He was
145 pitchfork.com, November 23, 2023
146 rollingstone.com, November 22, 2023
147 pitchfork.com, November 23, 2023; rollingstone.com, November 22, 2023
148 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
43
actually 30. ‘It makes me sick,’ Suzanne says. ‘I think that I was groomed. He took advantage of
his status and me being young.’” A woman identified as Ella claimed that she had sex with
Geever when she was 16 and he was 36, during which “she explicitly told Geever not to perform
certain sex acts, but he ignored her. ‘I was in pain by the end of it,’ she says.” Another woman
identified as Susie claimed that when she was 15, Geever, then 35, took her virginity and later
sent her a message about the incident, which read, “I know that it must have been a lot for you
to handle — I hope that looking back it’s a good and not a bad memory for you.” Another woman
identified as Mat told Rolling Stone that Geever initiated rough sex with her, in which he choked
and spat on her without consent.149
In March 2022, Hannah Stark, who accused Geever of sexually assaulting her in early 2020,
“decided to anonymously post on the Tumblr page ‘The Industry Ain’t S afe’ one night in March
2022. ‘Justin Sane from Anti-Flag,’ she wrote. ‘Am I really the only person this has happened
to?’” Sarhadi also came across the post. According to Rolling Stone, “Seeing no responses,
Sarhadi replied that something had happened with her too.” Furthermore, after Sarhadi came
forward with her experience on the “Enough” podcast in July 2023, “numerous women began
connecting with one another online about their own alleged encounters with Geever.”150
For instance, “after the podcast aired, 44-year-old Pittsburgh native Tali Weller says she
received an unexpected message about the episode from a childhood friend, who wanted to
check that she was doing OK. It had been more than three decades since a 12-year-old Weller
had met a 17-year-old Geever through their local church youth group in 1990.” According to
Rolling Stone, “Their encounters, which Weller says Geever had instructed her to keep a secret,
were split between friendly, chaste exchanges in public and sexual activity in closets, the lofted
rehearsal space at his family home, and sleeping bags on overnight church trips. ‘I remember
that I didn’t feel comfortable having sex,’ she says. ‘His answer was anal sex.’” Weller said, “I
was so blinded by trust for him and infatuation, he had me sold to follow his lead.”151
In August 2023, Hannah Stark filed a police report against Geever on accusations
of sexual assault, but the police declined to move forward with her case “because
she never told Geever ‘no.’”
Hannah Stark “filed a police report against Geever in August [2023] on accusations of sexual
assault stemming from an early 2020 encounter in the United Kingdom. […] Stark claims
Geever suddenly handcuffed her, spanked her, and forced her to perform oral sex, as he used
degrading language toward her. She says she tried to physically get away from Geever at one
149 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
150 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
151 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
44
point, but could not. ‘I couldn’t breathe, and then he eventually stopped,’ she says. ‘When I
looked up at him, he just had this look of satisfaction on his face. It was horrible.’ At no point did
Geever check that she was OK or ask for consent to the acts, Stark says, describing herself as
‘scared.’”152
Stark “acknowledges she didn’t explicitly say no to Geever, because she feared it ‘would make
things worse.’ ‘To be honest, I thought he would like that,’ she says. Police in the U.K. confirmed
to Rolling Stone they received a ‘report of a serious sexual assault’ related to Stark’s allegation.
Although Stark says she provided police with a witness list and offered 300-plus items of
documentation, she says the police recently informed her that they were declining to move
forward because she never told Geever ‘no.’”153
Stark said that “despite police not moving forward with her case, she is still glad she filed the
report. ‘It wasn’t for nothing,’ Stark says. ‘My statement stays in the [police] system forever
because of the nature of the accusation. So if another person from the U.K. did ever come
forward, my statement is there for corroboration.’”154
Silencing Victims
Women claimed they were afraid to speak about their negative experiences with
Geever because Anti-Flag “positioned itself as a leader of a movement for
inclusivity, radical change, and allyship.”
Anti-Flag, co-founded by Geever in 1993, “positioned itself as a leader of a movement for
inclusivity, radical change, and allyship in the early 2000s.” The band drew “legions of devoted
fans for their progressive messaging and political activism, including anti-war causes and
animal-rights advocacy. Geever served as the face, voice, and outward idealism of the group for
decades.” The band’s messaging included explicit support of women and feminism.155
A woman named Jenn, who met Geever as a 16-year-old in 1997, said of Geever, “He was a wolf
in sheep’s clothing. […] He came across as super supportive. He was like, ‘Yeah, we need more
girls in punk rock,’ and ‘Get out there!’ He played the part of lifting women up, but at the same
time, he was holding them down, literally.’ […] ‘I didn’t say anything for a variety of reasons,’
Molly Newborn says of her 1999 run-in with Geever, who allegedly tried to kiss the then-17-year-
152 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
153 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
154 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
155 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
45
old when he was 26 and bring her back to his hotel room after she said she was a virgin. ‘But a
big one would probably be: I don’t think people would believe it, that this guy is a creepo,
because he sings about feminism,’ she says.”156
Sarhadi said of her alleged assault by Geever, “I had no idea it happened to anyone else. […] I
felt stupid, embarrassed, and confused, because how could it have happened with this person?
He is the anti-rape singer. They are the outspoken feminist band who released an album
benefiting women victims of crime. It doesn’t make any sense. [But] even in nature, the worst
predators have the best camouflage.”157
Geever denied Sarhadi’s allegations and claimed he’d never been told by a woman
that he had “violated her in any way,” although multiple women claim they had in
fact confronted him.
Following Sarhadi’s podcast appearance, Geever “categorically denied the allegation. ‘I have
never engaged in a sexual relationship that was not consensual, nor have I ever been approached
by a woman after a sexual encounter and been told I had in any way acted without her consent
or violated her in any way,’ he wrote. […] Geever’s claim that no one had ever informed him his
behavior was violating is a flat-out lie, Mat and Karina allege. Karina claims she confronted
Geever in 1999, alleging that he took advantage of her inexperience through manipulation and
pressure, and the lasting damage it caused. Geever allegedly ‘demonstrated sympathy,’ she says,
and made it ‘seem like he wanted to do better.’ Mat says that after listening to Sarhadi on the
podcast, she sent Geever a long message, which Rolling Stone reviewed, detailing how using her
for sex and easily discarding her had left her questioning her self-worth. He never responded.
Two days later, he posted his statement.”158
Anti-Flag members claimed they had “never seen Justin [Geever] be violent or
aggressive toward women,” although several women claimed other band members
witnessed Geever’s involvement with underage girls. The group also announced it
was disbanding.
Hours after Sarhadi publicly accused Geever of assault, Anti-Flag “wiped its social media
presence — including band members’ personal pages.” The group released a short statement
announcing that it would disband despite upcoming shows scheduled in Europe. The other
members of Anti-Flag “released a statement alongside Geever, saying they were ‘shaken’ and
‘heartbroken’ by the accusation, adding it has always been their ‘core tenet’ to believe survivors.
156 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
157 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
158 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
46
‘Therefore, we felt the only immediate option was to disband,’ they wrote. ‘While we believe this
is extremely serious, in the last 30 years we have never seen Justin be viole nt or aggressive
toward women.’”159
According to Rolling Stone, three women claimed “some of the members [of Anti-Flag] were
present when Geever brought them on tour, backstage, or on the tour bus as teenagers and
young women. ‘They knew how young everybody was,’ Rebecca, who dated a then-25-year-old
Geever as a 17-year-old in the late 1990s, claims. ‘There was a clear boundary that he kept
crossing over and over that should have raised flags for everybody.’”160
Following Rolling Stone’s September 2023 expose, the other members of Anti-Flag released a
statement, which read, “To Justin, we believe you are very sick and in need of serious
professional help. We want to have compassion and have faith in restorative justice, but fuck
you for hurting so many people, not just the ones who have bravely come forward, but anyone
still carrying their pain internally. Fuck you for exploiting the work of the band and the many
people associated with it for so long. As many predators do, it appears you used our beliefs as a
cover for egregious activities that you clearly knew we would never condone. […] We trusted
Justin greatly and are now learning that we were deceived, lied to, and kept in the dark for the
entirety of our association.”161
Public Reckoning
Several bands left Anti-Flag’s label, A-F Records, following the allegations against
Geever, and Anti-Flag said it was “in the process of unwinding the label.”
According to Rolling Stone, the accusations against Geever “have already caused several bands
to walk away from Anti-Flag’s label, A-F Records. Artist Sammy Kay, who signed to the label
earlier this year, felt the allegation and the band’s lack of transparency left him no choice but to
leave. How could he stay ‘if what they’re preaching onstage and spreading to the world does not
align with what [their] day to day is,’ Kay says.” Anti-Flag also “confirmed to Rolling Stone that
they are ‘in the process of unwinding the label, including returning master rights and physical
records/merchandise to the bands, which will take some time to complete properly.’”162
In “The Punk-Rock Predator,” Rolling Stone noted that Sarhadi, one of Geever’s victims,
“launched ThePunkRockTherapist.org [TPRT], a place where Geever’s accusers and other
159 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
160 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
161 brooklynvegan.com, September 7, 2023
162 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023
47
survivors within the music industry can connect and receive free therapy sessions.” The website
was “a way to connect the innumerable survivors who have shared, or are ready to share, their
own stories of exploitation and abuse at the hands of men in the entertainment industry,” based
on the website for KBM Law, which represented sexual abuse victims in the music industry.163
Based on social media posts, in October 2023, bands that left A-F Records, including Pity Party
and Celebration Summer, participated in a “bandcamp Friday” to fundraise for TPRT, donating
proceeds from sales of music and merchandise to the organization.164
Clifford Harris Jr. aka “T.I.” and Tameka “Tiny” Harris
Allegations & Criminal Investigation
T.I. and his wife, Tameka Harris, were sued under California’s window statute law
for a 2005 incident where they allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted a woman
in a hotel room.
According to Vulture, in lawsuit filed in January 2024, the rapper Clifford Harris Jr., known
professionally as T.I., “his wife, Xscape member Tameka ‘Tiny’ Harris, are being sued for
allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2005.” Jane Doe alleged that “she was
given a spiked drink in a nightclub before the couple brought her to a hotel room, ‘forced her to
get naked,’ and sexually assaulted her.” According to the complaint, “the woman states that she
met the couple in a nightclub when she was in her 20s and serving in the U.S. Air Force. After
Tiny offered her a drink that she alleges was spiked with drugs, she claims that she passed out
and was taken to a hotel room. There, she accuses Tiny of holding her down while T.I.
penetrated her with his toes, among other claims.”165
In May 2021, the Los Angeles Times reported that “Los Angeles police detectives launched an
investigation into [the] sexual assault report” of Jane Doe. In September of 2021, “the Los
Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to file charges against the musicians because
the case fell outside of the 10-year statute of limitations.” However, the January 2024 suit was
filed “thanks to a California lookback law that opens a window for claims of sexual assault and
abuse,” according to Vulture. The lawsuit “also accuses T.I. and Tiny of battery, negligence, false
163 rollingstone.com, September 5, 2023; kbmlaw.com, accessed December 22, 2023
164 punknews.org, accessed January 24, 2024; punknews.org, accessed January 24, 2024; twitter.com, October 6,
2023; facebook.com, October 6, 2023; instagram.com, October 6, 2023
165 vulture.com, January 5, 2024
48
imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She is seeking an undisclosed
amount for lost earnings, general damages and legal fees, and is asking for a trial by jury.”166
Both T.I. and his wife acknowledged the suit’s accuser, saying in a statement that the “plaintiff
has been threatening to file this lawsuit for THREE years,” and “For THREE years, we have
emphatically and categorically denied these allegations. For THREE years we have maintained
our innocence and refused to pay these extortionate demands for things we didn’t do.” The
Harris’s “legal representative dismissed Doe’s ‘bogus’ claims and said ‘she missed the deadline
to file the lawsuit.’”167
In March 2021, T.I. and Tiny Harris were accused of drugging, kidnapping, rape,
and intimidation by more than 3o women over a 15-year span.
In March 2021, T.I. and his wife faced allegations of “‘forced drugging, kidnapping, rape and
intimidation’ spanning more than 15 years from more than 30 women.” According to the Los
Angeles Times, Tyrone A. Blackburn, the attorney representing several women accusing T.I. and
Tiny of sexual abuse, called for investigations of the couple in Georgia and California. Blackburn
said that “he had been contacted by more than 30 ‘women, survivors and witnesses’ who had
allegations.”168 Later, in March 2021, Blackburn told “the Daily Beast that since sending the
letters, he has spoken with six new alleged victims of T.I. and Tiny.”169
The New York Times “spoke with five people who alleged — according to letters Blackburn said
he sent to legal officials in California and Georgia — they were ‘drugged, raped or sexually
assaulted by the Harrises or those in their orbit.’” The New York Times “also spoke to others
who said they were told of the alleged episodes soon afterward.” It was reported “that in three of
the cases, it had reviewed messages or photos supporting the timelines of events.”170
Steve Shadow, the attorney representing the Harrises, responded, “We are confident that if
these claims are thoroughly and fairly investigated, no charges will be forthcoming. These
allegations are nothing more than the continuation of a sordid shakedown campaign that began
on social media. The Harrises implore everyone not to be taken in by these obvious attempts to
manipulate the press and misuse the justice system.”171
166 vulture.com, January 5, 2024; latimes.com, January 3, 2024
167 vulture.com, January 5, 2024; latimes.com, January 3, 2024
168 latimes.com, January 3, 2024; latimes.com, March 1, 2021
169 vulture.com, January 5, 2024
170 latimes.com, March 1, 2021
171 latimes.com, March 1, 2021
49
Public Reckoning
MTV Entertainment paused filming of the fourth season of “T.I. & Tiny: Friends &
Family Hustle” after the couple faced “a range of sexual abuse accusations.”
In February 2021, after facing “a range of sexual abuse accusations,” MTV Entertainment
paused filming of the fourth season of “T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle.” Deadline
reported, “According to sources, the decision to pause production was made mutually by MTV
Entertainment, T.I. and Tameka Harris.” The show, which was produced by 51 Minds
Entertainment, included events such as “T.I. hitting 40, releasing his latest album and becoming
a professor at Clark Atlanta University, teaching a course on the ‘Business of Trap Music,’ as well
as Tiny executive producing a new talk show.”172 As of January 2024, there was no fourth season
of the show on VH1’s website.173
Cornell Haynes Jr. aka Nelly
Allegations & Criminal Arrest
In 2017, rapper Nelly was arrested after Monique Greene sued him for allegedly
sexually assaulting her on his tour bus during a tour stop in Washington State.
In October 2017, the rapper Nelly was arrested for “alleged sexual assault during a tour stop in
Washington state. The Auburn Police Department said in a statement that a woman called 911 at
3:48 a.m. Saturday and said she was assaulted by Nelly, whose given name is Cornell Haynes Jr.
After a police investigation, Nelly was taken into custody an hour later.”174 The woman was later
identified as Monique Greene, who was 21 at the time. Greene did not pursue criminal charges
but asked “for a judge to prohibit Nelly from assaulting more women, in addition to asking for
damages.”175 Greene’s lawsuit also included defamation charges against Nelly “after he publicly
denied the incident,” according to an op-ed in the Daily Beast from entertainment reporter
Kyndall Cunningham.176
172 deadline.com, February 5, 2021
173 vh1.com, accessed January 16, 2024
174 npr.org, October 7, 2017
175 npr.org, January 25, 2018
176 thedailybeast.com, Opinion, September 30, 2021
50
According to the lawsuit, Nelly invited Greene to an afterparty after his show in Washington,
and then brought her to his tour bus in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Once aboard the bus, Nelly
“allegedly took Greene to his bedroom at the rear of the bus, closed the door, and began
masturbating in front of her. She says he proceeded to assault her, after she ‘refused to consent,’
and forced her into both oral and penetrative sex, pleading with her to stay with him all
weekend. After the alleged assault, Greene says she screamed that she wanted to leave, and
Nelly and his entourage pushed her off the bus, yelling at her. Greene says that the rapper then
threw $100 at her in the parking lot. She called both an Uber and 911, and waited for police to
arrive to take a statement and transport her to a hospital.” Greene “completed a rape kit and
showed signs of distress,” and the police “believed there was probable cause to arrest Nelly for
second-degree rape.”177
By 2018, two other women had publicly accused Nelly of sexual assault, which was
included as anonymous testimony in Greene’s lawsuit.
In January 2018, NPR announced that Nelly had been accused of sexual assault by two more
women, whose anonymous testimonies were included in Greene’s lawsuit. The first Jane Doe, a
U.S. military service member stationed in the U.K., alleged that in 2016, Nelly invited her
backstage after one of his shows in England, “suddenly grabbed her leg and put his hand up her
dress without her consent.” He then “allegedly argued with her and repeatedly tried to prevent
her from leaving.”178
The second Jane Doe alleged Nelly invited her backstage after the show, where he “dropped his
pants and began masturbating, tried to pull off her top without her consent, and tried to kiss her
repeatedly. The woman, whom the suit notes is petite and stands 4' 11", allegedly attempted to
‘evade and refuse him’ multiple times. He also allegedly grabbed her hand and put it on his
penis; when she again refused him, the suit says, he ‘made a fist,’ and she asked him if he was
going to hit her. The woman says Nelly responded, ‘No, I'm just frustrated, I'm not used to not
getting my way, just do it.’ He then allegedly forced her down and shoved his penis in her mouth
before she was able to twist out of his reach and scramble out of the room.”179
In 2021, a woman who accused rapper T.I. and his wife of sexual assault and
human trafficking claimed that the couple forced her to have sex with Nelly in
2014.
177 npr.org, January 25, 2018
178 npr.org, January 25, 2018
179 npr.org, January 25, 2018
51
In 2021, Nelly was implicated in the controversy surrounding sexual assault and human
trafficking allegations against rapper T.I. and his wife Tiny Harris. As of May 2021, over two
dozen women and at least one man “shared their stories of being forcibly drugged, trafficked
and sexually assaulted by T.I., Tiny and their friends on multiple occasions.” One of these
women, identified as Jane Doe 4, said the couple forced her to have sex with Nelly in 2014. The
woman “said that she was approached by Tiny to become an assistant for her and T.I. in 2005,
but things got out of hand quickly. She claims that she was never paid for the work she did for
the family, and before long she was being forcibly drugged and sexually assaulted — similar to
the allegations made by other women. Jane Doe 4 said that she was forced to have sex with Nelly
in 2014. She also claimed that she was forced to have sex with other women often, and forced to
take extreme doses of ecstasy.”180
Silencing & Retaliation Against Victims
The women who were allegedly assaulted by Nelly reportedly did not pursue
criminal charges because they were worried that they would not be supported by
the criminal justice system or believed by the police.
In December 2017, the prosecutor's office in King County, Washington said it would not proceed
with a criminal case against Nelly because Greene “decided not to cooperate. This amended civil
suit states that Greene declined to cooperate with prosecutors because ‘she felt she could not
stand up against a celebrity and that the criminal system would fail her.’ The suit also notes that
the date Greene declined to cooperate with prosecutors was the same day th at actress Alyssa
Milano began tweeting #MeToo and ‘brought momentum to the anti-sexual assault movement.’”
According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe No. 2 also “considered going to the police but felt that she
would not be believed.”181
Karen Koehler, Greene’s lawyer, wrote in a letter, “We do not live in a society where a 21 year old
college student can feel safe enough to pursue criminal charges against a celebrity for an alleged
rape. […] People are saying horrible things [about her] already. […] She cannot ha ndle this. She
is about to break.” Koehler wrote that they would put “a halt to the criminal investigation,” and
the alleged victim “will not testify further in a criminal proceeding against [Nelly].” Koehler
added, “She never wanted notoriety. She never wanted a dime from that man.”182
180 popculture.com, May 16, 2021
181 npr.org, January 25, 2018
182 nylon.com, October 15, 2017
52
Greene's lawsuit asserted “that after information about the alleged rape became public, Nelly's
lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, made statements to the website TMZ last October that ‘constitutes
intimidation of a witness.’ At the time, Rosenblum said: ‘It does not surprise me that she wanted
to have her story publicized. That is Playbook 101 of a person with an agenda and clearly she has
one. The agenda is money, fame and notoriety.’”183
Nelly denied the sexual assault allegations against him and said he would “pursue
every legal option to address this defaming claim.”
In October 2017 following his arrest, Nelly tweeted, “I also want to thank my fans for their
unwavering support. They know me. I assure you I will be vindicated. And I assure you, I will
pursue every legal option to address this defaming claim. […] I do want to apologize to my loved
ones for the embarrassment and for putting myself in a situation where I could be victimized by
this false and defaming allegation. […] Let me say that I am beyond shocked that I have been
targeted with this false allegation. I am completely innocent. I am confident that once the facts
are looked at, it will be very clear that I am the victim of a false allegation.”184
Entertainment reporter Kyndall Cunningham noted in a Daily Beast op-ed that “Essex police
also halted an investigation into the case of one of the English women, who accused Nelly of
assaulting her after a gig at Cliffs Pavilion in Southend, due to her failure to testify.
Nevertheless, Nelly publicly thanked U.K. police for ‘thoroughly investigating’ the allegations.
His statement also included a section where he frustratingly mentions that he ‘stands with
women and real survivors.’”185
Nelly’s girlfriend Shantel Jackson was subpoenaed in Greene’s lawsuit after
claiming the allegations were false and that she was with Nelly during the alleged
incidents.
In January 2018, Nelly’s longtime girlfriend Shantel Jackson “went to Instagram with a note in
which she addressed the ‘false claims’ brought against her rapper boyfriend” by Greene. Jackson
wrote, “Those dates these Jane Doe’s [sic] are claiming, I was at those venues, in the dressing
rooms, and on that tour bus. […] There are women dealing with real issues of sexual assault and
for the first time people are listening and there is a chance for real change. But all of this work is
discredited and makes things harder for survivors when people lie.”186
183 npr.org, January 25, 2018
184 essence.com, October 26, 2020
185 thedailybeast.com, Opinion, September 30, 2021
186 complex.com, January 26, 2018
53
Greene subpoenaed Jackson to “testify over alibi claims where she [Jackson] asserts being with
the rapper at the time of the alleged assault. […] Court documents say Greene is requesting for
Jackson’s deposition to be taped. The alleged victim would also like her to provide ‘all
photographs, receipts, social media posts, airline tickets, bus tickets, phone records and other
documents regarding her whereabouts.’” 187
Following the subpoena, Jackson filed court documents “demanding to be let out of the woman’s
lawsuit. […] In newly filed court documents, Jackson says she did nothing wrong. She points out
her tweet never even named the woman. […] Jackson says her tweet was not defamatory and
only contained her opinion. […] She wants to be dismissed entirely from the case.”188
Other notable hip hop artists defended Nelly and criticized Greene.
Following Greene’s lawsuit, paparazzi asked the singer Akon about “his thoughts on the rape
allegations facing Nelly. The singer quickly defended the star, who he called ‘an amazing
person,’ adding that the victim was either mistaken or likely looking for money.” The rapper T.I.
“shared a video to Instagram in which he questioned what happens to women who lie about
rape. Bringing up Mike Tyson and Tupac, who both faced rape allegations during their careers,
T.I. asked, ‘What the f–k ever happened after the motherf–ker find out that the b—h was lying?
What consequences is there for this young lady? Because we take ours. If more than 12 find her
guilty, we got the answer for that. But, if they find out that wasn’t true, what the f–k happens to
her?’”189
By October 2019, Nelly reached a settlement with both Greene and the second Jane
Doe who had accused him of sexual assault.
After Greene’s lawsuit was filed, Nelly countersued Greene for defamation, “contending their
sexual encounter was consensual. His claims also were dropped under the dismissal agreement.”
In September 2018, Nelly agreed to settle the lawsuit filed by Greene. The settlement terms were
not disclosed, but Rosenblum said “that no money exchanged hands. Greene’s lawyer, Karen
Koehler, disputes that assertion but said she couldn’t comment specifically. Asked by the
newspaper if Greene still stands behind the allegations detailed in the lawsuit, Koehler said: ‘100
percent.’”190
187 ebony.com, April 19, 2018
188 theblast.com, October 14, 2019
189 essence.com, October 26, 2020
190 apnews.com, September 27, 2018
54
Pitchfork reported in October 2019 that Nelly reached a settlement with the second Jane Doe
who “had filed her lawsuit against the singer in 2018. The suit reportedly claimed that Nelly
masturbated in front of her without her consent, placed her hand on his penis, and pushed her
head down to force her into oral sex on his tour bus while he was in Essex, England. Essex Police
had previously dropped an investigation of the allegations. According to TMZ, the terms of the
settlement agreement are confidential.”191
Continued Work in Music Industry
Following the allegations against him, Nelly continued to work successfully in the
music industry and received a lifetime achievement award from BET.
In September 2021, entertainment reporter Kyndall Cunningham noted in a Daily Beast op-ed
that despite the sexual assault allegations against him, Nelly’s career had “gained noticeable
traction over the past year—thanks to the powerful PR that comes with participating in a Verzuz
battle,” leading to “a new partnership with Burger King and lifetime achievement award f rom
BET.”192 He “competed on the 29th season of Dancing with The Stars in the fall of 2020 and
placed third, despite the recency of those accusations.” Cunningham noted that a song Nelly
released with Florida Georgia Line in 2021 went platinum and that his 2021 album Heartland,
which “landed in the top 10 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart,” was promoted on
Good Morning America, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and CMT Crossroads.193 Nelly also performed
at the California Mid-State Fair in July 2023 with T.I. as a special guest.194
Cunningham argued in her op-ed that the industry’s disregard for Nelly’s alleged behavior was
unsurprising because Nelly “sits at a tricky axis.” Cunningham elaborated, “as sociologist Tressie
McMillan Cottom has written about radio host Charlamagne tha God in her book THICK, of
‘men that are not Bill Cosby big and men that did not mostly [assault] white women like Harvey
Weinstein.’ Likewise, it’s easy to feign ignorance about an older, less relevant, non-white
musician’s legal troubles, particularly in the currently oversaturated landscape of popular music
and celebrities.”195
191 pitchfork.com, October 24, 2019
192 thedailybeast.com, Opinion, September 30, 2021
193 thedailybeast.com, Opinion, September 30, 2021
194 midstatefair.com, Press Release, May 22, 2023
195 thedailybeast.com, Opinion, September 30, 2021
55
Don Henley
Allegations & Criminal Conviction
In 1980, Eagles’ drummer Don Henley was arrested after police found a naked 16 -
year-old girl suffering from a drug overdose in his house. Henley pleaded no
contest to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
In November 1980, Eagles’ drummer Don Henley, then 33 years old, “called the L.A. Fire
Department, seeking medical aid for someone at his home who appeared to be having a seizure.
That someone was a prostitute, who turned out to be suffering from aftereffects of Quaaludes
and cocaine and who also turned out to be 16 years old. Hours later that day, police came to
Henley’s home and arrested him, after reportedly finding quantities of cocaine and marijuana in
the house.” The 16-year-old girl, who was found naked in Henley’s home, was arrested as well,
along with another 15-year-old girl “who was booked for being under the influence of drugs.”196
Henley pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a
minor, was fined, and was given two years of probation.197
Henley told GQ in 1991, “I had no idea how old she was. I had no idea that she was doing that
many drugs; I didn’t have sex with her, you understand. Yes, she was a hooker; yes, I called a
madam; yes, there were roadies and guys in my house-we were having a farewell to the Eagles. I
got all of them out of the house; I took complete blame for everything. I was stupid; I could have
flushed everything down the toilet. I didn’t want this girl dying in my house; I wanted to get her
medical attention. I did what I thought was best, and I paid the price.”198
Continued Work with WMG
Henley’s arrest and misdemeanor charges regarding a minor had little effect on
his musical career. His 1982 song “Dirty Laundry,” possibly inspired by the
incident, became his first No. 1 solo hit.
In 1980, the Los Angeles Times reported, “Sources close to the Eagles’ record [label] said the
charges would have little or no effect on the group, which has a new live album high on the
196 timesmachine.nytimes.com, November 26, 1980; theguardian.com, October 1, 2015
197 eaglesfans.com, August 1991, accessed via Archive.ph
198 eaglesfans.com, August 1991, accessed via Archive.ph
56
charts. ‘It's no big deal,’ said one record exec. ‘Kids don't exactly put rock stars on a pedestal
these days.’”199
American Songwriter noted that while “the event caused a media frenzy around the singer,”
Henley’s 1982 song “Dirty Laundry,” which was believed to be inspired by the media’s response
to the arrest, became his “first No. 1 hit as a solo artist” and “reached the top of the Billboard
Mainstream Rock chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.”200 The song was part of the album
“I Can’t Stand Still,” which was released by the Warner Music Group label Asylum Records.201
Daniel Hernandez aka Tekashi69
Criminal Charges
Rapper Daniel Hernandez, known as Tekashi69 and 6ix9ine, pleaded guilty to
felony counts of using a child for a sexual performance.
In October 2017, Daniel Hernandez, the rapper known by names including Tekashi69 and
6ix9ine, “made his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 with his single ‘Gummo’” for
Universal Music Group. The “record debuted at No. 58 and amassed over 29 million views on
YouTube in just a month’s time.” By the end of 2017, it reached “No. 13 on the Hot 100.”202
While Hernandez achieved success in the charts, many were learning that “in 2015, the Brooklyn
rapper known for his face tattoos and infamous WorldStar videos pled guilty to three felony
counts in New York Supreme Court for use of a child in a sexual performance, stemming from
an incident that occurred that same year with an underage girl.” According to Jezebel,
“Rumblings of the incident were made public earlier this year via beefs with fellow rappers
Zillakami and Trippie Redd, who started mentioning his case on social media. ‘I’m sorry brozay,
1400 don’t promote pedophiles,’ said Redd in a now-deleted Instagram video, according to Mass
Appeal.”203
According to a complaint filed against Hernandez by the victim’s mother, who was unidentified,
“in February 2015, she spotted three social media videos of her daughter allegedly ‘having sexual
199 newspapers.com, November 30, 1980
200 americansongwriter.com, July 14, 2023
201 discogs.com, accessed August 2, 2023
202 billboard.com, December 14, 2017
203 billboard.com, December 14, 2017; jezebel.com, December 14, 2017
57
contact with two adult males.’ The two men in question were identified as Hernandez and a
separately-charged defendant, Tyquan Anderson. The complaint details the alleged victim
engaging in ‘oral sexual intercourse’ with Anderson while Hernandez ‘stood behind the child
making a thrusting motion with his pelvis and smacking her on her buttocks’ in one video.”204
In October 2015, Hernandez pleaded guilty “to using a child in a sexual performance when he
was 18. In a video, posted online, a 13-year-old girl was seen engaging in oral intercourse while
Tekashi stood behind her.” Under conditions of his plea deal, Hernandez “agreed not to commit
another offence for two years so that he wouldn't have to register as a sex offender. However, if
he breached that plea deal he was told he could face up to three years in prison.”205
Tyquan Anderson, the second defendant in the case, pleaded guilty in February 2018 “to
possession of a sexual performance by a child and was sentenced to 1.5 to 3 years in prison.
Hernandez, despite his guilty plea, has vehemently denied the allegations in interviews with
YouTube hip-hop vloggers Adam22 of No Jumper and DJ Akademiks, saying the alleged victim
lied about her age, claiming that she was 19 years old at the time of the incident. In an interview
with XXL, 6x9ine mocked his detractors about the allegations pinned against him.”206
Continued Work With UMG
After Hernandez’s sexual assault charges were widely reported, he signed a $10
million record deal with 10K Projects, the label founded by the son of Universal
Music Group’s CEO, Lucian Grainge. In September 2023, 10K became a standalone
label under Warner Music Group.
Billboard reported that Hernandez was “the latest in a line of new wave viral rappers gaining
steam on the scene, despite disturbing legal controversies.” In October 2019, Hernandez was
“awaiting sentencing on racketeering and firearms charges. He was first arrested in November
2018 and had been set to face a mandatory minimum sentence of 47 years after pleading guilty
to a number of the charges, but he entered into a co-operation agreement with the federal
government shortly after his arrest in a bid to reduce his sentence.”207 Page Six included the
following photo of Hernandez when he petitioned the court to make music videos while under
home confinement.208
204 billboard.com, December 14, 2017
205 bbc.com, August 11, 2018
206 billboard.com, December 14, 2017
207 billboard.com, December 14, 2017; nme.com, October 10, 2019
208 pagesix.com, April 23, 2020
58
Hernandez “signed a new record deal while in prison.” According to reports from TMZ and
Billboard, Hernandez scored himself a “payday worth in excess of $10 million if he holds up his
end of the contract. As part of the deal reupping with 10K, the Brooklyn native will be on the
hook for a pair of albums — one in English, the other in Spanish.”209
According to Music Business Worldwide, 10k Projects was “a Los Angeles-based record
company founded by Elliot Grainge.” US Weekly reported Elliott Grainge’s father, “Lucian
Grainge, has been the chief executive officer of Universal Music Group since 2011.”210 Music
Week noted in February 2022 that 10K Projects’ music “is distributed via Universal Music
Group’s independent distribution division, Virgin Music.”211
In September 2023, “Warner Music Group and Elliot Grainge’s 10K Projects announced a new
joint venture,” where “10K will become a standalone label under the WMG umbrella.” According
to Billboard, “As part of the switch from UMG to WMG, Eliot Grainge will r emain as 10K’s CEO,
and co-presidents Zach Friedman and Tony Talamo will also remain in place atop the label’s
leadership ranks. Additionally, Grainge will join WMG’s global leadership team, the company
said.”212
209 billboard.com, October 10, 2019
210 musicbusinessworldwide.com, accessed July 28, 2023; usmagazine.com, April 8, 2021; latimes.com, April 20, 2023
211 musicweek.com, February 9, 2022; musicbusinessworldwide.com, accessed July 28, 2023
212 billboard.com, September 5, 2023
59
Jacob Hoggard
Allegations & Criminal Conviction
Jacob Hoggard was sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of raping
a woman in Toronto in 2016. He also allegedly raped and assaulted a teenager,
though those charges were ultimately dismissed.
In October 2022, Jacob Hoggard, front man for the Canadian band Hedley, was sentenced to
five years in prison after he was found guilty “of sexually assaulting an Ottawa woman in what
the presiding judge called a ‘particularly degrading rape.’” Hoggard’s victim alleged that
Hoggard raped her in 2016 at a Toronto hotel room and “told Hoggard’s sentencing hearing that
what happened will haunt her for the rest of her life.” The Ontario Superior Court justice
overseeing the case “said she accepted the woman’s testimony in its entirety and said it involved
‘gratuitous degradation’ and ‘gratuitous violence.’” According to the woman, “Hoggard choked
her so hard she thought she was going to die. She testified the sexual assault lasted for hours.”213
According to the woman, “Hoggard raped her in a hotel room and choked, slapped and spit on
her. He also dragged her across the floor by her legs.” She claimed that “Hoggard choked her so
hard she thought she was going to die. She testified the sexual assault lasted for hours.” A civil
complaint related to the alleged rape claimed that “Hoggard engaged in a pattern of behaviour
that was intended to make the plaintiff feel that her safety was in jeopardy.”214
According to Billboard, “Hoggard was found guilty of one count of sexual assault causing bodily
harm.” However, he “was found not guilty of groping and raping a teenage fan” at the same trial,
who was a minor. That individual “said Hoggard pushed her face into the pillows, making it
difficult for her to breathe.”215
In October 2022, the woman who alleged she was assaulted by Hoggard sued him for $2.8
million, claiming “that in addition to mental anguish, the incident left her unable to complete
her education and impaired both her physical and emotional wellbeing.”216
213 theguardian.com, October 20, 2022
214 theguardian.com, October 20, 2022; toronto.ctvnews.ca, October 5, 2022
215 billboard.com, October 20, 2022; toronto.ctvnews.ca, October 5, 2022; northernontario.ctvnews.ca, June 1, 2022
216 toronto.ctvnews.ca, October 5, 2022
60
While he was awaiting the verdict in his 2022 sexual assault trial, Hoggard was
charged in a separate sexual assault involving a 19-year-old woman in 2016.
In March 2022, Hoggard was charged “with sexual assault causing bodily harm in an incident
alleged to have taken place on June 25, 2016 in Kirkland Lake, Ont.” involving a 19-year-old
woman. The charge came as Hoggard was already “awaiting a verdict in his sexual assault
trial.”217 In an interview with CBC News, the woman said she “was hoping for a moment to
discuss music and play guitar with Hoggard. Instead, she claims he raped and degraded her.”
She “alleged that Hoggard forced himself on her … at the Comfort Inn in Kirkland Lake, where
the band was staying.” The woman stated, “He knew what he was doing was wrong and he did it
anyway.”218
The woman alleged that in June 2016, she “attended a Hedley concert at the Joe Mavrinac
Community Complex in Kirkland Lake with a family member. After the concert, she hopped in a
van that was taking fans to the Comfort Inn to party with the band. The woman's relative did not
go with her. While hanging out at a campfire pit in the woods behind the hotel, the woman said,
she drank multiple Coors Lite beers with the band. She became drunk and said that's when
Hoggard took her to his hotel room.”219
Inside the hotel room, the woman “saw several guitars and hoped she and Hoggard could ‘jam’
together. She said he accused her of being ‘talky, talky,’ took away her phone, then assaulted
her.” The woman claimed that even though she attempted to rebuff his advanc es, Hoggard “took
off her clothes and took a naked photo of her without her consent. He then undressed himself,
revealing tattoos of a snake and what looked like a panther on his body.” She said, “He acted like
he owned me, like he could do whatever he wanted.”220
The woman said she pushed Hoggard “off her as he tried to kiss her. She said she fought off his
attempt to anally penetrate her, but was vaginally raped. ‘I was fighting him the whole time. I
felt stuck while he was on top of me. He was very strong,’ said the woman. She told CBC she
screamed for him to stop.” The woman said that during the assault, “Hoggard alternated
between calling her a ‘dirty little piggy’ and a ‘good girl.’ The woman alleged that he choked her
during sex and slapped her, leaving a red handprint on her thigh ‘that lasted a week.’ After the
alleged assault, the complainant said she felt so nauseated that she went into the bathroom to
vomit.”221
217 northernontario.ctvnews.ca, June 1, 2022
218 cbc.ca, May 31, 2022
219 cbc.ca, May 31, 2022
220 cbc.ca, May 31, 2022
221 cbc.ca, May 31, 2022
61
Public Reckoning
As allegations against Hoggard began to surface in February 2018, Hedley was
dropped from its management, and its music was pulled from Canadian radio
stations and the CBC Music streaming service.
In February 2018, in wake of the #MeToo movement, “claims of sexual misconduct and
inappropriate encounters with young fans against” Hoggard and his bandmates began to surface
from anonymous Twitter users. Hoggard “had risen to fame in 2004 on the long-canceled
television show Canadian Idol, finishing in the top three before signing with Universal Music
Canada for his band Hedley. Capitol signed them in the U.S. in 2006 but later dropped them. In
Canada, the band’s success included chart-topping singles, platinum certifications and
headlining tours.”222
According to the Toronto Star, beginning in February 2018, Taylor Bowman, age 21, shared
“accounts on Twitter of sexual misconduct by Jacob Hoggard using the hashtag
#outHedley2k18, including a claim that he grabbed her buttocks outside a bar in Manitoba in
2015.” She asked “for other ‘creepy’ accounts,” telling “the CBC she receive[d] 50 to 60
submissions, including some that are extremely serious or allegedly involve minors.” Bowman
then shared “some of these accounts publicly and other people also began posting allegations
using the same hashtag.”223 The Vancouver Sun noted that Hedley, along with singer R. Kelly,
appeared to be the “first in a wave of Twitter campaigns against musicians inspired by the
#MeToo movement that has cut a swath through Hollywood’s elite.”224
As the number of allegations against Hoggard continued to grow, CBC News reported that the
reaction from the music industry was “swift and strong. Within days the quartet was dropped by
its management team, ditched by the opening acts on their cross-Canada tour and blacklisted by
radio stations including the CBC and more than a hundred Bell Media outlets.”225 Chris Crippen,
a former drummer for Hedley who was fired in 2017, told CBC News in November 2018 that “he
was surprised by how quickly his former band was taken down by the #MeToo movement.”226
Following the flurry of allegations, Hedley was “dropped by its management team.” Watchdog
Management and the Feldman Agency said in a statement, “Given the multiple allegations
against Hedley, we have taken the decision to terminate our business relationships with the
222 toronto.ctvnews.ca, October 20, 2022; billboard.com, October 20, 2022
223 pressreader.com, October 6, 2022
224 vancouversun.com, February 16, 2018
225 cbc.ca, February 18, 2018
226 cbc.ca, November 8, 2018
62
band, effective immediately.” Additionally, Chorus Radio announced it had “temporarily
suspended all airplay of Hedley songs across its 30 music stations, as have stations in Edmonton
and Vancouver.” CBC Music also “dropped all of Hedley’s music from its streaming service and
on radio,” and Bell Media “removed Hedley songs from its radio stations.”227
Addressing the allegations on Facebook, “Hoggard and band members Dave Rosin, Tommy Mac
and Jay Benison noted the music industry ‘does not exactly have an enviable history of treating
women with the respect they deserve’ and acknowledged that in the past they have ‘engaged in a
lifestyle that incorporated certain rock 'n' roll clichés.’”228
Jermaine Jackson
Allegations
Rita Barrett filed suit against Jermaine Jackson of the Jackson 5, alleging he
forced himself into her home and “with force and violence sexually assaulted” her.
She claimed Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records, “withheld and concealed
the acts.”
In December 2023, Rita Barrett filed a civil suit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing
Jermaine Jackson, a founding member of the Jackson 5, “of sexual abuse, sexual battery, sexual
assault, harassment and rape relating to an incident that she says happened at her Los Angeles
home in 1988.” The suit was filed under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability
Act and also named “Jermaine L. Jackson Music Productions and Work Records, a business Mr.
Jackson founded,” as defendants.229
Barrett’s lawsuit stated, “Defendant Jackson forced himself into Plaintiff’s home, and with force
and violence sexually assaulted Plaintiff,” and “Plaintiff, a woman of faith[,] prayed to God for
help. During the assault, Plaintiff feared for her life. After the assault and when Defendant
Jackson was satiated, he left the residence.” Barrett said she suffered “severe emotional, physical
and psychological injury, including humiliation, shame, and guilt, economic loss, economic
capacity and permanent emotional distress.” Jeff Anderson, Barrett’s attorney, said, “Rita
Barrett suffered an egregious and violent sexual assault,” adding, “This is about her power and
227 cbc.ca, February 16, 2018
228 cbc.ca, February 18, 2018
229 nytimes.com, December 29, 2023
63
the declaration of it when she learned something could be done under the law, and she found
the strength and support to find us and is now standing up for herself and others.”230
According to the New York Times, Barrett said “she came into contact with Mr. Jackson through
her role as a musician’s contractor and as a member of a union that represents musicians. The
complaint says she also knew Mr. Jackson through Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown
Records.” Her lawsuit claimed “that she told Mr. Gordy what happened [with Jackson] the
following day, but he ‘withheld and concealed the acts, further perpetuating the coverup and
allowing Mr. Gordy, Defendant Jackson and others in the business relationship to continue to
reap profits derived from Mr. Jackson’s work and reputation for years to come.’”231
After the lawsuit was filed, “Michael Pellegrino, president of Artists Management Agency, which
has represented Mr. Jackson since 2014, said the agency would be parting ways with the
musician because of the suit.” Pellegrino wrote in a statement to the New York Times, “We have
a zero-tolerance policy concerning these matters.” He added, “We wish him well but we must
feel comfortable about who we represent and unfortunately at this moment we must take in
consideration our other clients who do not feel comfortable with the current allegations.”232
Melissa Viviane Jefferson aka Lizzo
Allegations
In August 2023, three of Lizzo’s former tour dancers filed a lawsuit against the
singer for sexual harassment, assault, and creating a hostile work environment.
In August 2023, dancers Crystal Williams, Arianna Davis, and Noelle Rodriguez filed a lawsuit
in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the singer Lizzo (whose legal name is Melissa
Jefferson), as well as her dance captain Shirlene Quigley and Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc (BGBT).
The suit accused Lizzo of sexual harassment, assault, and creating a hostile work environment,
among other damages. The plaintiffs alleged that Lizzo created a “hostile work environment”
due to harassment that was “sufficiently extreme and totally pervasive,” including “repeated
exposure of Plaintiffs to nudity against their will, and pervasive habit of sharing lewd fantasies
and tales of sexual encounters.” The plaintiffs said that because of these experiences, they
suffered “substantial losses in earnings, other employment benefits, physical injuries, physical
230 rollingstone.com, December 28, 2023; nytimes.com, December 29, 2023
231 nytimes.com, December 29, 2023
232 nytimes.com, December 29, 2023
64
sickness, as well as emotional distress, plus medical expenses, future medical expenses, and
attorneys’ fees.”233
According to the suit, in February 2023, Lizzo invited dancers to an Amsterdam club called
Bananenbar after a show, and while “attendance was not mandatory,” it was understood that
“those who attended after-party events Lizzo planned were often favored, selected to perform
with Lizzo at shows outside of regularly scheduled tour dates, and were widely considered to
enjoy greater job security.” At the club, Lizzo “began inviting cast members to take turns
touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and
eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas. Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms.
Davis and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts [of] one of the nude women
performing at the club.” After articulating her discomfort multiple times, “a mortified Ms. Davis
acquiesced.”234
The suit also alleged that while at Bananenbar, Lizzo “badgered the security guard to get on the
club’s stage until he submitted to her demands. When he got on the stage, his pants were pulled
down, exposing his buttocks. Lizzo then began yelling, ‘take it off!’ while a club performer hit the
security guard with whips.”235
The lawsuit described a rehearsal in April 2023 in which Lizzo required all dancers “to re -
audition for their spots” and held “an excruciating re-audition in which the dancers repeatedly
ran through the entire ninety-minute show. What was supposed to be an eight-hour rehearsal
was extended to almost twelve hours. The re-audition was brutal as the dancers were not
allowed a break.” Out of fear of being fired for leaving the stage, Davis “lost control of her
bladder” and “remained on stage, dancing in soiled clothes” until there was eventually a brief
break.236
According to the lawsuit, Lizzo and her choreographer Tanisha Scott called Davis into a private
meeting in April 2023 in which they “pressed Ms. Davis for an explanation why she seemed less
bubbly and vivacious than she did prior to the tour.” According to the suit, these “questions
about Ms. Davis’s commitment to the tour were thinly veiled concerns about Ms. Davis’s weight
gain, which Lizzo had previously called attention to after noticing it at the South by Southwest
music festival.”237
233 Davis, Williams, Rodriguez V Lizzo, et al, accessed August 3, 2023
234 Davis, Williams, Rodriguez V Lizzo, et al, accessed August 3, 2023
235 Davis, Williams, Rodriguez V Lizzo, et al, accessed August 3, 2023
236 Davis, Williams, Rodriguez V Lizzo, et al, accessed August 3, 2023
237 Davis, Williams, Rodriguez V Lizzo, et al, accessed August 3, 2023
65
The lawsuit alleged that after Lizzo fired Davis for recording a cast meeting on her phone,
Rodriguez resigned, which “drew both Ms. Quigley’s and Lizzo’s ire. […] Lizzo aggressively
approached Ms. Rodriquez, cracking her knuckles, balling her fists, and exclaiming, ‘You’re
lucky. You’re so fucking lucky!’ Ms. Rodriguez feared that Lizzo intended to hit her and would
have done so if one of the other dancers had not intervened. Neither security nor management
did anything to de-escalate the situation. As Lizzo left the room, she raised both her middle
fingers and yelled, ‘Bye, bitch!’”238
The lawsuit also alleged that BGBT management “treated the black members of the dance team
differently than other members. BGBT’s management team consisted almost entirely of white
Europeans who often accused the black members of the dance team of being lazy,
unprofessional, and having bad attitudes. Not only do these words ring familiar as tropes used
to disparage and discourage black women from advocating for themselves, but the same
accusations were not levied against dancers who are not black.”239
According to Vox, the lawsuit against Lizzo “underscores the poor working conditions in the
music industry, and the lack of accountability that exists for such abuses. Long hours, difficult
physical labor, and short-term contracts are common, while institutional oversight of individual
artists isn’t always present. […] The suit is also renewing discussions among pop culture
observers online about the need for stars to be held responsible for bad behavior and the
disparities that continue to exist on that front. Like anyone fielding such allegations, Lizzo
should face the legal process and potential consequences for any harm she’s caused. But she’s
also likely to get more blowback for such a lawsuit than a white, male star — like Brad Pitt or
Johnny Depp, both of whom have fielded allegations of abuse (and denied them) — would due to
the sexism, racism, and fatphobia she has to deal with.”240
Following news of the lawsuit, several other individuals who worked with Lizzo in
the past shared personal accounts of negative experiences working with her.
In August 2023, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison, who left the production of
Lizzo's documentary “Love, Lizzo” in 2019, wrote on her Instagram page, “I usually do not
comment on anything pop culture related. But, in 2019, I traveled a bit with Lizzo to be the
director of her documentary. I walked away after about two weeks. I was treated with such
disrespect by her. I witnessed how arrogant and unkind she is. I was not protected and was
thrown into a shitty situation with little support. My spirit said to run as fast as you fucking can
and I’m so grateful I trusted my gut. I felt gaslit and was deeply hurt but I’ve healed. Reading
238 Davis, Williams, Rodriguez V Lizzo, et al, accessed August 3, 2023
239 Davis, Williams, Rodriguez V Lizzo, et al, accessed August 3, 2023
240 vox.com, August 3, 2023
66
these reports made me realize how dangerous of a situation it was. This kind of abuse of power
happens far too often. Much love and support to the dancers.”241
Allison also posted on Instagram, “To be clear. Since I've spoken out, I’ve had others privately
share their very similar experiences, and I have also been affirmed by people who witnessed
what I went through. Lizzo creates an extremely toxic and hostile working environment and
undermines the work, labor, and authority of other black and brown womxn in the process.
(Notice how the documentary ended up being directed by a cis white man.) She is a narcissistic
bully and has built her brand off of lies. I was excited to support and protect a Black woman
through the documentary process but quickly learned her image and ‘message’ was a curated
facade. I stand with the dancers and anyone who has had similar experiences working with her
and her team. These working conditions are not ok.”242
According to Newsweek, Charlene Sanchez, who was also a part of the attempted documentary
in 2019, “backed up filmmaker Allison's claim on Instagram. ‘This is all true. I had to vent to so
many of my friends about it. It was such a small crew and the experience of working with Lizzo
was a nightmare,’ Sanchez wrote.”243
Ron Zambrano, the attorney for the three dancers who sued Lizzo, “said his firm was reviewing
at least six further complaints against the singer from people who toured with her or worked on
her reality show Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.”244 According to Newsweek, another
“former dancer who worked with Lizzo, Courtney Hollinquest, spoke out on her Instagram
stories and confirmed that while she's not part of the lawsuit, she agrees with the things Lizzo is
accused of. ‘This was very much my experience in my time there. Big shoutout to the dancers
who had the courage to bring this to light,’ Hollinquest wrote.” Additionally, “Lizzo's former
creative director, Quinn Wilson, agreed with Hollinquest's statement. ‘I haven't been a part of
that world for three years, for a reason. I very much applaud the dancers' courage to bring this to
light. And I grieve parts of my own experience. I'd appreciate space to understand my feelings,’
she wrote.”245
In August 2023, Lizzo hired Marty Singer, who represented Bill Cosby and Chris
Brown, to defend herself in the lawsuit.
In August 2023, Vibe reported that Lizzo “hired ‘Hollywood Bulldog’ attorney Marty Singer to
help fight against her ongoing lawsuit. Singer has assisted multiple high -profile clients in
241 variety.com, August 2, 2023
242 variety.com, August 2, 2023
243 newsweek.com, August 2, 2023
244 theguardian.com, August 9, 2023
245 newsweek.com, August 2, 2023
67
fighting suits over the years, ranging from defamation to wrongful death, and more. The
acclaimed lawyer’s clientele includes Bill Cosby, Chris Brown, Tristan Thompson, Kim
Kardashian, Jim Carrey, Jonah Hill, and others.” Singer sent TMZ “an audition video showing
Davis gushing about her time spent with the Special artist on Watch Out For The Big Grrrls.
Davis praises Lizzo, giving a glowing review of her as an entertainer and person before ‘shooting
her shot.’” Singer said of the video, “These do not sound like the words of someone who was
harassed or discriminated against by someone they described as ‘THE QUEEN.’”246
In August 2023, Lizzo countersued her accusers “in an attempt to repair the
damage to her reputation.”
In August 2023, Essence reported that Lizzo was countersuing her former backup dancers “in an
attempt to repair the damage to her reputation. Marty Singer, Lizzo’s lawyer, alleges that the
plaintiffs exhibited hypocritical behavior, as evidenced by photos of the dancers ‘happily
cavorting backstage’ with performers from Crazy Horse’s topless cabaret show on March 5, 2023
in Paris – after they claimed Lizzo pressured them into attending the performance while on tour
in the lawsuit.” Trial attorney Brian G. Buckmire said, “The difficulty with winning a malicious
prosecution claim is 1) having a favorable outcome in the original case against Lizzo and 2)
showing there was no reasonable grounds for the original suit. […] The dancers have some
strong claims, like failure to remedy a sexual harassment and sexual harassment that created a
hostile work environment.” Buckmire added, “She has to not only prove the dancers were wrong
about these claims but that they knew it at the time. Not just that they have a differing opinion
of what happened.”247
Robert Kelly aka R. Kelly
Allegations & Criminal Charges
Executives at R. Kelly’s labels, including at Sony, ignored reports of sex abuse by
Kelly going back to the 1990s and as he was investigated for a sex tape with an
alleged minor in 2002.
In May 2018, the Washington Post reported, “For more than two decades, the recording
industry turned a blind eye to Kelly’s behavior as his career continued to thrive and he was
afforded every luxury of a chart-topping superstar. A Washington Post investigation found that
246 vibe.com, August 4, 2023
247 essence.com, August 29, 2023
68
this disregard for R. Kelly’s alleged behavior played out on many levels, from the billionaire
record executive who first signed the dynamic young vocalist in the early 1990s to the low -paid
assistants who arranged flights, food and bathroom breaks for his traveling entourage of young
women.” The Washington Post noted that the “chilling code of silence remains today.”248
In 1994, “Kelly’s tour manager Demetrius Smith recalls warning Clive Calder, the founder of
Jive Records, the first label to sign Kelly.” Smith told the Washington Post that he recalled
telling Calder, “I said, ‘Clive, you all need to tell him that you all aren’t going to put out his
records if he continues to have these incidents with these girls after the show.’ […] Because it
was going on at every show.” The Washington Post described a “culture of open secrets and
official avoidance [that] became entrenched around the time of Kelly’s relationship with Aaliyah
Haughton,” who was 15 when R. Kelly married her in 1994 without her parents’ permission.
Smith said he took Aaliyah “to get a fake ID stating that she was 18” so they could be married.
When the two appeared on BET’s “Video Soul” that summer before the marriage, co -host Leslie
Sugar remembered “Jive representatives telling BET it should not ask about their personal
relationship or Aaliyah’s age.”249
Aaliyah’s uncle, Barry Hankerson, was Kelly’s manager at the time. Later, in 1994, after her
parents had the marriage expunged, Hankerson and Aaliyah’s parents “came to Calder’s office.
There was no talk of reprimanding Kelly.” Calder recalled, “they basically tell me they want a
release from the contract,” as they believed “Aaliyah would never get the proper promotion if
she was on the same label as Kelly. Calder agreed to let her leave, but only after securing a
percentage of her future album sales on a new label. One thing Calder didn’t do: Press pause on
Kelly’s recording career.” Hankerson also told the Post in 2018 that “he was ‘legally’ prohibited
from discussing Kelly.”250
In 2002, as “police were investigating a sex tape that appeared to show the R&B superstar with a
14-year-old girl,” David McPherson, an executive at Epic Records, owned by Sony, willfully
ignored the sex tape. Rocky Bivens, an assistant to Kelly, recalled McPherson asking him if
reports of the tape were true, with Bivens asking McPherson if he watched the tape. Neither had.
Bivens said he told McPherson, “Because, Dave, if I watch the tape and that’s him, I’m gone and
you’re not getting those records. […] I’m glad you did not watch those tapes.”251 In 2002, Kelly
also faced child pornography charges in Florida that were dropped as the judge agreed with
Kelly’s defense that the images were illegally seized.252
248 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
249 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
250 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
251 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
252 bbc.com, February 24, 2023
69
Larry Khan, then a senior vice president for marketing at Jive, “said he had no problem working
with Kelly even after seeing a clip of the singer’s sex tape,” questioning “whether it’s a record
company’s duty to deal with a performer’s offstage behavior, referencing stars such as Jerry Lee
Lewis and Chuck Berry, who also consorted with young girls.” He said, “Should NBC have
stopped Mr. Cosby?”253 Khan went on to work for UMG’s Interscope Records until his
retirement in 2021.254
Despite over 20 years of alleged “sexually abusive behavior by Kelly toward young women” and
minors, “RCA — Kelly’s label home for the entirety of his solo career, both directly and as part of
its partnership with Jive Records (which merged with RCA in 2007) — has stood by the singer,
primarily, sources tell Variety, because he has never been convicted of a crime and has
steadfastly maintained his innocence.” Leslie Frank, an entertainment attorney and partner at
King, Homes, Paterno & Soriano, said “that some major-label contracts have provisions stating
that if [an artist is] ‘convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude, generally speaking it is
the label’s right to terminate the contract,’”255 something that didn’t happen to Kelly until
September 2021 when he was found guilty of sex trafficking, producing child sex abuse
materials, and witness intimidation, among other charges, in U.S. District Court in New York.
Kelly was subsequently found guilty of similar charges in U.S. District Court in Chicago in
September 2022.256
Nevertheless, Frank said, “Any record company — or, really, any party to any contract — can
decide they no longer want to be in the contract. […] The question is what can happen as a result
of them asserting their desire to terminate the term of the agreement. R. Kelly could sue for
damages. If R. Kelly does not want to terminate the agreement and instigates a dispute saying
that it’s a breach of contract by RCA, if RCA is concerned about the cost of litigation and how a
court might decide, they could try to come to a settlement with R. Kelly.”257
Parents and “former members of Kelly’s inner circle” said he held “women against
their will in an abusive ‘cult’” where he controlled “every aspect of their lives,” and
women who disobeyed him were punished with physical and verbal abuse.
In 2017, BuzzFeed News published a report titled “Parents Told Police Their Daughter Is Being
Held Against Her Will In R. Kelly’s “Cult” that centered on the experience of “J.” and “Tim,”
parents whose daughter met Kelly when she was 19 years old. The parents alleged “that R. Kelly
is keeping women against their will in an abusive ‘cult’ that's tearing families apart.” Speaking
253 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
254 hitsdailydouble.com, June 30, 2020; universalmusic.com, accessed August 1, 2023
255 variety.com, January 18, 2019; billboard.com, April 28, 2023
256 bbc.com, February 24, 2023
257 variety.com, January 18, 2019; billboard.com, April 28, 2023
70
about the last time she saw her daughter, J. said, “It was as if she was brainwashed. [She] looked
like a prisoner — it was horrible. […] I hugged her and hugged her. But she just kept saying she’s
in love and [Kelly] is the one who cares for her. I don’t know what to do. I hope that if I get her
back, I can get her treatment for victims of cults. They can reprogram her. But I wish I could
have stopped it from happening.”258
According to the BuzzFeed News, “Three former members of Kelly’s inner circle — Cheryl Mack,
Kitti Jones, and Asante McGee — provided details supporting the parents’ worst fears. They said
six women live in properties rented by Kelly in Chicago and the Atlanta suburbs, and he controls
every aspect of their lives: dictating what they eat, how they dress, when they bathe, when they
sleep, and how they engage in sexual encounters that he records.” The three said “that women
who live with Kelly, who he calls his ‘babies,’ are required to call him ‘Daddy’ and must ask his
permission to leave the Chicago recording studio or their assigned rooms in the ‘guest house’
Kelly rents near his own rented mansion in suburban Atlanta. […] Kelly confiscates the women’s
cell phones, they said, so they cannot contact their friends and family; he gives them new phones
that they are only allowed to use to contact him or others with his permission. Kelly films his
sexual activities, McGee and Jones said, and shows the videos to men in his circle.”259
Mack and Jones said that if women disobey Kelly or break these rules, “he punishes them
physically and verbally. For example, Jones claimed that Kelly held her against a tree and
slapped her outside of a Subway sandwich shop in spring 2013 because she had been too
friendly with the male cashier there. McGee said she never saw Kelly hit anybody, but also said
he was running a ‘cult’ and manipulated her emotionally and sexually.”260 When Kelly later
faced criminal charges for his sex crimes, prosecutors “said Kelly used force, physical restraint,
and threats to pressure three of his sexual partners to work for him.”261
Settlements & Retaliation Against Victims
R. Kelly and his labels were named in civil lawsuits, but Kelly and his team turned
to settlements, non-disclosure agreements, and professional retaliation to keep
victims silent.
By 2002, at least two women filed suit against Kelly and Jive, and another filed suit against
Kelly. Tiffany “Tia” Hawkins sued in 1996, “accusing Kelly of picking her up during a visit to his
258 buzzfeednews.com, July 17, 2017
259 buzzfeednews.com, July 17, 2017
260 buzzfeednews.com, July 17, 2017
261 businessinsider.com, September 27, 2021
71
old high school” and saying that “she first had sex with Kelly in 1991 when she was 15 and he was
24.” Kelly settled the suit with her for $250,000, and “Jive’s attorneys successfully argued that
the label and publishing company should not be found liable.” Suits filed by Montina Woods and
Patrice Jones in 2002 were settled out of court in exchange for non-disclosure agreements.
Barry Weiss, Jive’s chief executive from 1991 to 2011, denied knowledge of the suits and said
that “he never talked to Kelly about his behavior — it was none of his business.” He said, “I
wasn’t involved in his criminal cases. We were a record company, for God’s sakes.” According to
the Washington Post, “Kelly continued to settle with more women as allegations against him
mounted, but music industry luminaries remained silent.”262
Tracy Sampson recalled she “was a 16-year-old Epic Records intern when she says Kelly first
approached her in 1999.” Sampson recalled that Cathy Carroll, a regional promotions manager
at Epic and her boss, fired Sampson when she found out about their relat ionship. Sampson said,
“She told me I was a stupid b—- and I shouldn’t have talked to him.” Sampson’s lawsuit was
settled for $250,000 in 2002, and she was “silenced by a familiar, legal tool: A non-disclosure
agreement.” She “attempted a career managing other artists but gave up because she was told
her dispute with Kelly had poisoned her reputation.” Speaking to the Washington Post in 2018,
Carroll defended Kelly and said, “A lot of these women who claim stuff, they put themselves out
there like that, and then they want to turn around and sue people and sue men. […] A lot of
times it’s not really the men.” At the time of her statement, Carroll was a senior director “for the
Sony-owned gospel label RCA Inspirations.”263
The Washington Post further received emails showing Derrel McDavid, R. Kelly’s business
manager from early in his career in the 1990s to 2013, threatened legal action against at least
one victim. Jerhonda Pace, who met Kelly when she was 15 after he was found not guilty in his
2008 child pornography trial, agreed to a $1.5 million settlement in 2010. In 2012, McDavid
emailed Pace’s attorney, “Your client is either LYING or insane or both. […] [If Pace] utters one
word of this nonsense to anyone I will personally sue her and have her prosecuted.” When
pressed by the Washington Post in 2018 “if he ever tried to get help for Kelly, McDavid said he
was bound by a confidentiality agreement and didn’t want to go into detail.”264
According to the Washington Post, “Studio workers were given non-disclosure agreements to
sign and not allowed into the space while Kelly worked.” One worker who spoke to the Post on
condition of anonymity recalled an incident where “she found a cup filled with urine on the baby
grand piano” and damage to the studio’s wooden floor after a recording session with Kelly. She
262 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018; bbc.com, February 24, 2023
263 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
264 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
72
“said she contacted RCA about the damage.” The photos, shown below, were sent to RCA’s vice
president of administration.265
R. Kelly’s manager pleaded guilty for his role in harassing, intimidating, and
threatening a victim and her family who filed a civil suit against Kelly.
In July 2022, Donnell Russell, “a self-described manager, advisor and friend of Kelly,” pleaded
guilty in the U.S. District Court in Chicago for his role “in a scheme to harass, intimidate, and
cause substantial emotional distress to Jane Doe,” a victim and witness in Kelly’s criminal case
in Chicago. According to a Department of Justice press release, from 2018 to 2020, “Russell
threatened to reveal sexually explicit photographs of Jane Doe and to publicly reveal her sexual
history if she did not withdraw her lawsuit against Kelly and ‘cease her participation and
association with the organizers’ of a ‘negative campaign’ against Kelly.” Russell mailed and
texted nude photos to the victim, her mom, and her attorney. He also posted these photos of
Jane Doe on “a Facebook Page named ‘Surviving Lies,’ a play on the title of Lifetime’s ‘Surviving
R Kelly’ documentary,” and he showed the photos on a YouTube interview.266 Russell was
sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.267
265 washingtonpost.com, May 4, 2018
266 justice.gov, July 26, 2022
267 uatoday.com, December 20, 2022
73
Continued Profit for Sony & UMG
R. Kelly was dropped by divisions of Sony and UMG following public outcry
regarding his abuse, including the airing of “Surviving R. Kelly,” yet both
companies continue to profit from Kelly’s backlog.
In January 2019, following the airing of “Surviving R. Kelly,” Sony Music “decided to dissolve its
working relationship with R. Kelly.” According to Variety, “No external announcement of the
move is planned in the immediate future, says a source, who added that the company took its
time to wade through the issues ‘responsibly’ and avoid legal ramifications. R. Kelly was
removed from the RCA Records website.” However, “Kelly’s back catalog will remain with
RCA/Sony,” where it continued to generate streaming revenue for the company as of 2023.268
The decision by Sony came “after years of public calls, and even a petition from members of the
#MuteRKelly movement, for the company to part ways with Kelly.” According to Variety, ahead
of Sony’s decision, “a plane commissioned by the women’s organization UltraViolet and carrying
a sign reading ‘RCA/Sony: Drop Sexual Predator R. Kelly’ flew over Sony Music’s Los Angeles
offices and a protest was staged outside of Sony’s New York headquarters. But an insider notes
that efforts to extricate Sony from its contract with Kelly had been ongoing for several months
before and ‘[the plane] had no influence.’” Variety noted, “the outcry that has followed
‘Surviving R. Kelly’ grew so intense that it likely forced the label’s hand.”269
Along the same lines, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), a division of UMG, said in
January 2019 after airing of “Surviving R. Kelly” that it “no longer represents the singer,” with a
spokesperson claiming it was a decision dated “back to last spring.” UMPG “acquired Kelly’s
catalog in 2007 when its parent Universal Music Group took over Zomba, the company that
previously controlled the singer’s copyrights.” However, according to Rolling Stone, “to think
that UMPG has really ‘severed ties’ with the singer, as some reports have suggested over the
weekend, would again be incorrect. While UMPG may not publicly represent Kelly on its
songwriter roster, the company is still responsible for distributing his past work — which totals
some 681 songs.” Attorney Lisa Alter said, “Since UMPG continues to own R. Kelly’s catalog of
existing compositions, it will presumably continue to publish those compositions, profit from
the exploitation of the works and pay R. Kelly royalties pursuant to the underlying
agreement.”270
268 variety.com, January 18, 2019; billboard.com, April 28, 2023
269 variety.com, January 18, 2019
270 rollingstone.com, January 22, 2019; universalmusic.com, accessed August 1, 2023
74
Rolling Stone further noted, “Regardless of either major music company’s recent PR move, R.
Kelly is likely making exactly as much money as he was before — if not a lot more.” Unlike the
previous era when music was purchased in physical or digital form and profit was tied to “the
continued production of songs,” with streaming, “it’s every single listen — no purchase required
— that counts toward profit.” When “Surviving R. Kelly” first aired, Nielsen found streams of
Kelly’s back catalog increased 116 percent, an estimated increase of $20,000 in profit in a single
day based on Rolling Stone’s estimates. His streams also increased around the time of his 2021
conviction. In 2018, Spotify “tried to introduce a hateful content policy,” removing content like
R. Kelly from playlists, “which was quickly repealed.” According to Rolling Stone, Spotify’s
original decision “has proven the only one — of all other music companies — to be of substance
rather than posturing.”271
In June 2023, as Kelly was serving his 31-year prison sentence on federal charges, the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York filed motions asking the judge to garnish
funds held by Sony and UMPG in Kelly’s royalties accounts. The funds would be used to pay
over $500,000 that Kelly owed in penalties and to two abuse victims who were awarded
compensation.272 As of June 2022, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes said Sony had
“upward of $4.5 million worth” of royalties that it withheld paying Kelly “as the company deals
with judgments related to civil legal proceedings against him,” which totaled $7 million at the
time.273
In August 2023, Variety reported, “R. Kelly and Universal Music Group will have to pay over
$500,000 in music royalties to Brooklyn federal prosecutors to help pay for his victim’s
restitution and criminal fines.” While UMG and Sony Music Entertainment were initially on the
hook for the amount, the August 2023 ruling stated that “Sony Music will no longer have to offer
payments for this particular bill since R. Kelly’s royalties with Universal will cover it.”274
Anthony Kiedis
Allegations & Criminal Conviction
Anthony Kiedis was convicted on charges of indecent exposure and sexual battery
in 1989, after a well-publicized incident at a concert in Northern Virginia.
271 rollingstone.com, January 22, 2019; qz.com, October 12, 2021
272 wgntv.com, June 1, 2023; billboard.com, June 1, 2023
273 oxygen.com, June 30, 2022
274 variety.com, August 24, 2023
75
In 1989, “during the band’s Mother’s Milk tour, Kiedis was convicted of sexual battery after a
show at George Mason University.” Kiedis reportedly “exposed himself and touched his crotch to
a woman’s face against her wishes.” According to contemporaneous reporting by the
Washington Post, “Kiedis was convicted of sexual battery and indecent exposure” and was
“fined $1,000 on each misdemeanor charge.” Kiedis said that the incident at GMU was “blown
way out of proportion by both the media and the prosecution. It was a playful thing that
happened backstage.”275
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the incident “involved touching a woman's face with his
penis after a concert at George Mason University. The incident occurred outside the band's
dressing room, where Kiedis presumably locks up his clothes while performing.” According to
United Press International, the incident occurred on April 21, 1989, and “Kiedis denied ever
touching the woman but others said they saw the incident and a band member admitted he
made an encouraging statement.”276
In 1994, Kiedis’s criminal conviction caused the federal government to pull a
public service ad featuring Kiedis to promote condom use.
In 1994, Kiedis was featured in a “a risque T-V commercial” that was part of the CDC’s
“campaign promoting condoms to prevent the spread of H-I-V.” Reportedly, “officials withdrew
the spot after learning that Anthony Kiedis had been convicted of sexual battery and indecent
exposure after a backstage incident at a 1989 concert in Fairfax, Virginia.” The Gazette of
Montreal reported that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were allegedly denied an appearance on
Sesame Street when “Sesame executives decided the band ‘would not be appropriate’ for the
show. No further explanation was given.” According to Business Wire’s reporting on the
cancellation of the CDC spots, “the advertising agency had not conducted a thorough
background check on the celebrity since this was only a public service announcement, rather
than a large endorsement deal.”277
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the ads were created by “Ogilvy & Mather in Atlanta
[who] agreed to create public service spots on AIDS prevention for the federal government” and
“wanted to feature someone who could appeal to young, sexually active audiences.” The Plain
Dealer also reported that for his participation in the ad, Kiedis was “paid only union scale of
about $500.”278
275 faroutmagazine.co.uk, November 5, 2021; washingtonpost.com, May 13, 1990
276 Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 12, 1994; United Press International, April 3, 1990
277 Broadcast News, January 7, 2003; Canadian Press, December 25, 1994; Montreal Gazette, September 10, 1994; Business Wire,
June 30, 1994
278 Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 25, 1994
76
In 2016, a former executive at Epic Records detailed a case of sexual harassment
that she said she experienced at the hands of two members of the Red Hot Chili
Peppers in the early 1990s.
In 2016, “former Epic Records executive Julie Farman detailed how two of the Chili Peppers
harassed her in the company’s storage room in 1990” in a blog post on her website “Live From
The Grayish Carpet.” Farman said that she met with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the early
1990s when Epic Records was vying to sign the band. After the meeting, Farman recalled, “I
took two of the Chili Peppers to the storage room where we kept the box sets and CDs. As we
looked in the cabinet, they pressed up against me and told me about all of the ways we could
make a super sexy sandwich. At first I thought they were joking. When I realized they weren’t, I
ran from the storage room to my office, where I closed my door, sat down at my desk, and
cried.” Farman wrote that shortly after the incident, “the Chili Peppers’ then-manager knocked
on my door a few minutes later” and “offered an apology that sounded memorized; it was one
he’d obviously offered many times before.” Farman did not specify exactly which two members
of the band harassed her.279
Kiedis’s 2004 autobiography detailed his relationship with a 14-year-old when
Kiedis was in his early 20s. When questioned on the topic in a 2022 interview with
The Guardian, Kiedis ended the interview.
In 2004, Kiedis released an autobiography titled “Scar Tissue.” In a 2022 column for NJ.com,
Bobby Olivier quoted excerpts from the book where Kiedis admitted to sexual misconduct.
Olivier paraphrased Kiedis’s book and wrote, “In the book, Kiedis admits to having sex with a
14-year-old fan in Louisiana, even after he knew she was underage.” Olivier wrote further that
Kiedis said “the girl told Kiedis, who would've been in his early 20s, that she was only 14, her
father was chief of police in her hometown and ‘the entire state of Louisiana is looking for me.’”
Kiedis wrote in his book, “I wasn't incredibly scared, because, in my somewhat deluded mind, I
knew that if she told the chief of police she was in love with me, he wasn't going to have me
taken out to a field and shot, but I did want to get her the hell back home right away. So we had
sex one more time.”280
In a 2022 article for The Guardian, Kiedis was interviewed by Kate Hutchinson about his
autobiography and asked about the passages referring to his relationship with a minor after
which he ended the interview. Hutchison reported, “I was thinking more specifically about the
Catholic School Girls Rule passage, but before I’ve got a chance to ask whether he has reflected
279 thegrayishcarpet.com, April 20, 2016
280 nj.com, August 18, 2022; Kansas City Star, May 11, 2006
77
on what he wrote, Kiedis shoots back: ‘I don’t know what you’re searching for with that one. But
it doesn’t seem like any good can come out of discussing that.’ Then the line goes dead.”281
Despite self-reporting his own encounters with a minor, Kiedis claimed in 2016 that he “doesn't
want to have sex with ‘groupies’” and that “he doesn't enjoy getting intimate with his fans, and
has specifically told security to not let any of his supporters into the hotel he is staying in.”282
Kiedis and the Red Hot Chili Peppers promoted a general culture of “drug and sex-
fuelled [sic] degradation,” with Kiedis writing one song about having sex with the
underage fan.
Olivier noted that Kiedis and the Red Hot Chili Peppers discussed an incident involving Kiedis
and a 14-year-old girl in song lyrics. Olivier noted that “Kiedis admits to having sex with a 14 -
year-old fan in Louisiana, even after he knew she was underage” and that “Kiedis later wrote a
song called ‘Catholic School Girls Rule’ about the experience, which was, by definition, statutory
rape.” Olivier wrote, “Kiedis was never criminally charged for this instance,” adding that he was
convicted of the charges in Virginia.283 Far Out Magazine further reported, “As late as 2006,
Kiedis was still writing songs like ‘She’s Only 18’ with lines such as ‘she took the shortcut to
being fully grown’. […] Having a sordid history is nothing new in rock and roll, but being serial
offenders, and then proceeding to write songs about it is on a whole other level.”284
Kiedis’s “Scar Tissue” covered his other relationships, stating that “as well as the regular sex
sessions with unknown strangers, Kiedis also reveals the famous women he has dated, including
Sinead O'Connor who he had a fling with in 1989, actress Ione Skye and stunning German
supermodel Heidi Klum.”285 In Bobby Olivier’s 2022 column for NJ.com discussing the admitted
misconduct of Kiedis contained within his autobiography, Olivier noted that Kiedis “also began a
romantic relationship with actress Ione Skye when he was 24 and she was 16, below the legal age
of consent in California. Skye confirmed the details in a TikTok video last year.”286
In 2006, the British newspaper The Independent characterized the reputation of the Red Hot
Chili Peppers and Anthony Kiedis as having “led a life of drug and sex-fuelled [sic] degradation
in the underbelly of their native Los Angeles, leading to the early death of original guitarist Hillel
Slovak.”287 In 2004, the Ottawa Citizen reviewed “Scar Tissue” and reported that Kiedis stated
281 theguardian.com, April 1, 2022
282 Bang Music, November 22, 2016
283 nj.com, August 18, 2022
284 faroutmagazine.co.uk, November 5, 2021
285 Daily Star, November 7, 2004
286 nj.com, August 18, 2022
287 The Independent, July 1, 2006
78
regarding his adolescent years, “I wouldn't have traded my lifestyle for anything.” The review
stated that “The underage Kiedis and his father became fixtures at the seamy clubs on Sunset
Strip, knocking back booze and barbiturates. Whenever the boy's energy flagged, dad was there
with a line or two of coke to perk him up. All this happens in the first 100 pages or so.”288
Record Label Involvement/Knowledge
A former Epic Records executive wrote that those in the music industry were well
aware of how the Red Hot Chili Peppers treated women, but nobody “in the music
industry really gave a shit.”
In 2016, former Epic Records executive Julie Farman described the attitude toward the
allegations against Kiedis and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the early 1990s. Farman wrote on
her blog, “I heard stories about the Chili Peppers and the way they treated women long before
Anthony was [convicted] of sexual battery and indecent exposure in 1989 and Chad and Flea
were arrested for lascivious behavior, battery and disorderly conduct in 1990. No one in the
music industry really gave a shit — as their legal issues made headlines, they left EMI, and every
label wanted to sign them. Including Epic. I was horrified.”289
In May 2021, Billboard reported that the Red Hot Chili Peppers sold its “song catalog in a deal
ranging from $140 million to $150 million, according to sources.” The catalog was purchased by
Hipgnosis, an investment trust. According to Billboard, “The Red Hot Chili Peppers song
catalog generates $5 million to $6 million in net publishers’ share (usually known as gross profit
— although in this case its likely to include all revenue from the catalog), sources say, and it
traded at a about a 25 times multiple, which calculates to about $125 million to $150 million
total.”290
Thomas “Tommy” Lee
Allegations
An unnamed Jane Doe filed suit against Tommy Lee, accusing him and his pilot of
sexually assaulting her in the cockpit of his helicopter in a 2003 incident.
288 Ottawa Citizen, November 27, 2004
289 thegrayishcarpet.com, April 20, 2016
290 billboard.com, May 3, 2021
79
According to Rolling Stone, a complaint was filed by an unnamed Jane Doe plaintiff in Los
Angeles in December 2023 “claims Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee sexually assaulted a
woman in the cockpit of a helicopter after she was ‘lured’ onto the chopper by the musician’s
private pilot.” The plaintiff met and became friendly with Lee’s pilot, David Martz, in early 2002.
The lawsuit detailed that “Martz invited the woman to ride in his helicopter, but she was
hesitant at first because she had never ridden in one before.” Upon finally agreeing to a
sightseeing trip around San Deigo County, “she was told there was a last-minute change of plans
and she and Martz would be flying Lee up to Los Angeles instead.”291
During this trip, “‘Martz pulled out alcohol he had stored in the helicopter and began to mix
drinks,’ the complaint alleges. The woman says Martz handed her a drink that she did not
consume. She claims Martz and Lee drank, smoked marijuana, and snorted cocaine during the
flight.” Further, the suit claimed that “at one point [during the flight], Lee penetrated the
plaintiff with his fingers while fondling her breasts. Lee then pulled down his pants and
attempted to force plaintiff’s head toward his genitals. […] She was trapped wi th little mobility
to leave the cockpit.” The plaintiff “says the alleged attack caused her ‘great shock, distress,
humiliation, shame and guilt,’ and that she didn’t report it because she believed it was an
isolated event and that police wouldn’t take her seriously. She now believes Martz and Lee ‘had a
history of engaging in indecent and illegal conduct on Martz’s helicopter.’”292
Rolling Stone reported that the lawsuit “accuses Lee of ‘forcibly groping, kissing, and
penetrating her with his fingers, and attempting to force her to perform oral copulation’ during
the 40-minute trip from San Diego County to Van Nuys, California, in February 2003.” The
charges included “sexual assault, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress
and negligence.” In addition to Lee, the complaint named “Mayhem Touring, Tommy Lee Inc., A
Natural High Helicopters and Social Helicopters as defendants.” Jane Doe “is seeking past,
present, and future damages, including but not limited to medical expenses, loss of e arnings,
and loss of earnings capacity.”293
291 rollingstone.com, December 16, 2023
292 rollingstone.com, December 16, 2023
293 rollingstone.com, December 16, 2023
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Jerry Lee Lewis
Relationships With Minors
Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old second cousin in 1957. The revelation
caused Lewis to be blacklisted by the music industry when press reported she was
his second cousin, and that Lewis was still married to his previous wife.
In 1957, singer Jerry Lee Lewis, then 22, married his cousin Myra Gale Brown who “was just 13
years old,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Lewis was known for hits such as “Whole Lotta
Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire,” and he “eloped with Myra Gale Brown in December
1957, the result of a romance that developed when he moved into the Memphis home of Myra’s
father, JW Brown, who was Lewis’ cousin and bass player.” A picture of Lewis and Brown taken
in London in 1958 is below.294
Lewis “weathered professional exile in 1958 after a reporter covering his arrival in London
inquired about the young girl in his entourage who ultimately introduced herself as ‘Jerry’s
wife.’” Further, “the press came down hard on him when it was revealed that she was also his
294 latimes.com, October 29, 2022
81
second cousin and that Lewis was still married to his second wife, Jane Mitchum, when they
wed.”295
The revelation that Lewis married his 13-year-old second cousin “resulted in the abrupt
cancellation of Lewis’ tour; he was blacklisted by radio and his earnings dropped overnight.
(Couples married young in his Louisiana hometown of Ferriday, and he wed for the first time
when he was 16 and had seven wives over the course of his life.) He continued to record music
and perform in theater during that time and mounted a comeback about a decade later.”296
Lewis was “bewildered about what he’d done wrong – though the fact that Myra had originally
been said to be 15 rather than 13 suggests someone, somewhere thought there was a problem. ‘I
plumb married the girl, didn't I?’ Lewis had said to one reporter.”297
Today, Lewis’s recordings are distributed by Universal Music Group’s Virgin
Records.
In the 1950s, Sun Records “became one of the most dynamic forces in American music, releasing
the first recordings” of artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis. In January 2021, according to the New
York Times, “Primary Wave Music, an independent music company in New York, has acquired
the label’s assets, including its recordings, logo and brand, from Sun Entertainment
Corporation, the family-run company that bought it from Sam Phillips, Sun’s founder, in
1969.”298 Subsequently in June 2021, according to Music Week, “Primary Wave Music has
entered into a worldwide distribution agreement” with Universal Music Group’s Virgin Music
Label & Artist Services.299
Prince Rogers Nelson aka Prince
Allegations
Prince met his future wife, Mayte Garcia, when she was 16 years old, and a year
later, became her legal guardian. Though Garcia said the two didn’t have sexual
295 latimes.com, October 28, 2022
296 latimes.com, October 28, 2022
297 ultimateclassicrock.com, October 28, 2022
298 nytimes.com, January 28, 2021
299 musicweek.com, June 14, 2021
82
relations until she was 19, Prince allegedly “never denied that the occasional
impure thought crossed his mind.”
Mayte Garcia, the ex-wife of singer Prince, “was just 16 and living in Germany when her mother
submitted a video of the the [sic] teenager belly dancing to Prince, which allowed her to spend
some time backstage at one of his shows.” When she met Prince, who was 32 at the time, he
“told Garcia: ‘I like your tape. Are you really sixteen?’ After confirming that she was, Prince told
the teenager: ‘Well, I’d like to talk to you more. Can I get your number?’” Prince began “calling
her every night and writing to her, saying in one note: ‘U’re so pretty. It cheers me up if someone
tries to ruin my day. Many do ... Thank u 4 coming into my world.’”300
According to Garcia, Prince “never denied that the occasional impure thought crossed his mind.”
However, Garcia said that they “‘did not have a sexual relationship’ at that time.” She “was just
16 years old when she met late music icon Prince but she says it took years before her ex-
husband pursued her romantically,” according to People.301
A year after the two met, “Garcia was living with Prince at his Paisley Park compound in
Minnesota, where he became her legal guardian with the approval of her parents.” Prince’s
guardianship of Garica allowed her “to dance professionally, and she quickly became the focus of
Prince's 1992 Diamonds and Pearls Tour. That same year she also inspires Prince's latest album,
whose title was an unpronounceable symbol that later became known as Love Symbol. And in
1995, Prince penned his hit song ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World’ for Garcia.”302
Prince had a relationship with model and singer Anna Fantastic, who he met when
she was 15 years old. Their relationship lasted several years.
Prince met model and singer Anna Fantastic, whom he had a relationship with “for several years
in the late ’80s and inspired several of his songs,” when she was 15 years old. Fantastic wrote in
an April 2017 Facebook post that she “happened to walk by the stadium where I ended up
having a chat with some of the guys unloading the tour truck. One of the men working told me
Prince was performing that night. […] The man asked me if I wanted to attend the concert and I
said sure can I bring my mom? I walked home and told my mom we were invited to the Prince
concert. My mom ended up not feeling well that evening so she dropped me off and was going to
pick me up after. And that is the first time I met Prince, after the concert back stage [sic].”303
300 dailymail.co.uk, March 15, 2017
301 dailymail.co.uk, March 15, 2017; yahoo.com, March 17, 2017
302 dailymail.co.uk, March 15, 2017
303 usmagazine.com, May 25, 2016; facebook.com, April 21, 2017
83
Discussing how her parents felt about her relationship with prince, Fantastic said, “I was born
and raised in England and Europe so for starters it's very different than over here in America.
My mom was a runaway and had me at 16 years old. So I guess she didn't see me as a child at 16
because she herself had to grow up very fast after having me at such a young age. And
considering other options as a pregnant teen I have immense respect and love for my mother for
going through that and raising me mainly by herself. I never knew my real father. Later on my
mother got married and I had a stepfather. I also had my own record deal in Germany at 15 and
was already working and touring throughout Europe on my own. I have to share this back story
to make it clear what the situation was in my life at that time. Yes I was very young now I look
back at it all, but at the same time I had lived quite a life already at that young age... so it was
different. My mom couldn't have told me what to do or not to do at that time... Also 16 is legal in
England and I actually wasn't in a real relationship with Prince until I was 17.”304
Tremaine Neverson aka Trey Songz
Allegations
Songz was accused of raping a woman at his home in 2016. The lawsuit accused
WMG’s Atlantic Records of ignoring the mounting allegations against Songz while
still continuing to work with him.
In a February 2022 lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County court, singer Trey Songz, legal name
Tremaine Neverson, “was accused of anally raping a woman at a house party in California in
2016.” The woman, who was identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, “said she had a consensual
relationship with Songz and went to one of the singer's house parties on March 24, 2016,
according to the lawsuit. The suit alleges that at the party, Songz, whose real name is Tremaine
Aldon Neverson, invited her upstairs and repeatedly asked her whether he could have anal sex
with her — to which the woman claims she repeatedly told him no and to stop asking.”305
The suit claimed that after they entered the bedroom, “Trey Songz turned, almost immediately,
into a savage rapist.” Songz threw “Jane Doe to the ground, ripped Plaintiff Jane Doe’s pants off,
pinned Plaintiff Jane Doe down face first and forced Defendant Trey Songz’[s] penis into
Plaintiff’s anus without Plaintiff Jane Doe’s consent.” According to the suit, “Plaintiff Jane Doe
screamed in pain and begged Defendant Trey Songz to stop.” Following the incident, “the
woman called for an Uber ride and went to the Providence Joseph Medical Center Emergency
304 facebook.com, April 21, 2017
305 nbcnews.com, February 16, 2022
84
Care Unit in Burbank, where she received a sexual assault exam.” Her suit claimed that
“examiners found that she had suffered ‘severe anal tearing that could require surgery.’”306
In a statement to Rolling Stone, George Vrabeck, a lawyer representing Jane Doe, called out
Warner Music Group’s “Atlantic Records, which signed Neverson in the early 2000s, as well as
Neverson’s manager Liles and 300, the label he co-founded, for effectively turning a blind eye to
the growing number of accusations against the singer throughout the years.” Vrabeck stated,
“This case is much more than about one singer and one viciously abused sexual assault survivor
who has the courage to take action.” He added, “It’s also very much about the systematic sexual
abuse in the music industry and the music industry’s complicity in silencing sexual abuse
survivors. It’s virtually impossible to believe that those executives are not and were not aware of
the institutionalized sexual abuse.”307
Songz was accused of assaulting a woman at a Miami nightclub. He subsequently
had her forcibly removed from his vehicle and left on the street, while he
reportedly threatened and ridiculed her.
In December 2021, Songz was “accused of assaulting a woman at a Miami nightclub on New
Year’s Day in 2018.” In a civil suit filed by Jauhara Jeffries in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of
Florida, she alleged that “she met Songz after she attended a New Year’s Eve party at Diddy’s
home on Star Island. It says Jeffries partied for about two hours and then called for a ride-
sharing service to take her and some friends to E11EVEN nightclub in Miami.” After hearing
their conversation, Songz “invited them to ride with him to the club.”308
The suit alleged “that Songz invited Jeffries and her friends to join him at a private table at the
club. It alleges that while Jeffries was dancing on a couch, Songz sexually violated her with his
fingers. It accuses him of pulling his hand away when Jeffries turned around, the suit says.”
Jeffries “immediately got off of the couch, sat down, and was in a state of shock.”309
Subsequently, “Songz, Jeffries and her friends left the club and got back into his vehicle,
according to the lawsuit, which claims that Songz took his shirt off during the ride and that
‘fearing more assault, plaintiff began recording defendant Songz for her own safety.’” Songz
allegedly “tried to grab the phone from Jeffries and that when she would not turn it over, he
‘instructed his driver to stop the vehicle in order to forcibly remove plaintiff from the vehicle.’”
The driver then grabbed Jeffries “and violently pulled her out of the vehicle, while defendant
306 nbcnews.com, February 16, 2022
307 nbcnews.com, February 16, 2022
308 nbcnews.com, December 16, 2021
309 nbcnews.com, December 16, 2021
85
Songz pushed her, and threw her onto the street.” While “Jeffries was being forced out of the
vehicle, Songz ‘threatened and ridiculed’ her and threw water in her face.”310
Songz was sued by two women who alleged they were drugged and sexually
assaulted while unconscious at a house party in 2015.
In a lawsuit filed in October 2023, Trey Songz was accused of “sexual assault and battery for an
alleged 2015 incident at his Los Angeles-area estate.”311 The complaint alleged that “Jane Doe A
and Jane Doe B came to his Bell Canyon, California residence on August 2, 2015, expecting a
celebration. Instead, they were subjected to acts so heinous, so contrary to basic human decency,
that they defy comprehension.”312
The two women involved “say they first met Trey in June 2015 when they went to his concert
and got invited to an after-party he was hosting.” The women claimed that “subsequent
interactions led them to be invited to his home in August for his birthday party.” At this event,
the women “were forced to give a password and turn over the phone to gain admittance. Inside,
they say it was mostly women and only a handful of men, and the ladies were pressured to drink
alcohol from unsealed bottles.”313 The suit also noted that “he [Songz] and his ‘male associates
did not drink alcohol.’”314 Both women alleged “they suddenly felt overwhelmingly intoxicated,
despite drinking what they felt was a modest amount…and believe they were drugged.”315
Songz then allegedly “led them to an upstairs bedroom where they passed out with their clothes
on. The next morning, the women say they woke up naked…with a naked Trey forcing himself
on them. One woman claims Trey was giving her nonconsensual oral sex. She says she tried to
resist but he overpowered her. The other women claims she woke up to Trey biting her nipple
and forcing his fingers inside her vagina.”316
After the alleged assault, “the women say Trey demanded they take a shower with him […] but
say they refused and he became enraged, yelling at them… ‘You are little fucking girls, get the
fuck out of my house.’” The women said that “Trey refused to turn over their phones,” but a
“security guard intervened, [and] gave them their phones from a safe.”317
310 nbcnews.com, December 16, 2021
311 tmz.com, October 18, 2023
312 people.com, October 21, 2023
313 tmz.com, October 18, 2023
314 people.com, October 21, 2023
315 tmz.com, October 18, 2023
316 tmz.com, October 18, 2023
317 tmz.com, October 18, 2023
86
Songz’s attorney, Michael Freedmen, called the complaint “yet another example of nearly
decade-old allegations being repurposed to take advantage of California’s constitutionally
questionable new look-back window.” Further, he stated they “look forward to vindicating Trey
on the merits in court.”318
Songz was sued for $10 million after groping and exposing a woman’s breast at a
pool party in 2013.
In June 2023, an anonymous Jane Doe filed “a $10 million sexual battery and assault lawsuit”
against Songz for “grabbing and exposing her breast while at a pool party” in August 2013 at
Foxwood’s Resort Casino in Connecticut. Songz was “hosting an event where the woman [Jane
Doe] claims she thought it would be fun to get a picture with the singer.” In a video recorded by
a friend, Songz was seen “standing next to the woman when he grabbed her bathing suit top,
pulled it open and exposed her chest. ‘In what appeared to be an attempt to further terrify and
humiliate [the woman], [Songz] followed the assault with a degrading chant, ‘Titty in The Open
… Titty in The Open,’’ the court documents allege.”319
Jane Doe worked as a business analyst and local liquor distributor and “had attended the
Bacardi, Grey Goose tent [at the event] with friends and work colleagues.” According to the
lawsuit, she “felt ‘ashamed, embarrassed and anxious’ over if her co -workers had seen her
exposed breast. A few months after the encounter, the woman says she left her job.” Previously,
Jane Doe “issued a demand for a $5 million settlement to keep the matter out of court in April
2022.” The lawsuit filed in June 2023 demanded $10 million dollars and also named music
executive Kevin Liles and Atlantic Records “for allegedly enabling Songz’s actions and failing to
act despite having knowledge of it (and other reported) actions against women.” In response,
Songz’s filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the lawsuit was filed past the statute of
limitations, and in November 2023, a federal judge granted Songz’s motion to dismiss for
missing the 10-year-deadline to file a claim.320
318 people.com, October 21, 2023
319 hiphopdx.com, September 7, 2023; rollingstone.com, June 2, 2023
320 theroot.com, September 8, 2023; rollingstone.com, June 2, 2023; radaronline.com, November 22, 2023
87
Ted Nugent
Allegations
In the late 1970s, Ted Nugent allegedly had a relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
He became her legal guardian to avoid legal prosecution.
According to Far Out Magazine, “During the late 1970s, Nugent entered a relationship with the
17-year-old girl, Pele Massa. Although he claimed [on] VH1’s Behind the Music that Massa’s
parents approved of the relationship and preferred him to an alcoholic or a drug addict, the
point remains the same, per American law, she was a minor.” Nugent said “her parents had
consented to the arrangement, which gave Nugent legal rights over a girl considered underage in
several US states. ‘I guess they figured better Ted Nugent than some drug-infested punk in high
school,’ he said.”321
However, “Nugent has always denied the stories. During a live stream posted to his YouTube
channel in July 2021, the allegations were mentioned by a user, to which he scoffed at in
dismissive nature. He swiftly set about setting the record straight in his trademark fashion by
blasting his political enemies.”322
Singer Courtney Love alleged that she performed oral sex on Nugent when she was
12 to 14 years old. Nugent would have been around 29 years old.
Singer Courtney Love claimed during a 2004 appearance on the Howard Stern show that she
“performed oral sex on Nugent when she was 12 and a half. When pressed, an
uncharacteristically somber Love elaborated, ‘I didn't have breasts yet... it's sick.’ This would
have been around the time of Nugent's 29th birthday,” according to HuffPost.323
Love said her encounter was “one of the first times she had oral sex was with Ted Nugent.
Sounding scarred by the event, Love initially maintained that she couldn’t remember how old
she was at the time, before confessing that she was 12 and a half years old when she performed
oral sex on Nugent backstage at a show.” In a 2013 appearance on the Howard Stern Show, Love
“corrected herself. She said that she was actually 14 when it allegedly happened, claiming that
321 faroutmagazine.co.uk, March 16, 2022; faroutmagazine.co.uk, March 3, 2023
322 faroutmagazine.co.uk, March 16, 2022
323 huffpost.com, November 6, 2016; faroutmagazine.co.uk, March 16, 2022
88
there was a line of young girls waiting to engage in sexual acts with Nugent. The Hole singer
recalled that she was wearing a yellow tube top and ‘shouldn’t have been there.’”324
In 1981, Nugent recorded a track titled “Jailbait,” which discussed having sex with
a 13-year-old. The song was released by Sony’s Epic Records.
In 1981, when Nugent was 32 years old, he released his “Intensities in 10 Cities” album, which
featured a track titled “Jailbait.” The album was released through Epic Records, owned by Sony
Music Entertainment. “Jailbait” featured lyrics about “having sex with a 13-year-old child. Also,
the character offers that girl to the police officer who is arresting him to get rid of the jail.” The
following are select lyrics from the song.325
Well I don't care if you're just thirteen
You look too good to be true
I just know that you're probably clean
There's one lil' thing I got do to you
Jailbait you look so good to me
Jailbait won't you set me free
Jailbait you look fine fine fine
I know I've got to have you in a matter of time
Far Out Magazine noted that at the time when “Jailbait” was released, Nugent was “already
regarded as one of the most unsavoury characters in rock, a reputation he exploited to ensure
his presence in the music press. His Intensities in 10 Cities album was deliberately
manufactured to generate maximum outrage and publicity. It will be no surprise to hear that the
track immediately after ‘Jailbait [sic] is titled ‘Predator.’”326
Paul Oakenfold
Allegations
DJ and composer Paul Oakenfold allegedly sexually harassed a former personal
assistant.
324 faroutmagazine.co.uk, March 16, 2022
325 rockcelebrities.net, April 15, 2022
326 faroutmagainze.co.uk, March 3, 2023
89
In June 2023, Deadline reported, “A-lister DJ and Swordfish soundtrack composer Paul
Oakenfold has been accused of sexual harassment and workplace violations by a former
personal assistant.” In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, a 24-year-old woman
identified as Jane Roe alleged “that two companies run by CEO Paul Stepanek — New Frequency
Management and Stepanek Management– Oakenfold, and various John Does violated her
employment rights.”327
According to Jane Roe, “for a total of four separate dates, Oakenfold allegedly exposed himself
and masturbated in front of her. On one date in November 2022, the DJ allegedly did so four
times in a single day. He also allegedly once performed the act in her vehicle.” At the time, “Roe
worked out of the home of the Grammy-nominated DJ who has remixed such artists as U2,
Madonna, Britney Spears and the Rolling Stones.”328
Silencing & Retaliation Against Victims
Oakenfold’s personal assistant was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement
after reporting the sexual misconduct to her employer. Months later, she was
fired.
After Jane Roe reported Oakenfold’s misconduct in November 2021, according to her complaint,
Stepanek gave her “a non-disclosure agreement (‘NDA’) that he wanted her to sign, telling her
that it was needed to protect the artists she was working with, which up until that point, had
mainly been Oakenfold – the very person that [Jane Roe] had just reported as masturbating in
front of her and sexually harassing her at work.” In an email sent to Jane Roe in December 2021,
Stepanek wrote the following.329
Following up on this. If you have any questions about the NDA, please let me know. I
would love to get you back to work, but really do need to be able to safeguard our
clients’ sensitive information and have a signed non-disclosure agreement for you. As
we discussed, nothing in the agreement would impact your ability to report or discuss
sexual harassment (this is specifically mentioned in paragraph 8). If you have any
other concerns about the agreement, please let me know. I’d like to hear from you by
Tuesday January 3rd after the new year when we are back from holiday break
regarding this.330
327 deadline.com, June 3, 2023
328 deadline.com, June 3, 2023
329 Los Angeles Superior Court, CRD No. 202306-20847601, filed June 1, 2023
330 Los Angeles Superior Court, CRD No. 202306-20847601, filed June 1, 2023
90
Jane Roe, according to the lawsuit, “eventually signed [the NDA] ‘under duress’. When she
returned to work for the management company, she did not work again with Oakenfold.”
Additionally, after Jane Roe signed the NDA, “her hours were dramatically reduced.” Eventually,
in March 2023, she was fired, with Stepanek “claiming that she was being let go for lack of
work.” She was subsequently “replaced by someone else hired by Oakenfold to fulfill [her]
duties.” Jane Roe’s complaint alleged Stepanek terminated her “not for any legitimate reason,
but in retaliation for [her] complaints about” Oakenfold’s misconduct.331
Oakenfold’s management openly talked about how they had protection from
lawsuits over Oakenfold’s behavior.
Before Jane Roe reported Oakenfold’s sexual harassment, “Stepanek bragged about his
insurance policies to protect him from being sued over Oakenfold or being found ‘guilty of
association.’” Jane Roe’s complaint alleged that before her, there were “several other assistants
assigned to Oakenfold, and there was high turnover, likely from rampant sexual harassment.”332
The Guardian reported in June 2023, “Oakenfold responded to the allegations with a statement
on social media. ‘I categorically deny any and all claims of improper conduct,’ he wrote.
‘Respect, integrity, and consent are values I hold dear, and I have always treated everyone with
utmost professionalism. It is disheartening to see these baseless accusations, which appear to be
nothing more than a calculated attempt to tarnish my reputation and extort money.’”333
Dieuson Octave aka Kodak Black
Allegations & Criminal Conviction
In 2016, Kodak Black was accused of sexually assaulting a high schooler in South
Carolina earlier that year.
In August 2016, rapper Dieuson Octave, known as Kodak Black, was “accused of sexual battery
stemming from an alleged incident at a South Carolina hotel.” At the time, Kodak Black was
already imprisoned on charges “that includ[ed] robbery, drug and firearm possession and false
imprisonment.” The New York Daily News reported that the “rapper was set to be released from
331 Los Angeles Superior Court, CRD No. 202306-20847601, filed June 1, 2023; theguardian.com, June 5, 2023
332 Los Angeles Superior Court, CRD No. 202306-20847601, filed June 1, 2023
333 theguardian.com, June 5, 2023
91
prison […] after his April arrest for a slew of other charges, but those plans changed after
authorities discovered a pair of outstanding warrants for his arrest.” The main accusation
centered around a “felony charge for criminal sexual conduct in Florence, South Carolina,
surrounding an alleged February incident involving Black.”334
According to a statement issued by the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, “on or about February 7,
2016, Octave is alleged to have engaged in the sexual battery of the victim at a hotel located at
2120 West Lucas Street, Florence, SC.” This incident allegedly occurred after Kodak Black
“played a show at a club” in Florence. According to the Sun-Sentinel, “The accuser and a friend
went back to the Comfort Inn and Suites in Florence to hang out with the rapper and another
person, the woman told deputies. After a few minutes, she and Octave went into a separate room
by themselves, the woman told police. That’s when the attack began, […] the report says. Octave
pushed her onto the bed and then the floor, where he sexually assaulted and bit her, according
to the allegations. He told the woman he couldn’t help himself, as she screamed and tried to
push him off her, the report says.” While the victim was in high school, state officials confirmed
that she was not “a minor at the time of the alleged assault.”335
Kodak Black’s trial in South Carolina was postponed in April 2019. He was later
pardoned by then-President Donald Trump on charges related to falsifying
information on forms to purchase firearms.
In late 2016, Kodak Black was transferred from Florida where faced firearm, robbery, and
marijuana charges to South Carolina he to face sexual assault charges. He was “indicted by a
grand jury in April 2017 on a charge of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree,” and in
December 2018, it was reported that his trial date had been set for April 2019. Then, his trial
was postponed when Kodak Black requested a postponement and “the state solicitor didn't
object to the request.”336
In January 2021, outgoing President Donald Trump “granted pardons to rappers Lil Wayne and
Kodak Black […] as part of a last-minute spree that saw Trump issue clemency to many political
allies on his final full day in office.” Trump specifically pardoned Kodak Black of crimes related
to “falsifying information on federal forms to buy firearms in Miami on two separate
occasions.”337
334 nydailynews.com, August 23, 2016
335 sun-sentinel.com, September 19, 2016; sun-sentinel.com, December 1, 2016; complex.com, April 23, 2019; wyff4.com, December
6, 2016
336 sun-sentinel.com, December 1, 2016; sun-sentinel.com, December 1, 2016; scnow.com, December 6, 2018
337 rollingstone.com, January 20, 2021
92
In April 2021, Kodak Black agreed to a plea deal that allowed him to avoid jail time
in the case of the alleged rape and sexual assault.
Following his pardon, Kodak Black was back in court in South Carolina to face “charges of rape
and sexual assault” from the 2016 incident in the state. In April 2021, Kodak Black “pleaded
guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree assault and battery. The victim agreed to all conditions of
the plea deal, according to 12th Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements, who said the victim was on screen
in his office at the time.” Kodak Black was “sentenced to 10 years suspended to 18 months
probation with the condition that he takes full accountability for what happened and publicly
apologizes, which he did in court. He must also undergo counseling. ‘I apologize to Miss
[victim’s name] and am hopeful we can all move forward,’ [Kodak Black] said. ‘I wish her the
best in her life.’”338
Continued Work with Major Labels
Prior to the publication of an outstanding warrant of criminal sexual misconduct
against Kodak Black, executives with WMG’s Atlantic Records were actively
involved in mitigating the artist’s other criminal proceedings.
Prior to the reporting of the outstanding warrant in South Carolina accusing Kodak Black of
criminal sexual misconduct, a hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was held regarding
“numerous charges [against the rapper] including robbery, false imprisonment, fleeing a law
enforcement officer and possession of a firearm by a delinquent — charges that carried a
maximum sentence of 55 years.” According to the Sun-Sentinel, Kodak Black was “considered
such a hot commodity that Atlantic [Records] sent several executives to Fort Lauderdale ” for the
court hearing. Michael Kushner, Executive Vice President of Atlantic, which is owned by Warner
Music Group, “said Black has a bright future as a recording artist, and that his body of work, at
such a young age, is akin to that of more established artists.”339 Subsequently, a Florida judge
approved a plea deal in August 2016 “that would have allowed him to leave jail and serve a year
of house arrest, followed by five years' probation.”340
Following his indictment on sexual assault charges, Kodak Black continued to
release music with Atlantic Records and perform at shows produced by Live
Nation.
338 complex.com, April 29, 2021; wbtw.com, April 29, 2021
339 sun-sentinel.com, August 17, 2016; musicbusinessworldwide.com, accessed August 31, 2023
340 nydailynews.com, August 23, 2016
93
When Kodak Black was indicted on sexual assault charges in 2017, a representative for Atlantic
Records stated, “Atlantic Records is aware of the indictment and it was expected as part of the
normal process of the pending case.”341 In April 2019, the Washington Post reported that
despite many ongoing legal issues, Kodak Black was “still signed to Atlantic Records, and he’s
still headlining shows produced by concert behemoth Live Nation, such as the one at the
Anthem.” Kodak Black continued to release new music throughout this time, and his “2017
album ‘Painting Pictures’ hit No. 3 on the Billboard charts; [2018’s] ‘Dying to Live’ topped it.”342
In 2022, Kodak Black moved to UMG’s Capitol Records, following the record
executive who previously signed him to Atlantic Records.
In September 2022, Orlando Wharton “previously signed Black to Atlantic” and later “joined
Capitol [Records] as executive vp [sic] and president of the relaunched Priority Records.”
Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Kodak Black would move to Universal Music Group’s
Capitol Records after putting out “two releases left under his agreement with Atlantic.”343
Jimmy Page
Relationships With Minors
In Los Angeles in the 1970s, teenage girls known as “baby groupies” reportedly had
sexual relations with various adult musicians, such as David Bowie, Jimmy Page,
and Mick Jagger.
In November 2015, Thrillist published an article titled, “I Lost My Virginity to David Bowie,”
which described a group of “so-called baby groupies who were helping to satisfy the sexual
appetites of Jimmy Page, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and others” in the 1970s.344 According to
Interview Magazine, two of these “baby groupies,” Sable Starr and Lori Lightning (whose real
name was Lori Mattix), “slept with almost every big name rocker starting in the early ’70s.
Growing up in L.A., the ‘baby groupies’—as they were known—would button down West
Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, flexing their fake I.D.s at hot spots like the Rainbow Bar and Grill, the
Whiskey A Go Go, and Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco. As regulars, they would
frequently rub elbows (among other things) with rock’s major players, like Mick Jagger, Rod
341 pitchfork.com, October 9, 2017
342 washingtonpost.com, April 25, 2019
343 billboard.com, October 25, 2022; universalmusic.com, accessed August 31, 2023
344 thrillist.com, November 3, 2015
94
Stewart and Alice Cooper.” Pictured below (from left to right) are Starr, Slade guitarist Dave
Hill, and Mattix.345
Interview Magazine reported that Sable Starr “infamously lost her virginity at age 12 to Spirit
guitarist Randy California. For a time, she was involved with Iggy Pop, who glorified their
relationship in his 1996 song ‘Look Away.’ ‘I slept with Sable when she was 13 / Her parents
were too rich to do anything / She rocked her way around L.A. / ‘Til a New York Doll carried her
away…’ he sang.”346 The song was released on Pop’s album “Naughty Little Doggy,” which was
released through Virgin Records, a label of Universal Music Group.347
According to freelance writer Wyatt Redd, Sable Starr “ran away from home” at age 16 to
continue a relationship with New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders. All That’s Interesting, a
digital media outlet under the PBH Network, reported, “In New York, the relationship with
Thunders soon grew abusive. Thunders, like many rock stars, had a serious drug problem. He
was also violently jealous and possessive of Starr. After a pregnancy and later abortion, Sable
Starr decided to leave Thunders and move back to LA. After a few more years in the emerging
punk rock scene, Starr retired from the life of a groupie.”348
In 2015, Mattix told Thrillist that she was “de-virginized” by David Bowie when she was 14 or 15
years old. According to Mattix, Bowie called her home phone number and invited her to dinner,
345 interviewmagazine.com, April 20, 2018; thrillist.com, November 3, 2015
346 interviewmagazine.com, April 20, 2018
347 discogs.com, accessed August 1, 2023; universalmusic.com, accessed August 1, 2023
348 allthatsinteresting.com, March 28, 2018; allthatsinteresting.com, accessed January 24, 2024; linkedin.com, accessed January 24,
2024
95
which she attended with Starr. Afterward, Mattix and Starr went to Bowie’s hotel room, where
Mattix “lost [her] virginity and had [her] first threesome” with Bowie and Starr.349
According to her account in Thrillist, Mattix was approached at age 15 by Led Zeppelin’s
manager Peter Grant, who led her into a limo where she “felt like [she] was being kidnapped”
and took her to Jimmy Page’s hotel room. Upon meeting Page, Mattix said she “fell in love
instantly,” and the two began a relationship. Mattix said, “It became so serious that Jimmy
asked my mom for permission to be with me. […] Looking back, he had to be afraid of getting
sued for being with such a young girl, so maybe he thought it would be better if he cleared it with
my mother and told her he was in love with me.” Mattix said her mother liked Page and didn’t
oppose the relationship. Page and Mattix are pictured below.350
Accounts of sexual relations in the 1970s between adult musicians and “baby
groupies” have generally been normalized or romanticized by the public, as well as
by some of the women involved, including Mattix.
In 2019, The Daily Beast published a piece titled “David Bowie and Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Statutory
Rape Problem,” in which entertainment journalist Stereo Williams noted, “Rock star escapades
from that period have been glamorized for decades with no regard for how disturbing or illegal
the behavior was. It became a part of the mythos—a disgusting testament to how little the
writers documenting the happenings of the day cared about taking their heroes to task. And it
was right there in the music itself: The Rolling Stones sang about underage girls in ‘Stray Cat
Blues’ and Chuck Berry glorified the teenage ‘groupie’ in ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ a decade earlier.
[…] But we cannot write off the alarming behavior of superstars past just because they’re now
349 thrillist.com, November 3, 2015
350 thrillist.com, November 3, 2015
96
older, greyer or in the case of Bowie, newly-departed. Because this behavior didn’t start with
contemporary hip-hop and R&B acts.”351
In 2018, The Guardian reported, “Mattix was under the age of consent, she says, when Page
pursued her. Post-#MeToo, does she see the situation differently? ‘I think that’s what made me
start seeing it from a different perspective because I did read a few [articles], and I thought:
‘Shit, maybe,’’ she says. As for whether Page was in the wrong: ‘That’s an interesting question. I
never thought there was anything wrong with it, but maybe there was. I used to get letters telling
me he was a paedophile, but I’d never think of him like that. He never abused me, ever.’ Still,
Mattix sounds conflicted – rapturous reminiscences (‘honestly, I had a great time’) are followed
by cautionary notes. ‘I don’t think underage girls should sleep with guys,’ she says. ‘I wouldn’t
want this for anybody’s daughter. My perspective is changing as I get older and more
cynical.’”352
Former self-described groupie Roxana Shirazi told The Guardian, “It’s never possible to have
full agency [as a groupie]. […] From the outset, the power structure is not equal. They’re famous,
and, unless you’re famous yourself, you’re not on the same plane.” In “The Last Living Slut,”
Shirazi “documented what she describes as emotional abuse from the Guns N’ Roses
keyboardist, Dizzy Reed (whom she claims pressured her to have an abortion). The reaction was
markedly different from the condemnation such allegations tend to receive today – she was, she
says, ostracised by people in the music industry. ‘A lot of the initial reactions were: ‘Good … well
done,’’ she says. ‘Women wrote to me and said: ‘I had the same experience with so-and-so. Do
you think I should come forward?’ Then it was all shut down. If I went to LA to see my friends,
there were places I couldn’t go; it was like I spoke out against this thing that I shouldn’t
have.’”353
According to The Daily Beast, “Led Zeppelin’s peak epitomized rock’s most egregiously excess-
driven period, and while it has been romanticized in pop culture via movies like Almost Famous,
that period represented just how normalized fans, media and enablers were when it came to
some of music’s most depraved personalities. Sex, drugs and rock & roll became a mantra, and
groupie culture became chic, but it wasn’t just a big post-‘60s party. Looking back now, the ‘70s
classic rock era looks like libido run amok—with some glaring examples of just how dark the
public would allow its favorite rockers to be without ever calling them into question.”354
351 thedailybeast.com, March 20, 2019
352 theguardian.com, March 15, 2018
353 theguardian.com, March 15, 2018
354 thedailybeast.com, January 16, 2019
97
Thomas Wesley Pentz aka Diplo
Allegations & Restraining Order
In 2020, Shelly Auguste filed a restraining order against Diplo, who she accused of
distributing revenge porn and attempting to intimidate her with a private
investigator.
In 2020, Shelly Auguste filed a restraining order against DJ and music producer Diplo, or
Thomas Wesley Pentz. According to her attorney Lisa Bloom, Auguste sought “to block Diplo
from distributing revenge porn” allegedly “designed to humiliate her and to scare other women
out of coming forward.” On Twitter, she referred to him as “a huge manipulating liar / gaslighter
who PREYS [on] young women of ALL races (to be honest) but primarily young naive women of
color.”355
Auguste “alleged that Diplo, 42, had filmed sexual activity without her permission. ‘I
SPECIFICALLY asked him not too & his reply was ‘fuck it. I’m recording this,’’ she tweeted.
Following the thread, a user posted a naked picture of the woman on Twitter. The photo came
from what Bloom and the accuser believe to be ‘a front account and a fake account’ operated by
Diplo or someone acting on his behalf. ‘She alleges in her declaration in support of the
restraining order that the only person that had that picture other than her was him,’ Bloom
said.”356
Auguste also accused Diplo of “hiring a private investigator to contact her following an argument
between them. She called the gesture an attempt to ‘scare’ her out of discussing ‘the disgusting
details’ she knew about him. ‘The private investigator stated to me that he knew my address, he
knew my parents address, he knew my place of work as well as my parents place to work,’ she
wrote in the thread. ‘Take that as you may but most people will take that as a threat.’”357
Bloom “said she spoke to three other women with similar allegations against Diplo. ‘Witnesses
are important in every case,’ Bloom said. ‘We are happy to speak for free and confidentially to
any girls or women who also may have something against Diplo. We have spoken to a number of
them so far and we’re continuing our investigation.’”358
355 thedailybeast.com, November 17, 2020
356 thedailybeast.com, November 17, 2020
357 thedailybeast.com, November 17, 2020
358 thedailybeast.com, November 17, 2020
98
In June 2021, Auguste sued Diplo for sexual assault, for which the police declined
to file charges, and she also accused him of grooming her and knowingly giving her
chlamydia.
In June 2021, Auguste sued Diplo “for alleged sexual battery, assault, defamation, and
intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit describes Diplo as ‘a middle-aged white man
who targets very young Black women and girls for sexual assault.’” According to legal filings,
Auguste claimed “that Diplo reached out to her on Twitter when she was seventeen, and they
continued to talk before they first had consensual sex when she was 21 in March of 2018. Then,
according to her account, just over a year later, Diplo raped her in his hotel room after a
performance in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas police declined to file charges. There are medical
records from days after this encounter that show she tested positive for chlamydia, and she says
in her filings that Diplo was her only sexual partner at the time.”359
According to the Daily Mail, “California law considers knowingly passing on a sexually-
transmitted infection and recording a sexually explicit video without a partner's consent as
misdemeanors.” Court documents “alleged that after Auguste confronted Diplo about the
rumors he had herpes, he ‘cut off all communication’ with her. But after they reconciled, a year
later, in 2019, she claims ‘she gave in to the pressure and lost her virginity to Diplo.’ […] Not
long after, she says she ‘was diagnosed with chlamydia’ and ‘believes she got it from Diplo
because she says he was her only sexual partner at the time.’”360
In 2010, Diplo tweeted about sleeping with teenage girls, and in 2017, he tweeted
about joining the “r Kelly sex cult.”
A Daily Mail article noted that in 2010, Diplo tweeted about sleeping with “girls born in the
90s,” who at the time of the post would have been between the ages of 11 and 20. Diplo at the
time was in his early 30s. The tweet, which has since been deleted, read, “girls born in the 90s i
hav to stop sleepin with you.”361
359 thecut.com, October 7, 2021
360 dailymail.co.uk, October 6, 2021
361 dailymail.co.uk, October 6, 2021
99
In 2017, after allegations broke that singer R. Kelly had been keeping multiple women in a sex
“cult” against their will, Diplo tweeted, “Low key sent my cv for r kelly sex cult membership.” He
deleted the post about 20 minutes later, according to Spin, which recorded a screenshot of the
post. After deleting the tweet, Diplo “posted a follow-up photo of himself drinking what appears
to be champagne with the simple caption, ‘Cheers.’”362
In 2014, Diplo posted a tweet about making “a Kickstarter to get Taylor Swift a
booty,” which he never apologized for or deleted.
In 2014, Diplo tweeted, “Someone should make a kickstarter to get taylor swift a booty,” which
he “followed up with an actual link to a fundraising site. Although Diplo never deleted or
apologized for the tweet, in a recent interview with Input, he said that making fun of other
artists online ‘really came back to hurt me in the end.’ ‘When I first started using social media, it
was a big joke for me,’ he explained. ‘On Twitter, I was an unabashedly crazy person. And I
didn't realize that there was power in those words.’ Diplo's tweet received widespread backlash
362 huffpost.com, July 18, 2017
100
because it was seen as body-shaming the ‘Shake It Off’ singer. (Swift later revealed in her Netflix
documentary ‘Miss Americana’ that she was suffering from an eating disorder at the time.)”363
Retaliation Against Victims
Diplo refuted Auguste’s claims and filed both a restraining order and a lawsuit
against her in 2021.
Via an Instagram post, Diplo claimed Auguste was “an obsessed fan with whom he had two
consensual encounters over the course of a few years before realizing she was delusional and
attempting to stop all communications with her. He says that he didn’t meet her until 2018, and
that she has been using fake numbers and anonymous social media accounts to harass him and
the mother of one of his children. He also says a family in Florida has a permanent restraining
order against her.”364
Diplo alleged that Auguste was “engaging in criminal activity” and called her a possible “call
girl.” In a post, he alleged Auguste “would offer her friends and other people to have sexual
experiences with, and that’s when I began to get suspicious that she was engaging in criminal
activity, and was possibly a call girl.” Diplo wrote, “I don’t think she could physically harm me
but I was afraid she was going to harm herself.”365
In December 2020, a month after Auguste was granted a restraining order against him, Diplo
filed a restraining order against her, “saying that she posted nude images of him without his
363 insider.com, March 3, 2022
364 thecut.com, October 7, 2021
365 dailymail.co.uk, October 6, 2021
101
consent.” Both restraining orders were dismissed in January 2021 “when neither party’s lawyers
showed up at a hearing.”366
In April 2021, Diplo sued Auguste for monetary damages, “accusing her of stalking, trespassing,
and distributing private materials.”367 His lawsuit accused Auguste of sharing nude pictures of
him on social media and “alleged that the harassment extended to his friends and family as
well.” He categorically denied all of her allegations against him, describing her as “a stalker
[who] scammed her way into my life and tried to extort me for millions and then sued me when
she didn’t get what she wanted.”368
In 2022, Diplo won the case brought by Auguste and was awarded $1.2 million by
the Los Angeles Superior Court.
In September 2022, Pitchfork reported that Diplo “won a ruling in a case against a woman he
says harassed him after a sexual relationship that ended in 2020, TMZ reports and Pitchfork can
confirm. Diplo had demanded an arbitration hearing against the woman, accusing her of
violating a dual restraining order agreement that the pair signed in January 2021. In the new
ruling, an arbitrator who considered both sets of arguments sided with Diplo, recommending
that the Los Angeles Superior Court award him more than $1.2 million in fees, damages, costs,
and expenses.”369
Following Auguste’s accusations, another woman sued Diplo for allegedly coercing
her into performing oral sex in 2019, which Diplo and his legal team denied and
referred to as part of a “shakedown” orchestrated by Auguste.
In 2021, several weeks after Auguste made allegations against Diplo, another woman accused
the producer of coercing her into performing oral sex in 2019. According to the lawsuit, “the
alleged victim had been invited to an afterparty at one of Diplo's concerts in Las Vegas. When
the woman and her friends met him at the Wynn hotel, he provided marijuana and alcohol to
the group. Soon after, Diplo allegedly asked the woman to join him in his private room while
Diplo's security started to remove other people from the party. Inside the room, the woman
claims that Diplo wouldn't let her leave until she performed oral sex on him. The woman said
that she complied because she wanted to leave and feared for her safety. The woman also claims
that she believes Diplo filmed the entire incident without her giving consent and is seeking
unspecified damages.”370
366 thecut.com, October 7, 2021
367 thecut.com, October 7, 2021
368 papermag.com, September 22, 2022
369 pitchfork.com, September 21, 2022
370 papermag.com, July 8, 2023
102
Diplo’s attorney Bryan Freedman “denied the allegations on behalf of his client, claiming that
this suit is a part of a ‘shakedown’ that Diplo's ex, Shelly Auguste, has orchestrated. ‘This
complaint is completely outrageous, wildly untrue and yet also entirely predictable, given that it
simply repeats the exact same claim already made by the plaintiff's friend Shelly Auguste, an
individual who has been harassing Mr. Pentz and his family for more than a year and already
has repeatedly violated the restraining order issued against her,’ said Freeman to TMZ in a
statement. ‘We have irrefutable evidence that this is a completely meritless claim and we will be
providing it to a court as quickly as we possibly can to put an end to this shakedown by Ms.
Auguste and her accomplices once and for all,’ he continued.”371
In 2021, Diplo “posted an Instagram carousel disputing all the charges and allegations being
brought against him,” including those regarding sexual assault in Las Vegas. According to Diplo,
the incident would have occurred “the same night that his accuser [Auguste] says he raped her.
He says he had consensual sex with the woman and a handful of her friends, […] and that the
charges were dropped because he found videos of that night that both women filmed.”372
In 2021, the second woman to sue Diplo for sexual assault withdrew her lawsuit
allegedly without receiving any payment.
In July 2021, Rolling Stone reported that the lawsuit against Diplo for allegedly coercing a
woman into performing oral sex in Las Vegas in 2019 had been withdrawn by the plaintiff. The
woman, who remained anonymous, said, “In light of the evidence and after consultation with
my attorneys, I have decided to withdraw my lawsuit. […] No payment was offered or requested.
I regret filing the lawsuit.”373
Diplo’s attorney Bryan Freedman said in a statement to Rolling Stone, “As we said when we first
learned of this lawsuit, there was absolutely irrefutable evidence that proved that the allegations
it contained were false. […] As soon as we shared that plethora of evidence with the plaintiff’s
lawyers, they recognized that they needed to withdraw their suit immediately. […] This
demonstrably false claim … has caused great harm. […] While that damage can never fully be
undone, we are glad to see this lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice.”374
371 papermag.com, July 8, 2023
372 thecut.com, October 7, 2021
373 rollingstone.com, July 16, 2021
374 rollingstone.com, July 16, 2021
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Speaking on a podcast, Azealia Banks accused Diplo of having sex with her when
she was 17 and he was in his 30s, claiming she “had to give him some teenage
p***y” for him to launch her career.
In October 2021, the Daily Mail reported that rapper Azealia Banks “made accusations of
Diplo's predatory behavior on the podcast Cheapy's Two Cents. ‘I used to have sex with Diplo
when I was 17. Diplo definitely found me on f**king Myspace,’ she said. ‘I always give him credit
for f**king launching my career off, but yeah, I had to give him some teenage p***y to do it. He’s
always been preying on young ethnic girls.’ Diplo would have been in his early 30s at the time.”
According to Daily Mail, the rapper M.I.A., “who dated Diplo for five years, has accused him of
emotional abuse.”375
Public Reckoning
In July 2021, the Baltimore Orioles cancelled Diplo’s concert scheduled for after a
game amid the sexual assault allegations against him.
In July 2021, the Baltimore Orioles cancelled a Diplo concert scheduled for after a baseball game
amid new sexual assault allegations against the DJ. In a statement, the Orioles organization
wrote, “The Orioles will not hold the upcoming postgame performance on July 24 at Oriole Park
at Camden Yards. Fans who purchased field passes with games tickets to the Diplo concert on
July 24 will receive a refund.”376
In 2020, Diplo received criticism online after 19-year-old TikTok star Quenlin
Blackwell posted that she and Diplo were living together.
In 2020, Diplo was the subject of “backlash surrounding his supposed living arrangement with
19-year-old TikTok star Quenlin Blackwell. It all started last week after the social media
influencer told her 4.1 million followers that she was ‘living’ with the 41-year-old DJ. […] It
didn't take long for the information to raise eyebrows online, with some accusing the DJ of
‘grooming’ Quenlin.”377
In response to backlash regarding his relationship to Blackwell, Diplo wrote on Twitter, “OK so I
rent one of my properties to @quenblackwell. And yes I use the studio that is in that building,”
later “mentioning in a follow-up tweet that they've previously bonded by making music together.
375 dailymail.co.uk, October 6, 2021
376 consequence.net, July 13, 2021
377 papermag.com, October 27, 2020
104
[…] Her social media is sarcastic and chaotic and I can see you can get a twisted idea but there is
nothing but a friendship between us. […] As a landlord I don't really consider age or race as a
qualification.”378
Quenlin “also issued a statement in which she denied the two were anything more than just
friends. ‘I'm an adult. I'm not being groomed. Platonic relationships exist. I've been living here
for over a year,’ she wrote. ‘I'd rather break both of my legs and be forced to walk than pursue
Diplo romantically and he'd rather choke. […] Diplo and his team are my mentors in LA and
they are my safety net. Diplo and his team have saved me numerous times from the weirdos in
LA. My parents trust him. I trust him,’ Quenlin added. ‘Y'all are making me feel icky. Diplo is my
LA dad.. [sic] nothing more.’”379
In 2022, Quenlin posted a video that “reignited questions about her relationship with celebrity
DJ Diplo.” In the video, which was later deleted, she reportedly said, “This producer told me to
come out here when I was 17, and I came out here when I was 18, and I didn’t know what I was
coming out here for really.” She added, “My music’s been a journal to me through all the bullshit
I’ve dealt with from someone older like, ‘wanting to help me’ but essentially just like, seeing a
young creative would [lighten them] and wanting to own them and wanting to have them a part
of your crew. […] So when I wake up out of the fog and haze from like, living over there and
living with these producers and shit, I like, have all this music.”380
Attorneys’ Connections to Other Sex Abuse Allegations
Auguste’s lawyer was Lisa Bloom, who advised Harvey Weinstein in his legal
battles for sexual assault.
According to The Daily Beast, Auguste’s lawyer Lisa Bloom “has an extensive and polarizing
track record on sexual-abuse cases. The Bloom Firm founder and former anchor of the truTV
cable series Lisa Bloom: Open Court, represented several women in their sexual harassment
claims against Bill O’Reilly in 2017. That same year, she advised Harvey Weinstein in his myriad
legal battles for sexual assault and harassment—a role that her mother, famed women’s rights
lawyer Gloria Allred, openly criticized. ‘Had I been asked by Mr. Weinstein to represent him,’
Allred told The New York Times, ‘I would have declined.’”381
378 papermag.com, October 27, 2020
379 papermag.com, October 27, 2020
380 centennialworld.com, April 22, 2022
381 thedailybeast.com, November 17, 2020
105
Diplo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, was accused of sexually assaulting and
participating in the gang rape of a 17-year-old when he was a university student in
the 1980s, and he paid a $40,000 settlement.
In November 2022, Business Insider reported that Bryan Freedman, “a top attorney for A-listers
facing sexual-misconduct scandals,” including Diplo and Kevin Spacey, “was accused of sexual
assault in the 1980s and paid a $40,000 settlement to the accuser. In 1986, Freedman — then a
student at University of California at Berkeley — and two other members of the Zeta Beta Tau
fraternity were accused of sexually assaulting and battering a 17-year-old in a complaint filed in
the Superior Court for Alameda County.” Freedman settled the case in 1991 without admitting
liability. At the time, “Freedman had recently been admitted to the State Bar of California and
was a first-year attorney at a Los Angeles law firm.”382
Based on court filings, the plaintiff became intoxicated at another fraternity party, and then,
“encountered Freedman and one of his fraternity brothers” who took her to Zeta Beta Tau.
According to Business Insider, “‘I guess I passed out or blanked out or something, and I woke up
again and I was on another bed’ with Freedman, the plaintiff said in the deposition. […] The
teenager said that two other male college students then vaginally and orally assaulted her.” She
said that “she and her friend then returned to Zeta Beta Tau to retrieve her shoe and car key.
Her friend began yelling at the fraternity brothers, according to the teenager. ‘She accused them
of gang-banging me,’ the plaintiff said in her deposition.”383
Elvis Presley
Relationships With Minors
Elvis Presley met his future wife, Priscilla, when she was 14 years old and he was
24, and he moved her into Graceland when she was still in high school. Priscilla
said that early in their relationship, she attempted to hide her age from the public.
In 1959, Elvis Presley met his future wife, Priscilla, at a party in Germany when she was “an
impressionable 14-year-old. He was 24.” At the time, Priscilla’s stepfather served in the Air
Force and was transferred to a base in Wiesbaden where “Elvis was serving in the Army.”
Priscilla wrote in an essay published by People in 1985 that when she first met Elvis, he “stood
up and smiled. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘what have we here? What are you, about a junior or senior in
382 businessinsider.com, November 16, 2022
383 businessinsider.com, November 16, 2022
106
high school?’” When Priscilla told Elvis that she was in the ninth grade, he laughed and said,
“Why, you’re just a baby.”384
When Elvis and Priscilla began spending more and more time together, her stepfather insisted
he meet Elvis. When they met, Priscilla’s stepfather asked Elvis, “Just what is the intent here?
Let’s face it: You’re Elvis Presley. You have women throwing themselves at you. Why my
daughter?” Elvis replied, “Well, sir, I happen to be very fond of her. She’s a lot more mature than
her age and I enjoy her company.” Priscilla said that when she began seeing Elvis more
regularly, she tried “to find some way to appear older than my age.” Priscilla wrote, “I’d borrow
my mother’s clothes and hope everyone would assume I was at least 16.”385
Eventually, as reported by the Las Vegas Sun in 1967, “Priscilla stayed with Presley’s father and
stepmother at the family mansion, ‘Graceland,’ when she graduated from a Memphis high
school in 1963.” According to Insider, Priscilla’s parents at first didn’t approve of her going to
Memphis to be with Elvis “as she was still only 17. But after Elvis called Priscilla's dad and told
him that Priscilla wouldn't be living with Elvis, but with his parents, that he'd make sure
Priscilla graduated high school, and that he'd one day marry Priscilla, her parents
acquiesced.”386
Ultimately, Elvis and Priscilla married in 1967. When they eloped, Priscilla was 21, and Elvis was
32. Priscilla claimed, according to Insider, that “the two waited until they were married to sleep
together.” They separated in 1972 and divorced in 1973.387
Elvis Presley had a history of dating other 14-old girls and reportedly targeted
virgins “to mould them and mentor them.”
According to a report on Presley’s dating history in the Mirror “Alanna Nash, author of Baby
Let's Play House: Elvis and the Women Who Loved Him, claims that ‘Elvis loved 14- and 15-
year-old girls’. In her book, she explains: ‘He was insecure about his sexual prowess and wanted
virgins so they wouldn’t have anyone to compare him to as a lover. Adult women scared him. He
wanted to mould them and mentor them and they adored him.’” She added, “He didn’t seem to
worry that a fling with a child could land him in jail.”388
Presley “had a history of dating underage girls. In his book Elvis Presley: A Southern Life,
historian Joel Williamson revealed a darker side to Elvis when he detailed the time he spent
384 insider.com, January 23, 2023; today.com, June 27, 2022; people.com, September 9, 1985
385 people.com, September 9, 1985
386 insider.com, January 23, 2023; lasvegussun.com, May 2, 1967
387 insider.com, January 23, 2023
388 mirror.co.uk, June 24, 2022
107
with teenagers while touring.” He wrote that “on one tour, Elvis had his eyes on a group of three
14-year-old girls who the 22-year-old would pillow fight, tickle, wrestle and kiss. One of those
girls was Frances Forbes, who claims that Elvis didn’t notice her until she was 14.” Forbes said,
“When I was 14, he noticed me. Fourteen was a magical age with Elvis. It really was.”
Additionally, “two years after his divorce from Priscilla, Elvis, who was now close to turning 40,
went after another 14-year-old girl - Reeca Smith.”389
Elvis Presley continues to be a major earner for Sony Music Entertainment.
According to Billboard in 2022, “Presley’s catalog generated publishing royalties that averaged
$12 million annually over the last three years.” In 1974, Elvis’ manager, Tom Parker, “made a
deal to sell all of Presley’s master recordings to RCA Records for $5.4 million, which means the
label pays no royalties to the estate for tracks released before 1973.” Lyn Koppe, executive vice
president of global catalog for Sony Music Entertainment and Legacy Recordings, told Billboard
in 2022 that Elvis “consistently is one of our top 10 artists.” In total, “Sony Music-owned RCA
Records has earned an average $23.5 million in annual revenue over the past three years,
according to Billboard estimates,” across all its artists.390
Rolling Stones
Relationships With Minors
Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger allegedly had a sexual relationship with an
up-and-coming actress who was 15 years old at the time, while he was 33.
In February 2020, actress Rae Dawn told the Daily Mail how she and the Rolling Stones’ Mick
Jagger “had a two-day fling in 1977 while he was still married to first wife Bianca.” At the time,
Jagger was 33 years old while Dawn was 15. Dawn said she met Jagger during a trip to New York
after he told her, “you’re cute.” He then “whisked her to a recording studio before the pair spent
the night together.” Dawn told the Daily Mail that Mick Jagger “never asked me how old I was
and I never told him. It never came up. I remember thinking he was really cute. He had tousled
hair. I thought, ‘Oh man, he is beautiful.’”391
389 mirror.co.uk, June 24, 2022
390 billboard.com, June 25, 2022
391 dailymail.co.uk, February 1, 2020
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Dawn said that after they met, Mick Jagger “grabbed my hand and we jumped in his limo and
went straight to a recording studio. The Stones were there, I was in the background. I remember
being in there for hours and hours. ‘Then I slept over at his apartment. I knew what I was doing.
I was experimenting with Mick. I was having fun.’” She then recalled “waking to find Jagger's
bandmate Keith Richards staring at the pair.” The two went on to spend another day together
“first back at the recording studio and then at a Fleetwood Mac concert at Madison Square
Garden, where Jagger and Richards were mobbed by fans.”392
However, Dawn “insisted Jagger should not be vilified because their fling took place ‘in a
different era’ to today's #MeToo culture. She says she is only speaking out to ‘own’ the story
after accidentally blurting out during a podcast that she had sex with Jagger when she was two
years under the age of consent.” Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Dawn was asked how she
landed a role in 1985’s Commando. She replied, “I got it because I’d been in a Jagger video and
then they asked me how I knew Mick and before I knew it I'd blurted out that I'd had sex with
him when I was 15. It just slipped out.” Dawn said, “I feel incredibly bad about it. It's me and my
big mouth. My family and friends knew about it but it's not something I have ever dined out
on.”393
Dawn showed the Daily Mail “a black leather journal from 1977 in which she recorded her
liaison with Jagger in childish handwriting which reads: ‘I got to experience being a groupie. Not
that being a groupie is worth experiencing. I just had to go and be wild. Well I did it. I got to live
with Mick Jagger, John Phillips, Mackenzie and Ron Wood… it was fun and full of
excitement.’”394
Dawn stated, “It's all about currency in Hollywood. Between men and women it’s ‘what can you
do for me?’ When you're young and hot, everyone wants a piece. When you are old and crusty,
nobody wants a piece.”395
Mick Jagger allegedly had sex with the 18-year-old daughter of The Mamas & Papas
singer John Phillips. At the time, Jagger allegedly told her, “I’ve been waiting for
this since you were 10 years old.”
According to the New York Post, actress Mackenzie Phillips claimed that she had sex with
Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger in the late 1970s “during a raucous, drug-fueled party at
the Central Park West home of her dad, folk-rock star John Phillips” of The Mamas & The
392 dailymail.co.uk, February 1, 2020
393 dailymail.co.uk, February 1, 2020
394 dailymail.co.uk, February 1, 2020
395 dailymail.co.uk, February 1, 2020
109
Papas. At the time, Phillips was 18 years old, and Jagger allegedly told her, “I’ve been waiting for
this since you were 10 years old.” Jagger would have been about 35 at the time of the encounter.
Phillips wrote in her memoir, “I’d known Mick since I was a kid, and maybe most people think
their parents’ friends are old and gross.”396
Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman began a relationship with a 13-year-old while he
was 48 and had sex with her when she was just 14.
Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman “famously began courting Mandy Smith when she was 13 and
he was 48. They married, disastrously, when she was 18, but her mother joined them on
honeymoon and they spent less than a week of married life together.” In discussing his
relationship with Smith, Wyman said, “It was very emotional and special at the time. It wasn’t
how it was reported to be and it was the only time it ever happened in my life.”397
Wyman told the Daily Mail that “he avoided talking about Miss Smith because it upset his wife
and teenage girls – ‘who are the age she was’ – Wyman said: ‘We all have a skeleton in the
cupboard, it’s just if you’re a taxi driver in Halifax no one ever hears about it.’”398
According to the Mirror, Smith’s “older sister had called for Wyman to be prosecuted. But
Wyman has revealed that he made contact with police and the Crown Prosecution Service to
discuss the relationship in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.” According to the Guardian,
Savile, host of the BBC’s Top of the Pops program, “sexually abused hundreds of children and
women at the height of his fame.” Wyman claimed, “I went to the police and I went to the public
prosecutor and said, ‘Do you want to talk to me? Do you want to meet up with me, or anything
like that?’ and I got a message back, ‘No’.”399
Continued Work with Major Labels
The Rolling Stones’ catalogue has been with every major label group, including
Sony, Universal, and Warner. In 2018, the band announced an expanded
agreement with Universal covering its catalogue.
In July 2018, the Rolling Stones and Universal Music Group “announced an expansive
worldwide agreement covering the band’s recorded-music and audio-visual catalogs, archival
396 nypost.com, September 25, 2009; nypost.com, March 5, 1999
397 dailymail.co.uk, March 31, 2013
398 dailymail.co.uk, March 31, 2013
399 dailymail.co.uk, March 31, 2013; theguardian.co.uk, June 26, 2014; mirror.co.uk, April 1, 2013
110
support, global merchandising and brand management.” In an announcement, Universal Music
Group noted that the Rolling Stones “has a partner that complements and supports their global
stature, with expertise and resources that enable the band to maximize their reach while
underscoring their enduring cultural relevance across numerous forms of entertainment.”400
According to Variety, the agreement allowed the Rolling Stones to take “full advantage of
UMG’s range of companies. Its recorded-music catalog from 1971 through the present and
future releases will continue to be distributed globally by UMG’s labels and networks around the
world, as they have since 2008. Over the years the Stones’ post -1970 catalog has been with every
major label group, beginning with Warner, moving to CBS (which was later purchased by Sony)
in 1983, then to Virgin/EMI in 1992; its pre-1971 catalog remains with Abkco Music, which is
also distributed by UMG.”401
In October 2023, the Rolling Stones released a new album “Hackney Diamonds,” which
“debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart at No. 3.” The debut made the band “the first act to
have newly-charted top 10 albums in the United States in every decade since the 1960s.” The
album “also extended the rock band’s record as the artist with the most top 10 albums of all
time, with a total of 38.”402
William Bruce “Axl” Rose Jr.
Allegations & Criminal Charges
Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose faced statutory rape charges after he had sex with a
15-year-old girl. Following the alleged rape, the girl was found naked on the street
seeking help from the LAPD.
In December 1985, Guns N’ Roses singer William Bruce “Axl” Rose Jr. allegedly had sex with a
15-year-old girl named Michelle. According to LoudWire, “There are many, many different
accounts from what actually happened with this situation. But what we know is that a 15 -year-
old girl found herself in the Gardner Studio one day, and then was thrown out by Axl Rose,
without any of her clothes. She ventured through Los Angeles, naked, and sought assistance
from the police.”403
400 variety.com, July 8, 2018; universalmusic.com, July 9, 2018
401 variety.com, July 8, 2018
402 hollywoodreporter.com, October 31, 2023
403 loudwire.com, February 11, 2023
111
Rock journalist Mick Wall wrote in his biography of the band, “A naked, underage girl running
away from adult men along one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles was not going to go
unnoticed, and within hours the LAPD were back at the Hell House with the girl, looking to ID
her assailants. Everyone in the house was brought outside except for Axl, who hid behind some
equipment along with another girl. ‘While the cops are out there harassing everybody, asking
their stupid questions, I'm with this girl behind the amp and we start going at it,’ he later
boasted. ‘That was the rush! I got away with it! It was really exciting.’”404
As the police left, they warned “the band that Axl needed to turn himself in. Within a few days
the garage had been raided and searched. The band was told that the girl and her parents were
pressing charges of statutory rape (a minor is considered by law as incapable of giving consent
to sexual intercourse) against Axl and Slash.” Wall wrote that Axl “and Slash quickly skipped the
scene when reality - and the possibility of a mandatory 5-year jail sentence - hit home.”405
Axl Rose and Slash hid at manager Vicky Hamilton’s Los Angeles apartment while
police sought them on statutory rape charges. Hamilton later worked in A&R at
UMG’s Geffen Records and Capitol Records.
As Axl feared being arrested on statutory rape charge, “Slash rang Vicky Hamilton, their
sometime promoter/manager, and begged her to take Axl in for a few days.” Hamilton, who later
managed Guns N’ Roses, also became an A&R executive at Universal Music Group’s Geffen
Records and Capitol Records. According to rock journalist Mick Wall, “Hamilton had a one-bed
apartment at 1114 North Clark Street that she’d secured with settlement money she’d received
for relinquishing an interest in the management of Poison, who were now in the process of
breaking big. She was sharing with a friend in need, Jennifer Perry, and working as an agent for
Silver Lining Entertainment as well as helping Guns N’ Roses out on an ad hoc basis.” Their
“arrangement became more solid as soon as Axl showed up as a fugitive from the LAPD.”406
Hamilton said she got a call from Slash “asking if Axl could stay and I asked why. Slash had
replied: ‘Well, it’s kind of important… the cops are looking for him.’ ‘Why are the cops looking
for him?’ ‘He had a girl up in the loft, and I guess they had sex, but then he got mad at her and
locked her outside without her clothes and she went to the cops and said that he raped her.’ I
was stunned and didn’t know what to say. Slash sort of begged so I said, ‘Okay, for a few days.’
Minutes later Axl walks through the door carrying a plastic garbage bag and a little suitcase full
of all his worldly possessions.” When Hamilton “asked him what happened and he said very
404 ultimate-guitar.com, January 5, 2017
405 ultimate-guitar.com, January 5, 2017
406 medium.com, January 4, 2017; vickyhamilton.com, accessed August 14, 2023
112
little, other than ‘It was stupid, involving a girl… It won’t happen again,’ Axl promised. He didn’t
give me any more information. Everything I heard about the incident from that point on was
hearsay.”407
While Axl and Slash stayed with Hamilton, she “found Axl a lawyer to represent him on the rape
charge.” Though Hamilton recalled “several visits from the police and many, many lawyers’
phone calls, the rape charges were withdrawn at some point during this period. The case against
Slash was given a court date but later dropped. Axl did have to find a suit and appear at a court
hearing, but his case was also dropped through a lack of hard evidence.”408
Former model Sheila Kennedy sued Axl Rose for sexual assault under New York’s
Adult Survivors Act, alleging that he dragged her by the hair, tied her up, and
raped her at a New York City hotel in 1989.
In November 2023, Sheila Kennedy, a former model who appeared in Penthouse, sued Axl Rose
for sexual assault and battery in New York State Supreme Court under the Adult Survivors Act
ahead of the window closing. Kennedy “accused him of dragging her by the hair, tying her up
and raping her in a New York hotel in 1989.” She said “that she has suffered anxiety and
depression as a result of the incident with Mr. Rose, and that her career as an actress and model
has suffered.” She also “discussed her encounter with Mr. Rose in the Past,” including in a 2016
interview in the Daily Mail and her 2016 memoir “No One’s Pet.”409
Kennedy said after meeting him at a New York nightclub, “Rose invited her and another woman
to a party at his suite in a hotel on Central Park West, where he offered them cocaine and
alcohol.” Then, Rose asked everyone to leave the party except for her, the other woman, and a
man, and “Mr. Rose began having sex with the other woman, in an ‘aggressive’ way that Ms.
Kennedy says in the suit ‘appeared painful’ for the woman.” She recounted hearing “breaking
glass and objects being thrown in Mr. Rose’s room,” along with him “calling her a ‘whore.’”410
Kennedy’s suit stated that “Rose stormed into the room where she was, knocked her down,
‘grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the suite back to his bedroom.’ Her knees were
bleeding from being scraped against the rug.” Once inside Rose’s room, “he threw her facedown
on the bed, tied her hands behind her back with pantyhose and sexually assaulted her, forcing
anal penetration. The suit says that Mr. Rose never sought Ms. Kennedy’s consent, and that she
407 medium.com, January 4, 2017
408 medium.com, January 4, 2017
409 nytimes.com, November 22, 2023
410 nytimes.com, November 22, 2023
113
‘did not consent and felt overpowered.’” Writing in her 2021 memoir, “Kennedy also described
her encounter with Mr. Rose as a violent one, which left her ‘crying and bleeding.’”411
Cherilyn “Cher” Sarkisian
Allegations
Cher was sued by three former dancers who claimed they were fired from her tour
because of their race, age, and for reporting a sexual assault by a company
member.
In 2014, dancers Jacquelyn Dowsett Ballinger, Suzanne Easter, and Kevin Wilson sued the
singer Cherilyn “Cher” Sarkisian, claiming they were fired from her Dressed to Kill (D2K) tour
“for reporting an alleged sexual assault by a male dancer on a female fan after a June stop of the
tour.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, their complaint alleged that Wilson and Easter
“were also fired because they’re African-American—they claim Cher once remarked ‘We have too
much color onstage’ while auditioning dancers and selected a white dancer over a more skillful
minority dancer—and Easter because she’s over 40. They’re suing for violations of unfair
competition and the whistle-blower statute and several causes of employment discrimination,
and they name Cher’s Isis Productions and manager Lindsay Scott and manager Roger Davies as
defendants.”412 The wrongful termination lawsuit sought over $10 million in damages.413
Within the suit, according to CNN, it was claimed specifically that “Cher was personally involved
in the coverup of a sexual assault against a female fan by one of her other male dancers while on
Cher’s Dressed to Kill tour.” According to the suit, the alleged assault happened in a St. Louis
hotel in June 2014 after a show, when a “recently-hired dancer invited a female fan to his hotel
room, it said. The fan, identified as ‘Jenn,’ later complained to another dancer, Jacquelyn
Ballinger, that the male dancer pressured Jenn to have sex with him. ‘When she refused, the
dancer became angry,’ the complaint said.” Subsequently, “Jenn asked for Ms. Ballinger not to
leave Jenn alone and for help, to which Ms. Ballinger obliged.”414
Ballinger later told tour choreographer-dancer Kevin Wilson and dancer Suzanne Easter about
the allegation. The three dancers “made numerous and repeated complaints” to Cher and tour
411 nytimes.com, November 22, 2023
412 hollywoodreporter.com, September 22, 2014
413 cbsnews.com, September 19, 2014
414 cnn.com, September 18, 2014
114
managers “regarding the sexual assault of a female fan by an employee.” The dancers “were
instructed not to tell anyone what had transpired” and “informed that management would ‘take
care of the situation,’” the suit said. All three dancers were fired a month after reporting the
assault “whilst the dancer whom they accused of sexual assault remained gainfully employed.”
The dancer who allegedly assaulted the fan was put on “probation” only after the fired dancers
hired a lawyer and prepared to sue, the complaint said.415
According to CNN, “The purported reason given for the firing was ‘budget cuts,’” even though
Cher’s tour sold out every show and added more. In the extension of her tour, Cher even
“brought in Bob Mackie to remake all of her costumes, incurring at least $100,000 per outfit in
additional expense for EACH costume,” the suit said. These actions were alleged to be
“incongruous with Defendants' use of ‘budget cuts’ as the reasoning behind Plaintiffs'
terminated employments.” Further, it was also reported that the D2K tour “grossed nearly $55
million from 610,000 fans” and was “ranked among the top-10 grossing tours of 2014 by the
trade publication Pollstar,” according to CBS News.416
The suit “accuses Cher of making a racist comment while reviewing audition tapes for dancers.
After watching a ‘minority female dancer’ who ‘particularly impressed’ the choreographer and
tour manager, Cher allegedly remarked ‘we have too much color onstage’ and requested a white,
blonde dancer. A blond haired, blue-eyed female was subsequently hired,” according to the
suit.417 Additionally, the suit alleged “This pattern of racism and discrimination continued to
permeate the tour when Wilson was prohibited by Cher and tour management from casting any
dark skinned African Americans who auditioned, even if they danced better than their white
counterparts.”418
Nikki Sixx
Allegations
Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx recalled in the band’s 2001 memoir that he “pretty
much” raped a woman at a party. When asked about the incident in 2019, he
walked back the story, calling it an embellishment that he didn’t remember.
415 cnn.com, September 18, 2014
416 cnn.com, September 18, 2014; cbsnews.com, September 19, 2014; i2.cdn.turner.com, September 18, 2014
417 cnn.com, September 18, 2014
418 i2.cdn.turner.com, September 18, 2014
115
In Mötley Crüe’s 2001 memoir “The Dirt,” bassist Nikki Sixx “recollects a night where a woman
he knew pulled him into a small room at a party and the two began having sex. Soon after, Sixx
left the room, returned with bandmate Tommy Lee and tricked the woman as to who she was
having sex with. ‘We fucked for a while, then I told her I had to go to the bathroom. I went into
the party and found Tommy,’ Sixx wrote in the book. ‘‘Dude, come here.’ I grabbed him. ‘I got
this chick in the closet. Follow me, and don’t say a word. When I tell you, start fucking her.’ ‘In
the closet, I stood directly behind Tommy,’ he continued. ‘He fucked her while she grabbed my
hair and yelled, ‘Oh, Nikki! Nikki!’’”419
Sixx recalled that the next morning, “he didn’t remember the incident until the woman called
him and told him she had been raped the night before. Though she said her attacker was a man
who’d picked her up while she was trying to hitchhike home, Sixx said the story made him
realize ‘that I had probably gone too far.’” Sixx added, “At first, I was relieved, because it meant I
hadn’t raped her. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I pretty much had. I
was in a zone, though, and in that zone, consequences did not exist. Besides, I was capable of
sinking even lower than that.”420
When asked by Rolling Stone in 2019 about the alleged sexual assault, “Sixx demurred and said,
‘There was a little embellishment here and there with Neil Strauss,’” who wrote Mötley Crüe’s
memoir with the band. In a statement, Sixx “said he did not recall this particular story because
The Dirt was being written ‘during a really low point in my life’ where he was drinking and using
drugs again to deal with a crumbling relationship. ‘I honestly don’t recall a lot of the interviews
with Neil,’ he said.”421
Gordon Sumner aka Sting
Allegations
Gordon “Sting” Sumner was accused of statutory rape against a 15-year-old girl in
1979 while on tour with The Police, and Jane Doe filed suit against him and fellow
band members before Arizona’s window statute expired.
According to the Phoenix New Times, Gordon Sumner, widely known as “Sting,” was accused of
“sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in a Tempe hotel where he was staying while on tour with
419 rollingstone.com, March 5, 2019
420 rollingstone.com, March 5, 2019
421 rollingstone.com, March 5, 2019
116
his band The Police in 1979.” The lawsuit “alleges that Sumner, then 27 and married with a hit
album, knew that the plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe in court documents, was underage
and unable to give consent as a result. It says she has suffered lifelong trauma as a result of the
incident, leaving her in need of therapy and unable to maintain healthy relationships.” Doe’s
lawsuit was filed in December 2020 “before the deadline set by a new Arizona law” allowing
individuals to file time-barred child sexual abuse lawsuits.422
The suit filed by Doe further alleged that “The Police and Frontier Booking International (FBI),
the band's booking company, were negligent in letting the assault happen. The lawsuit asks for a
variety of damages, including medical expenses and attorneys' fees. No dollar amount is given,
but it notes that the total amount contested in the suit exceeds $75,000.” The case cited “sexual
assault/sexual abuse of a minor, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, battery, and
negligence.” Sumner’s bandmates, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, also were sued,
according to Vermilion County First.423
Doe claimed that she met Sumner “in May 1979 at a meet-and-greet, and she told him she was
15 at the time. After Sumner approached her again at their show at Dooley's in Tempe, she went
with him to a house party in Phoenix alongside guitarist Andy Summers and two women,”
reported the Phoenix New Times. During the party, “Sumner came onto her sexually” and
“allegedly ‘kissed (her), touched her breasts, and touched her genitals.’” However, “Doe told him
she was 15 and a virgin. They eventually went back to Tempe to meet up with Doe's friend and
she was in Sumner's hotel room when the alleged assault happened.”424
John Rosenberg, Sumner’s attorney, responded that “the musician ‘categorically denies’ that the
assault described in the lawsuit ever occurred. ‘As will be revealed at the appropriate time, there
is compelling independent evidence that refutes these allegations. Virtually the only part of the
story alleged in the lawsuit that we do not dispute is that The Police performed a show in
Arizona in 1979.’”425
Jane Doe’s attorneys argued The Police had “a pattern of sexualizing young
women,” as demonstrated by “‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ about a teacher with
sexual feelings toward a student” and references to the book “Lolita” about a
pedophile.
422 phoenixnewtimes.com, December 21, 2020
423 phoenixnewtimes.com, December 21, 2020; vermilioncountyfirst.com, November 19, 2020
424 phoenixnewtimes.com, December 21, 2020; vermilioncountyfirst.com, November 19, 2020
425 phoenixnewtimes.com, December 21, 2020
117
According to the Phoenix New Times, Jane Doe’s “complaint includes lyrics from The Police's
later-published hit ‘Don't Stand So Close To Me’ about a teacher with sexual feelings toward a
student. The song, the band's fifth-most popular on Spotify, references the book Lolita, a 1955
literary classic by Russian author Vladimir Nabokov about a pedophile repeatedly sexually
assaulting his adolescent stepdaughter. […] While the filing claims that Sumner wrote the lyrics
shortly after the assault alleged in the lawsuit, Doe's two attorneys say they are not claiming it
was inspiration for the song. Instead, the two told New Times they contend there was a pattern
of sexualizing young women among members of the band at the time, which is why they have
named the band and booking company in the suit.”426
Furthermore, speaking to the New Times about The Police’s interest in young fans, Ashley
Pileika, an attorney for Jane Doe, “referenced a 1982 photo they found published by Summers,
the guitarist, of a young fan. Summers captioned it ‘Fans, Lolita, Canada.’”427 The following
photo with that caption was published on the website for Andy Summers, noting that it was
among “over six hundred photographs from Andy’s Police days along with the journal entries of
that period” from 1980 to 1983 when The Police were on tour. The photos were published in the
book “I’ll Be Watching You.”428
426 phoenixnewtimes.com, December 21, 2020
427 phoenixnewtimes.com, December 21, 2020
428 andysummers.com, accessed January 17, 2024
118
Steven Tallarico aka Steven Tyler
Allegations
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler was accused of sexually abusing and assaulting a 16-
year-old fan, who he met via his agents. Tyler went so far as to get legal custody of
the fan so she could travel with him while avoiding criminal charges.
In December 2022, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler faced accusations of sexual assault in the
form of a lawsuit filed by accuser Julia Holcomb in California. Rolling Stone reported that “the
suit accuses the Aerosmith singer of sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of
emotional distress. The assault was alleged to have begun when Holcomb was 16 years old.”
Holcomb’s lawsuit was filed within days of the deadline for California legislation “that lifted the
statute of limitations and granted a three-year lookback period for survivors of childhood sexual
abuse to come forward with their allegations.” A picture of Tyler and Holcomb together in the
1970s, published by the Guardian, is below.429
Holcomb’s lawsuit alleged, according to Rolling Stone, “Tyler convinced Holcomb’s mother to
grant him guardianship over her when she was 16 years old, which consequently allowed her to
live with him and engage in a sexual relationship. She claims they were together from 1973 until
about three years later.” When the case was filed, Tyler was not initially named as a defendant,
429 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022; theguardian.com, September 13, 2021
119
instead being referred to as “Defendant Doe 1.” Rolling Stone reported that “the complaint was
amended to include his name, though [D]oes 2 through 50 haven’t been specified yet.”430
Notably, Holcomb’s lawsuit against Tyler also referenced unnamed defendants who were
described as “the managers, trustees, partners, servants, joint venturers, shareholders,
contractors, and/or employees” of Tyler and other defendants. Holcomb’s complaint alleged
that these defendants were responsible “for the occurrences herein alleged, and were a legal
cause of the childhood sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress which
resulted in injury to the Plaintiff.”431
Holcomb “met Tyler (who would’ve been 25 at the time of their meeting) just after her 16th
birthday when Aerosmith played a concert in Portland, Oregon, in 1973. Tyler, according to the
suit, took Holcomb back to his hotel room, where they discussed Holcomb’s age. After he
allegedly asked why she was out all night by herself, Tyler and Holcomb talked about her
troubles at home. He then ‘performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon’ her before
sending her home in a taxi the next morning, the lawsuit states.”432
Holcomb’s suit alleged that “Tyler convinced Holcomb’s mother to allow him to become her
guardian, which would allow him to more easily travel with her without criminal prosecution —
a timeline that matches Tyler’s own comments from his 2011 memoir.” Specifically, Holcomb’s
complaint alleged that Tyler “and his agents took actions for” Tyler to become Holcomb’s
guardian. Tyler “made various promises and inducements to Plaintiff’s mother assuring her of
the wellbeing of [Holcomb] including, but not limited to promising he would enroll her in
school; that he would support her; and provide her with better medical care and support than
her mother could at the time.” However, Tyler did not follow through on these promises “and
instead continued to travel with, assault and provide alcohol and drugs to [Holcomb].”433
When Tyler’s victim was 17 years old, his agents allegedly helped arrange an
abortion after pressure from Tyler.
Holcomb alleged that “she was pregnant with Tyler’s son in 1975 when she was 17 years old but
got an abortion after Tyler insisted she terminate the pregnancy following an apartment fire. In
making the argument, he cited smoke inhalation and lack of oxygen to the baby. Though the suit
claims a medical professional told her the unborn baby was not harmed by the fire.” Holcomb’s
430 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022
431 Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 22TRCV01604, filed February 1, 2023
432 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022; Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 22TRCV01604, filed February 1, 2023
433 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022; Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 22TRCV01604, filed February 1, 2023
120
complaint claimed that Tyler “pressured and coerced [Holcomb] to have an abortion by
threatening that he would send her back to her family and cease to support and love her.”434
According to Holcomb’s amended complaint against Tyler, she claimed that Tyler’s agents “were
present and assisted with arrangement for the abortion which needed to be performed at a
different facility since the facility [that] treated Plaintiff was Catholic and an abortion was not
available.” Holcomb ultimately “relented and the abortion was performed.”435 According to
Rolling Stone, Holcomb said she “left Tyler and went back to Portland to change her life. She
became a devout Catholic, met her husband, and buried her previous experiences with Tyler
until he wrote about them in his book.”436
Tyler’s 2011 memoir reportedly detailed his sexual relationship with the underage
fan and romanticized the abuse. It also named his victim to her dismay.
Holcomb claimed that “her life was further disrupted with the publication of Tyler’s memoir,
which, without Holcomb’s consent, referenced his time with an underage girl and subjected her
to ‘involuntary infamy’ while framing the alleged abuse as a ‘romantic, loving relationship,’ the
suit says. Tyler has also spoken of a relationship with an underage girl both in his own memoir
and in Aerosmith’s autobiography.” Holcomb claimed that “she’s mentioned in the memoir’s
acknowledgments which further removed her anonymity.”437
Holcomb’s complaint alleged that Tyler’s “memoirs characterize the child sex assaults of
[Holcomb] as a romantic, loving relationship without her knowledge or consent.” Holcomb’s
complaint alleged that statements made in Tyler’s memoir were made “with the intent of
garnering various benefits including fame and financial benefit for himself and his
managers/agents/publishers without the consent or permission of Plaintiff and to her
detriment.”438
In response to his victim’s lawsuit, Tyler alleged that he had legal immunity from
sexual misconduct as her legal guardian.
In April 2023, Steven Tyler denied “all allegations stated” in Holcomb’s lawsuit. Tyler’s answer
to Holcomb’s complaint “states that the plaintiff, formerly known as Julia Holcomb, consented
to their sexual relationship and he had immunity as her legal guardian at the time the alleged
434 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022; Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 22TRCV01604, filed February 1, 2023
435 Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 22TRCV01604, filed February 1, 2023
436 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022
437 rollingstone.com, December 29, 2022
438 andersonadvocates.com, filed February 1, 2023
121
events occurred. He also requested for the lawsuit to be dismissed entirely, according to the
documents obtained by PEOPLE.”439
Susan Crumiller, an attorney interviewed by Rolling Stone, stated that upon reviewing Tyler’s
denial claims, “I got [to the immunity response] and I thought, ‘This is fucking insane,’ […]
There is no such thing as immunity to a caregiver or guardian for sex abuse. I don’t have the
words to describe how crazy it is.” According to Rolling Stone, “Whether or not Tyler and his
team intended for the immunity claim to specifically insinuate that his position as a defendant
protects him from sexual misconduct isn’t clear.”440
Jeanne Bellino, a former child model, was the second woman to come forward
alleging Tyler sexually assaulted her as a teenager, and she sued him in New York
for gender-motivated violence.
In November 2023, a second woman came “forward with allegations that Steven Tyler sexually
assaulted her when she was a teenager, according to a lawsuit filed in New York.” Jeanne Bellino
was a child model “who claimed to have met Tyler in New York in the summer of 1975 when she
was 17,” and she “alleged in the suit that Tyler, then around 27, violently assaulted her twice the
only day they’d encountered one another. The cause of action listed in the suit is gender-
motivated violence, and the plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages to be determined by the
court.”441
According to Bellino’s lawsuit, she met Tyler with a friend after a fashion show in Manhattan,
and while they were walking down Sixth Avenue, “she asked Tyler a question about a song lyric,
which frustrated Tyler, leading to him forcing her into a phone booth.” Her suit alleged, “While
holding her captive, Tyler stuck his tongue down her throat, and put his hands upon her body,
her breasts, her buttocks, and her genitals, moving and removing clothing and pinning her
against the wall of the phone booth.” Bellino said that during the incident, “he was humping her
pretending to have sex with Plaintiff,” and “Tyler’s penis was erect.” Bellino alleged, “Others
stood by outside the phone booth laughing and as passersby watched and witnessed, nobody in
the entourage intervened. […] Tyler’s bandmates and members of the entourage watched,
laughed and did nothing to intercede.”442
Bellino said she was confused and in shock and went with the group “back to the Warwick Hotel,
where again near the hotel’s bar area, Tyler allegedly forcibly kissed Bellino and grinded against
439 people.com, April 5, 2023
440 rollingstone.com, April 10, 2023
441 rollingstone.com, November 2, 2023
442 rollingstone.com, November 2, 2023
122
her. Again, the suit claims, Bellino resisted. Tyler then allegedly whispered into her ear that he
was ‘going in my room to do something quick,’ and that he’d call her to come to the room after.”
Eventually, when Tyler had an associate tell her to go up to his room, she “says she was so afraid
that she ‘couldn’t talk and was paralyzed.’ She shook her head to the associate and ‘bolted
toward the door,’ where a doorman who she says saw the previous act ‘flung her’ into a cab
outside the hotel and yelled for the driver to go.”443
In February 2024, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed Bellino’s case, ruling that her
claims “did not qualify” under New York’s Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection
Law. The judge “ruled that the special ‘lookback’ window only applies to cases where the
abuser’s actions presented a ‘serious risk of physical injury’ – and that Tyler’s alleged actions did
not do so.” Billboard reported that the “ruling could be legally significant.”444
Based on the case docket, after the judge granted Tyler’s motion to dismiss, Jeff Anderson,
attorney for Bellino, filed a letter to the judge noting “that Plaintiff was not served with
Defendant’s underlying Motion, despite defense counsel’s certification that the Motion was
electronically served on February 2, 2024. As a result, Plaintiff was not aware of the Motion and
did not timely file an opposition.” The letter requested “that the underlying Motion and
subsequent Order be stricken.” Plaintiff also had until March 13, 2024 to file a motion for leave
to file an amended complaint.445
Continued Work With Sony
Aerosmith’s music is distributed by Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia
Records.
In 1995, Aerosmith announced it had changed its manager and reverted back to their old label,
Columbia Records, known as “a premier frontline label of Sony Music Entertainment.” In 1990,
Aerosmith “had signed this lucrative multi-million dollar contract with Columbia Records.”446
Aerosmith first “landed a record contract with Columbia Records in 1972” and worked at the
label until moving to Geffen Records.447 Aerosmith signed a contract with Universal Music
Group’s Geffen Records in 1991 before resigning for Columbia.448
443 rollingstone.com, November 2, 2023
444 billboard.com, February 22, 2024
445 uscourts.gov, Case No. 1:24-cv-00712-LAK, accessed February 26, 2024
446 sonymusic.co.uk, accessed July 27, 2023; aerosmithtemple.com, accessed July 27, 2023; musicbusinessworldwide.com, accessed
July 27, 2023
447 allthemusic.com, accessed July 27, 2023
448 benvaugh.com, October 18, 2022; interscope.com, accessed July 27, 2023; archive.ph, accessed July 27, 2023;
referenceforbusiness.com, accessed July 27, 2023; audiencerepublic.com, accessed July 27, 2023
123
Kaallan “KR” Walker
Allegations & Criminal Charges
Rapper Kaalan “KR” Walker faced criminal charges of sexual assault and rape
involving aspiring models who he allegedly hired for professional work.
In October 2018, actor and rapper Kaalan “KR” Walker was “charged with nine felony sexual
assault charges…after he was arrested last month for accusations of sexual assault dating back to
2016,” according to Variety. The charges included “five counts of forcible rape, three counts of
sexual penetration by a foreign object, and one count of forcible oral copulation.” The assaults
all “took place in Los Angeles County” and “involve[d] aspiring models whom Walker contacted
under the premise of being hired for professional work.” His court date was set for November 14,
2018, and he was released on a $1,080,000 bail. Walker was “re-arrested March 2019 when six
new victims were added to the case, and then released on reduced bond in November 2020.” He
was brough back in custody in 2022 “after his April 2022 conviction.”449
In April 2022, Walker was found “guilty of three counts of forcible rape, one count of assault to
commit oral copulation, two counts of statutory rape and two counts of rape by intoxication,”
People reported. He was found “not guilty of one count of digital penetration and two counts of
forcible rape.” Beginning in 2013, Walked “used Instagram and Twitter to contact women —
including aspiring models — on social media, promising them opportunities for professional
work and to meet celebrities, prosecutors said.” People reported that “over a two-year span,
Walker would get the women alone and then sexually assault them, police said. ‘When they said,
'Stop,' he didn't care.’”450
Walker was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after he was convicted of raping
four women and three teenage girls he met on social media.
In October 2022, Walker was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison and required to “register as
a sex offender for the rest of his life” after he had been “convicted of raping four women and
three teenage girls he met on social media,” according to People. Walker’s attorney said the
449 people.com, October 18, 2022; variety.com, October 26, 2018; nbcnews.com, October 18, 2022
450 people.com, October 18, 2022
124
sentence was “draconian” and the trial was “very unfair.” NBC News reported that Walker’s
“defense team plans to appeal the sentence.”451
Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson
Allegations
Marilyn Manson insinuated that he engaged in sexual acts with minor fans, who
supposedly wanted it. In addition to violence in his stage acts, he said he was
sexually aroused by women in fear.
In a 1995 Purr interview, Brian Warner, aka Marilyn Manson, was asked about groupies and to
talk about “any exciting episodes.” He said, “I have always found that the best and most exciting
stories on the road are better left a secret because of the statute of limitations.” When pressed
further if he was “advised by your manager to leave all that shit out,” Manson responded, “NO.
But I’ve found there are some things you should keep to yourself. I can say I’ve never been
ceased to be amazed at the level of depravity that a male or female will go to. I realize that a lot
of fans are caught up in the excitement of the moment and a certain part of me has to respect
that innocence and ignorance, and I care not to want to exploit people like that, so anybody that
gets into any exploitation is not someone who doesn’t WANT to get taken advantage of.”452
For the 2000 documentary “Demystifying the Devil,” people close to Manson during this time
further discussed how Manson privately “shows himself to be a racist boor with a connoisseur's
appreciation for moral and physical abuse.” This included Manson “relishing in seeing” animal
violence, such as “a fluffy white bunny getting squeezed dead by another pet snake,” as well as
“full frontal nudity and unspeakable acts with groupies’ underwear and toothbrushes.” One of
the participants in the documentary was Missi Romero, Manson’s ex-girlfriend whom he dated
until 1998 and began dating when she was 17 years old and he was 23 years old.453
During the 1995 Purr interview, Manson was further asked about a line in one of his songs “I
like you more when you’re afraid.” He said, “I’ve grown accustomed to getting sexual excitement
out of a girls’ screaming. There’s something about a terrified girl that I find exciting. I like
scaring girls, but how far do you go for your own entertainment? I guess I tend to be into fear
and I like to find out what makes people afraid and why.” Later in the interview, he said, “The
451 people.com, October 18, 2022; nbcnews.com, October 18, 2022
452 Purr Magazine, 1995, accessed via liveinternet.ru
453 Sun Sentinel, January 7, 1999; rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
125
things I would want to do to peoples’ kids would really scare them because I would love to push
individuality and free thinking on them and that would be something that would disrupt the
family household.”454
An investigative report published in Rolling Stone in 2021 noted that Manson wrote in his
memoir “about abusing a woman he called ‘Nancy’ as part of his early stage act, describing how
he would hold her by a leash and beat her onstage.” He “claimed in the book that he and a
bandmate plotted murdering Nancy before changing their minds.” Both Rolling Stone and Purr
described how Manson’s early shows would feature women and children in cages, with one local
musician recalling that he saw Manson hitting a woman in the cage.455
A fan of Manson’s alleged she was sexually abused by him and threatened on his
tour bus multiple times when she was 16 years old.
According to a lawsuit filed by a Jane Doe in 2023 in Nassau County Supreme Court in New
York, Manson sexually assaulted the girl when she was 16 years old on his tour bus after a
concert in September 1995. The lawsuit alleged Manson took Jane Doe and another young
female fan onto the tour bus, where he asked them “what each of their ages were, what grades in
school they were in, and where their parents were at the time.” He also got their home addresses
and phone numbers. On the tour bus, “Warner performed various acts of criminal sexual
conduct upon Plaintiff, who was a virgin at the time, including but not limited to forced
copulation and vaginal penetration.” One of the band members allegedly watched, and after
sexually assaulting Jane Doe, “Warner laughed at her.” He also told her “to ‘get the fuck off my
bus’ and threatened Plaintiff that, if she told anyone, he would kill her and her family.”456
The lawsuit continued that Jane Doe went to another concert for Manson and his band in New
Orleans in December 1995 when she was still 16 years old, with Manson and the band providing
“tickets for the performance, as well as a photo pass” that gave her additional access. After
inviting her on the tour bus, Manson “then became more aggressive and again sexually assaulted
Plaintiff, including kissing, biting her breast, oral copulation, and penetration.” Another man
allegedly employed by Manson and the labels was also on the bus at the time.457
The Jane Doe lawsuit in Nassau County alleged Manson “continued to groom and sexually
assault” her when she was 19 years old and he was touring in 1999. This occurred over a series of
weeks at shows across several states, including New York. She alleged that in New York, he
454 Purr Magazine, 1995, accessed via liveinternet.ru
455 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021; Purr Magazine, 1995, accessed via liveinternet.ru
456 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
457 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
126
coerced her to have sex with him through control, including “hostile and verbally abusive
behavior,” as well as providing her with drugs.458
Manson allegedly showed an ex-girlfriend a video of him abusing a young fan that
he was advised by his manager not to show anyone or he’d face prison time.
According to another Jane Doe lawsuit filed by an ex-girlfriend in Los Angeles in 2021, Manson
allegedly showed her a film called “Groupie” of him threatening and abusing a young fan in 1996
after a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Based on her recollection, the video showed “a seemingly
young teenage fan.” Manson “then tied the young fan to a chair, and lectured and interrogated
her. He humiliated and berated her. She cried and pled. The girl’s t-shirt was removed, and
Warner forced her to drink a glass of one of the band member’s urine. Later, a gun is introduced,
and Warner threatened her with it and possibly pistol-whipped her.” In the video, Manson’s
“abuse and violence” increased. Jane Doe said that she began “crying and asking repeatedly if
the girl in the video was dead.” Manson claimed it was his girlfriend at the time and a woman in
his “Long Road Out of Hell” video. However, Doe said that “the girl looked like a young
teenager” and “did not resemble the woman in the video.”459
In an investigative report for Rolling Stone in 2021, Manson’s friends from the 1990s “say that
he taped sexual encounters and showed them to other people.”460 In the complaint, Doe said the
video was kept in a safe by Manson. She claimed Manson told her “only three people in the
world besides him had ever seen the video,” and to Manson, “it was incredibly meaningful” for
him to show her the video. Additionally, “Warner told Plaintiff that when he first showed the
movie to Tony Ciulla, his manager, Ciulla told him that he needed to lock the tape in a safe and
never show it to anyone, or else Warner would be sent to prison.” Doe “did not understand why
he would be sent to prison if what transpired was all just ‘acting.’”461
Manson’s fan clubs allegedly received nude photos from underage girls and were
used to encourage fans to send child pornography.
According to the 2021 Rolling Stone report, Laura Werder ran Manson’s “Satan’s Bake Sale fan
club on and off until 1994.” She said, “There were underage girls sending nude pictures of
themselves, people writing letters in blood.” Werder recalled “a newsletter urging those
followers to break the law. ‘They were like, ‘We are having a contest to see who can send us a
Polaroid with the most deviant usage of our logo,’’ she recalls. ‘For example, ‘Your father’s
458 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
459 Jane Doe, Los Angeles Complaint, May 28, 2021
460 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021; Purr Magazine, 1995, accessed via liveinternet.ru
461 Jane Doe, Los Angeles Complaint, May 28, 2021
127
passed out drunk and naked, you carve ‘Marilyn Manson’ on his bald forehead and snap a
picture.’’”462 The Nassau County lawsuit filed by Jane Doe also alleged Manson “used the
Marilyn Manson Family Intervention Hotline to coax underage fans to send him child
pornography, including Polaroid photographs of themselves naked.”463
Settlements & Retaliation Against Victims
Legal records and press reports show Manson, his manager, and his lawyers used
payouts and settlements to avoid lawsuits and keep lawsuits from moving forward
with more serious claims.
According to the 2021 Rolling Stone investigation, around the time of Manson’s 1996 album,
“Warner linked up with manager Tony Ciulla, who would go on to oversee his career for the next
25 years.” A former Manson band member said, “Tony was the only dude who could tame the
beast when shit was going down…When Manson would fucking destroy a venue or a hotel, Tony
would be there with a checkbook and a smile.”464
In 1999, Craig Marks, then-editor of Spin, filed a lawsuit against Manson in New York State
Supreme Court alleging harassment and assault. According to the legal complaint, as reported in
Rolling Stone, while backstage at a concert, “Manson … began to threaten Marks by shouting
that he could kill Marks, his whole family, and everyone he knew … Before Marks could respond,
[Warner’s bodyguards] physically attacked him.… Manson approvingly exclaimed, ‘That’s what
you get when you disrespect me.’” The assault came after Marks took Manson off the cover of
Spin. One eyewitness recalled, “Manson’s security guy was holding this kid up against the
wall.”465 Vulture reported that Manson countersued for defamation, and the case was
“eventually settled out of court.”466
In June 2002, Manson pleaded no contest “to two misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct
and assault and battery” in Clarkston District Court in Michigan, according to MTV. He agreed
“to pay a fine of $4,000” for “rubbing his crotch” against the head of Joshua Keasler, a security
guard at a show in Detroit. Initially, Manson’s lawyer, Walter Piszczatowski, “said that Manson
would plead guilty after the charges were reduced from fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct to
disorderly conduct.” However, Keasler filed a federal lawsuit “in U.S. District Court in Detroit
alleging assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, gross negligence and
462 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
463 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
464 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
465 mtv.com, January 5, 1999; rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
466 vulture.com, July 19, 2023
128
wanton misconduct.” Piszczatowski said the no contest plea meant Keasler “wouldn’t be able to
use Manson’s words as ammunition against him.”467 The civil suit was later dismissed after
Manson and Keasler agreed to an undisclosed settlement.468
Keasler told Rolling Stone in 2021 that he wondered “if his legal case 20 years ago could have
done more to protect women: ‘Had he been a registered sex offender, maybe one of those young
ladies would have considered a little longer before they thought, ‘Maybe this isn’t the guy I want
to hang out with.’’”469
Manson threatened victims with his rabid fanbase to discourage them from
coming forward, and victims described the harassment they received at the hands
of his fans.
In the Jane Doe case in Nassau County, the Plaintiff alleged “several acts of retaliation,” such as
“publicly revealing sensitive information about Plaintiff (‘doxxing’), hacking Plaintiff’s
Instagram account, and systematic harassment through numerous websites by Defendant
Warner and his fans.” The lawsuit also alleged Manson and his wife were “retaliating against
Plaintiff through a particular YouTuber who has profited by discrediting, victim blaming, and
shaming Defendant Warner’s victims.”470
In another case filed by a Jane Doe in Los Angeles in 2021, Doe alleged she “was frightened of
Warner’s fans. Warner told her frequently that his fans were extreme in their devotion and likely
would hate her. They were frighteningly loyal to him and fanatically obsessed. Warner warned
Plaintiff that his fans had bullied and harassed previous girlfriends of his, and she was nervous
about them finding out who she was.”471 When Doe refiled her complaint after the first was
dismissed, Deadline reported that she alleged “Manson told her he would ‘bash her head in’ if
she reported the alleged assault to authorities.”472
In February 2021, Evan Rachel Wood shared on Instagram that she filed a police report against
Manson in December 2020 “after becoming aware of a threat about the release of underage
photos of her.” She said she “was alerted to threats” made by Manson’s wife and another
Instagram user named Leslee Lane to release the photos that were taken after Wood was “given
467 mtv.com, June 19, 2002
468 eastvalleytribune.com, February 18, 2004
469 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
470 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
471 Jane Doe, Los Angeles Complaint, May 28, 2021
472 pitchfork.com, September 23, 2021
129
large amounts of drugs and alcohol” following a Las Vegas show in order “to ‘ruin my career’ and
‘shut me up.’”473
Furthermore, the Daily Mail reported that in March 2021, Wood filed a declaration in the
custody case over her son explaining she moved from Los Angeles to Nashville over fear for the
safety of her and her son. According to a copy of the declaration published by the Daily Mail,
Wood wrote, “I believe he presents an imminent risk of harm to me and the people I love,
including our son, in particular in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area. I believe that me and our
son are significantly safer in Tennessee where we are far away from the alleged offender, active
criminal case, the alleged offender’s network of fanatic supporters, and the paparazzi.” While
these portions of the declaration weren’t published, the Daily Mail alleged Wood also said
Manson threatened to “f**k her eight-year-old son” and alleged Manson “was involved in
human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors on a large scale.”474
Manson collected blackmail on victims and threatened professional retaliation to
destroy their careers in order to coerce victims to stay silent.
Ashley Walters, a former assistant to Manson who alleged she was “sometimes expected to work
48 hours straight” until she was fired in 2011, recounted retaliation in a 2021 lawsuit filed in Los
Angeles. She said that Warner “continued to threaten her, accused her of stealing artwork from
his home, and hacked into her Facebook account.” She told The Cut that he once sent a photo
showing the cut up back of actress Esme Bianco to her “with the subject line ‘See what
happens?’” While she was still employed in 2011, she also alleged Manson “attempted to ruin her
reputation by beginning a smear campaign.”475 Walter’s attorneys later argued that she was
“deterred from filing suit” from “not just threats but also violence and intimidation and other
coercive acts.”476
The “Phoenix Rising” documentary detailed how Manson would gather blackmail on people.
Dan Cleary, a former assistant to Manson, said Manson used his Wi-Fi to hack phones and
laptops. He said, “I’ve seen him hack into people’s laptops and gather information on them as
blackmail. He’s hacked into my computer and social media accounts; he was monitoring my
every move.” Wood said, “The three main things that I saw him get on people so they couldn’t
say anything were naked photos, drugs, and ‘I’m going to get you to say the n-word on
camera.’”477
473 hollywoodreporter.com, February 6, 2021
474 dailymail.uk, December 6, 2021
475 Ashley Walters, Final Complaint, accessed July 26, 2023 via Google Drive; thecut.com, February 10, 2021
476 rollingstone.com, January 26, 2022
477 rollingstone.com, March 15, 2022
130
In 2022, Esmé Bianco accused Manson “of torpedoing a business deal to ‘silence’ her after she
publicly accused him of sexual assault” in court documents. According to Bianco, after Manson
learned that she signed a contract with metal group Deftones to participate in a photo shoot for
their upcoming tour, Manson threatened the Deftones, who in response “instructed the creative
director not to use the photos of Bianco. Bianco said she suffered ‘the loss of exposure from
images being used during the Deftones' world tour’ and the lost gig ‘resulted in reputational
damage and a loss of future economic opportunity with the Deftones.’” Bianco filed a complaint
accusing Manson of continuing “to work to silence Ms. Bianco through threats, intimidation,
and coercion.”478 In January 2023, Bianco settled her lawsuit with Manson out-of-court with
neither side disclosing the details.479
Manson threatened physical violence against victims to guarantee their silence
and insinuated he had connections with police to discourage them from filing
reports.
In “Phoenix Rising,” Evan Rachel Wood recounted “how Manson used fear to keep her silent”
about his alleged rape of her on the set of “Heart-Shaped Glasses.” Wood said, “Brian was really
clear about how I should discuss the video with the press, how I was supposed to tell people that
we had this great romantic time, and none of that was the truth. But I was scared to do anything
that would upset Brian in any way.”480
In another lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by Jane Doe, she alleged he raped her and assaulted her.
After one assault, “Doe says, Warner threatened to kill her, saying he would ‘bash her head in’
and boasted that he could ‘get away with’ murdering her ‘because she was a ‘nobody’ and he was
a celebrity who had contacts with the police.’”481 In November 2021, Stephen D. Rothschild, an
attorney for Manson in the case, said Manson “was open to settlement discussions” in the Los
Angeles Doe case and “added that other settlements could follow.” He said, “There are other
cases that are somewhat related, and so as things progress, we may decide that it’s best to have a
global mediation.”482
In May 2018, a police complaint was filed against Manson in Los Angeles “for unspecified sex
crimes dating back to 2011,” but in August 2018, the district attorney’s office “declined that case
because the statute of limitations had expired and ‘absence of corroboration,’” according to The
Hollywood Reporter.483 In November 2021, Vulture reported that detectives with the Special
478 insider.com, January 4, 2023
479 theguardian.com, January 25, 2023
480 vulture.com, January 25, 2023
481 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
482 loudwire.com, November 19, 2021
483 hollywoodreporter.com, August 10, 2018
131
Victims Unit in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department searched Manson’s home as part of
another investigation into complaints made by several women and “reportedly seized media-
storage units such as hard drives for review.”484 The Los Angeles Times reported that this
investigation was concluded in September 2022, and the Sheriff’s Department submitted
findings to the district attorney “for filing consideration.”485
Manson used legal retaliation against victims who came forward, including alleged
enforcement of confidentiality agreements and threats to encourage victims to
turn on one another in court.
In March 2022, Ashley Walters filed an amended complaint against Manson after her initial
lawsuit was “thrown out in January 2022 on the basis of statute of limitations.” In addition to
keeping many of her original allegations, Rolling Stone reported that the amended complaint
alleged “that, since the initial filing, Walters was also threatened by Manson’s counsel with
‘retaliatory legal action’ if she took part in the upcoming Evan Rachel Wood documentary
Phoenix Rising that details the alleged abuse the actress suffered while with Manson.”486
According to Vulture, “A source close to Warner says the reason for the potential legal action
was a confidentiality agreement Walters allegedly violated.”487
In December 2023, a California appellate court overturned the dismissal of Walters’ amended
complaint, allowing it to proceed towards a jury trial. Her amended complaint “said she had
been ‘unable to recall many of the physical and emotional abuses until the fall of 2020 when
countless repressed memories flooded back to [her] after meeting numerous other victims of
[Manson] and obtaining counseling from a mental health professional.’” Dan Stormer, an
attorney for Walters, “said he expects the case to go to trial, and that he’ll ask the jury for a
‘high-seven figure amount.’”488
Ahead of the airing of “Phoenix Rising” in March 2022, Manson filed a defamation suit against
Evan Rachel Wood and Illma Gore, “alleging that the pair conspired to coerce other women into
making allegations against him. He also accused them of impersonating FBI agents to further
coerce the women by making them believe their families were in danger.”489 After Manson filed
suit, Wood appeared on “The View” where she said she expected Manson to do this as it’s the
sort of retaliation people in power take and it’s a reason why victims don’t speak up.490
484 vulture.com, November 30, 2021
485 latimes.com, September 20, 2022
486 rollingstone.com, March 12, 2022
487 vulture.com, July 19, 2023
488 courthousenews.com, December 13, 2023
489 people.com, May 10, 2023
490 youtube.com, 12:40, March 14, 2022
132
In January 2023, Ashley Morgan Smithline’s lawsuit was dismissed after she removed her
lawyer and failed to secure new representation. Page Six reported Manson’s lawyers also
“provided a series of text messages allegedly sent by Smithline that appear to show she actually
tried to get rid of [her lawyer] first back in April 2022.” In the text messages, Smithline’s lawyer,
Jay Ellwanger, expressed concern that her phone was hacked because it didn’t sound like her.
He texted, “I am honestly very concerned about you — this is all very different behavior than I
have ever seen from you and I’ve known you for over a year.”491
Furthermore, in February 2023, Manson filed a declaration in his defamation case against Wood
from Ashley Morgan Smithline saying she “recanted her assault allegations against Manson and
claimed that she was ‘manipulated’ by Wood and Gore to make false accusations.” She also
claimed her lawsuit was filed against Manson without her knowledge or permission, which her
lawyer Ellwanger said was “categorically and verifiably false.”492 Wood provided Page Six with
Instagram messages showing Smithline was scared of the backlash for speaking out, including
from Manson’s fans, and Wood provided a voicemail from Smithline expressing concern that
Manson’s “attorney wanted her to ‘turn on the other girls and say that it was all a ruse.’”493 The
court refused to accept the declaration and struck down most of Manson’s claims against Wood
and Gore in the defamation suit in May 2023.494
Public Reckoning
Over a dozen women, several of whom are celebrities, came forward by 2021 with
similar claims of abuse at the hands of Marilyn Manson, including descriptions of
an apartment where he held women captive.
By 2021, Rolling Stone reported, “more than a dozen women have come forward accusing
Warner of psychological or sexual abuse, several in interviews with outlets such as the Los
Angeles Times and People; four have filed civil lawsuits.” This included lawsuits filed by model
Ashley Morgan Smithline, actress Esmé Bianco, Manson’s former assistant Ashley Walters, and
an unnamed Jane Doe. Accusers who spoke with Rolling Stone for the investigation said “that
Warner was able to hide his abuses in plain sight behind the Marilyn Manson character he
created and the music industry that supported, and profited from, his living-demon shtick.”
Allegations from these accusers painted the same story “of someone who conditioned women
491 pagesix.com, January 4, 2023
492 pitchfork.com, February 23, 2023; thecut.com, February 28, 2023
493 pagesix.com, February 28, 2023; rollingstone.com, February 28, 2023
494 people.com, May 10, 2023
133
through flattery and dark humor before introducing a pattern of sexual and physical abuse” and
“that he plied them with drugs and alcohol, controlled their eating and sleeping habits, and held
them captive emotionally and physically until they submitted to his will.” When they tried to
leave, “they say, he’d threaten to kill himself or, worse, them.”495
Those who spoke to Rolling Stone described what Manson called the “Bad Girls’ Room” built by
a former tenant for recording music in an apartment Manson rented in 2010 above a West
Hollywood liquor store. Described as a “cramped glass enclosure in the corner of a room,”
people who dated and worked with Manson described it “as a solitary-confinement cell used to
psychologically torture women. They say Warner frequently banished his girlfriends there,
keeping them inside for hours on end to punish them for the tiniest perceived transgressions.”
Ashley Morgan Smithline said he “repeatedly forced her to stay in the space.” In 2012, Manson
even said to a magazine, “If anyone’s bad, I can lock them in it, and it’s soundproof.” He also
kept the apartment cold at 65 degrees or lower, with one ex-girlfriend calling it a “black
refrigerator.” Multiple exes alleged that it was in this apartment where “Warner inflicted
repeated acts of mental, physical, and sexual abuse.”496
Furthermore, in February 2021, singer Phoebe Bridgers tweeted, “I went to Marilyn Manson’s
house when I was a teenager with some friends. I was a big fan. He referred to a room in his
house as the ‘r*pe room’, I thought it was just his horrible frat boy sense of humor. I stopped
being a fan. I stand with everyone who came forward. […] The label knew, management knew,
the band knew. Distancing themselves now, pretending to be shocked and horrified is fucking
pathetic.”497
In the 2022 HBO documentary “Phoenix Rising,” Evan Rachel Wood described her “abuse at the
hands of the rock musician Marilyn Manson,” including accusations of rape, physical violence,
drugging, and grooming. Wood’s accusations also matched those of other accusers, such as
Manson depriving her of sleep and food, the use of drugs, and branding her with a letter “M.”498
According to an op-ed for NBC News by freelance writer Patricia Grisafi, “When Wood alleges
that Manson raped her during the music video for the song ‘Heart-Shaped Glasses,’ we see how
the industry profoundly failed to help a young woman in danger.”499 In the documentary, Wood
said of the incident, “We had discussed a simulated sex scene, but once the cameras were
rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that. I’m a professional actress;
495 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
496 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
497 twitter.com, February 4, 2021
498 theatlantic.com, March 22, 2022; latimes.com, March 15, 2022
499 nbcnews.com, Opinion, March 16, 2022
134
I have been doing this my whole life; I’d never been on a set that unprofessional in my life up
until this day. It was complete chaos, and I did not feel safe. No one was looking after me.”500
Continued Profit for UMG
As early as Manson’s first album in 1993, UMG’s Interscope Records expressed
concern about his pedophilic content but decided to continue to work with Manson
and approve his content.
Manson began working with Trent Reznor, founder of Nothing Records, “in the early 1990’s at
the infamous Hollywood Hills home where Charles Manson’s disciples murdered pregnant
movie star Sharon Tate,” based on a 2023 civil lawsuit filed in Nassau County Supreme Court in
New York. In “The Long Road Out of Hell,” Manson’s 1998 autobiography, Manson “boasted
that he and his friend Reznor sexually abused a woman and on the next day, Reznor told
Defendant Warner that, ‘he was starting his own label through Interscope Records called
Nothing, and he wanted Marilyn Manson to be the first band on it.’”501 Interscope Records is a
label under UMG.502
In 1993, Marilyn Manson’s first album, “Portrait of an American Family,” was released by
Interscope and Nothing Records. The 2023 Nassau County lawsuit stated that based on
Manson’s autobiography, Manson “attempted to include a naked photograph” of himself as a
child as an insert for the album. According to the autobiography, “[T]he lawyers at Interscope
said, ‘First off, that picture’s going to be considered child pornography, and not only will no
stores carry the album but we’re subject to legal retribution from it.’ They said if a judge were to
look at it, the law states that if a photograph of a minor elicits sexual excitement then it’s
considered child pornography. I said, ‘That’s exactly my point.’”503
According to the case, “Interscope expressed concern about producing and promoting
Defendant Warner and his band.” In a 1996 interview published in Seconds Magazine, Manson
admitted that Interscope dropped his band at some point. He said, “when we recorded Portrait
Of An American Family, Interscope did drop us. They refused to put the album out, the reason
being the content of the record was in question. […] They had a change of heart and we stayed
with them.”504
500 pitchfork.com, January 23, 2022
501 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
502 universalmusic.com, accessed July 27, 2023
503 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
504 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
135
The lawsuit alleged that these interactions showed Interscope Records and Nothing Records
“were well aware of Defendant Warner’s obsession with child pornography and pedophilia and
his desire to expose children across America to sexual themes.” The lawsuit added that the
record labels “promoted Defendant Warner’s pedophilia and violence for added publicity and
financial gain.” To illustrate the point, the lawsuit included flyers promoting Manson in 1994
with “images of two disoriented drugged children being held by Defendant Warner’s character
like puppets: a young boy with an exposed penis and a young girl with pigtails with exposed
breasts.” One also included the words “All ages welcome.” Photos of those flyers are pictured
below.505
According to a Rolling Stone investigation from 2021, “1995’s Smells Like Children EP marked a
rare instance where Manson’s label told him he had crossed the line. The initial track list
contained two terrifying audio vignettes titled ‘Abuse.’” The recordings featured bus driver Tony
Wiggins “who joined Warner and [bassist Jeordie] White in humiliating and abusing young
women and men backstage, according to Warner’s book.” In one track, “a young woman
whimpers and screams in apparent agony as the bus driver asks, ‘You like it, don’t you?’ while
whipping her and rattling chains; in the other, a young woman describes molesting a six-year-
old boy.” One person who worked on the EP told Rolling Stone, “That was the point when
505 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
136
Interscope said, ‘Yeah, this is too much for us,’” and another said, “Everybody was like, ‘There’s
no fucking way — we have to change this.’”506
Furthermore, in a 1995 interview with Purr, the interviewer pointed out that he knew “in
dealing with you [Manson] for photographs and the video we did that whatever plans you make
must be filtered through our management and record company.” When asked what he would do
in a show if given an unlimited budget and no censorship, Manson responded, “I don’t ever take
into consideration the law when performing.” He was asked his favorite age group and
responded, “The most understanding crowd seems to be the 14-18 age set.” The interviewer
pointed out that “on-stage you always seem to be talking to the 14 yr. olds” and asked if that got
him into trouble. Manson responded, “It does and that is exactly why I do it. Because I am not
supposed to and I hate being told what to do.”507
In 1995, Interscope allegedly paid the bail for Manson on criminal charges filed
against him for getting naked on stage in Florida and apparently masturbatin g.
On January 10, 1995, misdemeanor charges against Brian Warner, aka Marilyn Manson, were
filed in Duval County Circuit Court in Florida for violating the prohibition against nude and
semi-nude acts. Adjudication in the case was upheld, and Manson paid a total of $100 in fines
and costs.508 The civil case filed in January 2023 against Manson in Nassau County alleged
“Interscope paid for Defendant Warner’s bail so he could continue the tour,”509 and Vulture
reported that Manson was “released after spending a night in jail.”510 Manson explained in a
video posted on YouTube that he was arrested because “they thought I was masturbating on
stage with a dildo.”511 In a 1995 interview with Purr, Manson also said, “toward the end of the
show I ended up taking off all my clothes,” adding, “I ended up paying a fine to get the charges
dropped.”512 The following mugshot from this charge was posted on an online blog.513
506 rollingstone.com, November 14, 2021
507 Purr Magazine, 1995, accessed via liveinternet.ru
508 duvalclerk.com, Case No. 16-1995-MM-001380-AXXX-MA, accessed July 25, 2023
509 courthousenews.com, January 30, 2023
510 vulture.com, July 19, 2023
511 youtube.com, November 21, 2008
512 Purr Magazine, 1995, accessed via liveinternet.ru
513 scandalous10.weebly.com, accessed July 25, 2023
137
Manson continued to work with UMG until 2021 when several famous women
went public with their abuse claims, yet his records continue to generate royalties
for UMG.
In 2009, Manson “parted ways with longtime record label Interscope following the
disappointing sales performance” of his album “The High End Of Low.”514 Later, in a 2012
interview with Loudwire.com, Manson said, “The fortunate thing is that I got out of the record
deal because I told [then-Interscope CEO] Jimmy Iovine that he wasn't smart enough to
understand what I do. That was before ‘The High End of Low’ record, so of course I made an
enemy.”515
Manson later signed with Loma Vista Recordings for his subsequent albums released in 2015,
2017, and 2020. In 2012, Loma Vista was founded by former Warner Bros. Records chairman
Tom Walley as a partnership with Universal Republic Records, a label under UMG. Then, in
2014, Loma Vista shifted “to UMG-distributed Concord Music Group in a new multiyear,
worldwide pact.”516 Loma Vista stopped working with Manson in February 2021 after actress
Evan Rachel Wood and several other women accused him of abuse. The label wrote in a
statement that it “will cease to promote his current album” and “not work with Marilyn Manson
on any future projects.”517
514 blabbermouth.net, December 3, 2009
515 loudwire.com, April 17, 2012
516 billboard.com, April 12, 2012; billboard.com, July 11, 2014
517 rollingstone.com, February 1, 2021
138
In February 2021, Billboard reported that since Manson signed with Interscope/Nothing,
Manson and his band “generated nearly 11 million albums consumptions units worth of activity
in the U.S.” In 2020, “Manson’s recording catalog generated nearly $5.03 million in revenue.”
At the time of reporting, “all of the Marilyn Manson catalog, including the Loma Vista titles, are
available at the services checked by Billboard.”518 As of January 2024, Manson’s music was still
available on streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music where it was
generating royalties for UMG.519
518 billboard.com, February 3, 2021
519 Streaming Services: Amazon Music, Apple Music, & Spotify, accessed January 16, 2024; billboard.com, July 27, 2023
139
Abuse by Producers, Executives, and
Other Industry Figures
140
Jeff Aldrich
Allegations & Continued Employment
RCA Records fired senior executive Jeff Aldrich after several female employees
complained of harassment, with one alleging he molested her, yet he was hired
back on months later and eventually moved to WMG.
In January 1991, RCA Records senior vice president of A&R Jeff Aldrich was fired after several
female employees, one whom was “the girlfriend of a powerful RCA executive,” complained that
Aldrich sexually harassed them at a company conference the month prior.520 One employee told
Entertainment Weekly that Aldrich “was sticking his hand down blouses and up skirts,” and EW
reported that Aldrich had thrown one woman onto a bed “and physically [molested] her.” An
RCA executive said, “When some double-digit number of women complained, we knew we had
to fire him.”521 RCA, a division of Sony Music, declined to comment on whether a financial
settlement was involved.522
Variety reported that Aldrich, who had been inebriated during the alleged incidents of
harassment, checked himself into a rehabilitation facility in December 1990 and was fired from
RCA in January 1991. He was brought back on to RCA “as an independent consultant less than a
month after his termination. He continued to work in that role for several months until he was
hired as an A&R exec by Irving Azoff’s WMG-distributed label Giant Records, and then later to
Warner Bros. Records,” a division of WMG. According to Variety, “Aldrich rejoined RCA in
2009, leaving the company two years later.”523
520 latimes.com, November 3, 1991
521 ew.com, December 6, 1991
522 sonymusic.com, accessed August 3, 2023; variety.com, January 31, 2018
523 variety.com, January 31, 2018; musicbusinessworldwide.com, accessed August 4, 2023
141
Irving & Rochelle “Shelli” Azoff
Allegations
Rochelle “Shelli” Azoff, the wife of producer Irving Azoff, was accused of sexual
harassment and abuse against their ex-live-in maid. Shelli Azoff allegedly ignored
her complaints.
Rochelle “Shelli” Azoff, who “has been involved in the entertainment industry for most of her
adult life,” was “accused of ‘gender violence, sexual battery’ and ‘sexual harassment’ against ex-
live in maid Rosa Martinez,” according to the Daily Mail. Both Shelli and her husband Irving
Azoff, a “legendary producer” and manager for acts such as The Eagles, Bon Jovi, and Christina
Aguilera, ran Azoff MSG Entertainment, and Shelli was tasked with “putting together events for
the Grammy Awards.” The couple was named in a lawsuit filed by Martinez “for assault and
battery, sexual battery, sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination.”524
Shelli Azoff allegedly targeted Martinez with “‘cruel and sadistic’ attacks which are said to have
included spanking Martinez, squeezing her breasts and burning her with cigarettes.” Martinez
was also allegedly “forced to clean Azoff's sex toys and smell her employer's soiled nightwear.”
Additionally, Azoff reportedly forced Martinez to “wear a size 10 uniform when she is a size 14,”
and was accused of “‘looking at her with disgust’ when she cried,” “pinching her cheeks until she
teared up,” and routinely summoning Martinez when Azoff was “stripped naked for ‘no apparent
reason other than to ask (the employee) to compliment her body,’ per the lawsuit.”
Radaronline.com reported another incident of an “alleged unwanted kiss on a private plane” and
an “incident where she [Azoff] allegedly sexually assaulted her [Martinez] at a home during the
Coachella Valley Music Festival.”525
According to the Daily Mail, “after complaining about the abuse alongside unpaid overtime,
Martinez claims the behavior escalated to up to three times a day in retaliation,” and it was
“often sexual in nature.” The mistreatment allegedly began in April 2022, “around four months
after hiring Martinez as the live-in housekeeper.” Martinez said she felt “‘powerless’ to the
assaults” but did tell Shelli Azoff “that the inappropriate touching was especially triggering as
she had been raped in the past.” In response, “Azoff allegedly laughed in her face, before
‘pointing out that if she had really been through the pain of rape, she would be strong enough to
524 dailymail.co.uk, March 17, 2023; radaronline.com, February 1, 2023; the arg.com, accessed December 22, 2023;
celebrityaccess.com, December 22, 2017
525 dailymail.co.uk, March 17, 2023
142
endure her behavior.’” Frank Kim, the attorney representing Martinez, said, “My client believes
that Rochelle enjoyed it. She was in complete control throughout the abuse... she believes it was
like a game to her.”526
Retaliation Against Victim
Though Shelli Azoff’s maid attempted to quit, the maid alleged that she was
intimidated into staying and faced professional retaliation.
After more than a year of alleged emotional and sexual abuse, Martinez attempted to quit but
claimed “she was intimidated into agreeing to stay until Azoff found her replacement, leading
her to remain in the home for almost two more months.” After her attempts to quit were
disregarded, Martinez also claimed she “left a note on Azoff's bed pleading for her to ‘please fire
me,’” writing, “I can’t tolerate this anymore” and “my soul is crushed in a million pieces.” In
June 2022, Azoff accepted Martinez’s resignation but under the condition that “she signed a
separation agreement, which she knew she would refuse, or submitted to a strip search. Faced
with even more humiliation, she conceded and signed the severance agreement, something she
claims was only agreed to ‘under duress.’”527
Once Martinez quit, Azoff “‘defamed’ the housekeeper to the agency she was employed with,
claiming she had let the employee go [due] to poor performance rather than ‘cruel and
malicious’ abuse.” Consequently, Martinez was let go by the agency and struggled to find
employment. Her attorney “believes the agency dropped her due to the allegations from Ms.
Azoff.”528
Shelli Azoff’s maid alleged that Irving Azoff was aware of the sexual assaults but
failed to stop them. She claimed that she was left intimidated by Irving Azoff’s
status, who was described as “the most power man in the music industry,” by
Billboard.
Martinez also named Irving Azoff as a defendant in her suit, claiming, “he knew about the sexual
assaults occurring in his LA mansion and failed to step in. The industry titan is also accused of
having prior ‘knowledge that Rochelle Azoff had sexually battered, abused and harassed other
victims’ in the past.” Martinez’s attorney stated that Irving Azoff’s “fame and fortune
contributed to the sustained abuse,” adding she “definitely felt intimidated by their status.”
526 dailymail.co.uk, March 17, 2023
527 dailymail.co.uk, March 17, 2023
528 dailymail.co.uk, March 17, 2023
143
Irving Azoff was “labeled ‘the most powerful man in the music industry’ by Billboard magazine
in 2021, after working with artists including Christina Aguilera, Jon Bon Jovi and The
Eagles.”529
Rodney Bingenheimer
Allegations
In April 2023, DJ and nightclub owner Rodney Bingenheimer was named in a
lawsuit by former Runaways member Kari Krome for allegedly sexually assaulting
her as a minor.
In April 2023, KROQ DJ and nightclub owner Rodney Bingenheimer was named in a lawsuit by
former Runaways co-founder and songwriter Kari Krome (whose legal name was Carrie
Mitchell) for allegedly sexual assaulting Krome when she was a minor. The lawsuit alleged that
Mitchell suffered “childhood sexual abuse, sexual battery, assault, and molestation” by
Bingenheimer when she was “approximately 13 and 14 and 15 years old.” The Runaways
manager Kim Fowley was also named in the lawsuit, which claimed both men “used their roles,
status, and power as adults, as well as their connections to and work in the music industry to
gain access to manipulate, exploit, and sexually assault” Mitchell, who subsequently “suffered
severe emotional, physical and psychological distress, including shame, and guilt, economic loss,
economic capacity and emotional loss.”530
Bingenheimer “allegedly sexually assaulted Mitchell in his bedroom at his home one evening
after telling her to come into his room to watch television, the suit claims.”531 Mitchell claimed
that Bingenheimer “continued to sexually assault [Mitchell] multiple times over many
months.”532
Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin and two of her “Hollywooder” high school friends
alleged Bingenheimer sexually assaulted them at the English Disco as minors.
In December 2023, Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin alleged that when she was in high school and
at the English Disco, Rodney Bingenheimer “approached her, isolated her in one of the club’s
529 dailymail.co.uk, March 17, 2023
530 variety.com, April 27, 2023
531 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
532 stereogum.com, April 27, 2023
144
back rooms, and sexually assaulted her.” According to Rolling Stone, “Wiedlin and several other
high school friends — among those who christened themselves the ‘Hollywooders’ — hung out
there frequently.” Wiedlin claimed that she “didn’t know what was going to happen before, but
he started rubbing against me with his crotch against my crotch.” Further, she detailed “that
Bingenheimer, who would have been around 27, told her to remove her belt as it was ‘getting in
the way’” and “continued to rub his crotch against her before he ejaculated on her clothes.”533
Wiedlin stated to Rolling Stone that it had “never occurred to me that had been a crime. I didn’t
know what to think. It wasn’t until the #MeToo movement started when I realized I was sexually
assaulted by [an adult] when I was 15.” In 2019, Wiedlin “confided in one of her old
‘Hollywooder’ high school friends Rachel (who is using a pseudonym over privacy concerns)”
and learned “Bingenheimer had also allegedly sexually assaulted her and another friend.”
Wiedlin said, “it turned out he molested everybody, and nobody talked to each other about it. I
think he just made his way through every girl that he could.’”534
Wiedlin’s friend Rachel later detailed to Rolling Stone that “in 1974, Bingenheimer fondled her
in a back-office room at the club when she was around 15 years old. ‘The only thing I remember
about it was being in this weird room, which didn’t look anything like the rest of the club,’
Rachel says. ‘And him fondling me, I don’t think he kissed me. He didn’t really talk … He was
sort of chatty for a minute, and then he started touching me. It didn’t go farther than that. I was
completely uninterested. He became really creepy to me at that moment. He was no longer sort
of a joke.’” Rachel claimed Bingenheimer “was a monster who was taking advantage of all these
teenage girls who were not there to be with him, but to be with each other and dance and dress
up however we wanted, to have fun and meet guys our own age and meet rock stars.”535
Limor Godwin, another “Hollywooder” friend, said “she had multiple run-ins with
Bingenheimer as a teenager over the course of more than a year that the friends went to the
Disco. In one instance when she was 15 years old, she claims Bingenheimer took her to a back
room before he started kissing her, rubbing his crotch against her and putting his fingers up her
vagina.”536
Kourtney Kaye alleged that Bingenheimer, then 28, kissed and “fumblingly
groped” her when she was 11 years old.
533 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
534 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
535 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
536 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
145
Rolling Stone reported that Wiedlin, her two friends, and Mitchell were just four of six women
who had come forward, “all of whom say they were minors at the time – [and] detailed alleged
similar experiences with Bingenheimer.”537 Kourtney Kaye “says that around 1974, when she was
about 11 years old, Bingenheimer kissed her on her lips, stuck his tongue in her mouth, and
‘fumblingly groped’ her at her Beverly Hills home.”538 Kaye claimed that one of her brother’s
friends instructed her to wear a negligee robe before “Bingenheimer, who was around 28 at the
time, came into her bedroom.” Kaye said that she “was half asleep, quite young, and really
confused.” Further, “Bingenheimer apologized after kissing her, ‘like it was some kind of
accident. And then he did it again.’”539
An anonymous victim accused Bingenheimer of maintaining an inappropriate
relationship with her as a minor and filed a police report against him.
Amanda, the pseudonym of one of Bingenheimer’s alleged victims, “says she was in an
inappropriate relationship with Bingenheimer when she was 17 and he was 38.” Amanda
claimed she met Bingenheimer in December 1985 and that she “would see Bingenheimer
regularly from January until just over six months later in June 1986.” She alleged that
“Bingenheimer took to her quickly,” and impressed with his connections and status, she “gave
him her phone number.” Amanda began visiting Bingenheimer routinely, “going with him to
Hollywood parties and bars to meet his celebrity friends, where she claims she was usually one
of the youngest people there.”540
Amanda alleged “the relationship turned sexual quickly, with Amanda recalling that she slept
over at his home early on after meeting him.” Further, she alleged “that throughout their
relationship, Bingenheimer fondled her on his couch and performed oral sex on her. She also
claimed he pressured her to use a vibrator on her and photograph her naked, both of which she
says she refused.”541
Throughout her relationship, Amanda claimed she “got more uncomfortable […] noting that
friends of hers were concerned and wanted her to stop.” In 2018, Amanda “went to the LAPD to
file a police report [about the relationship]. Rolling Stone reviewed email correspondences
between her and an LAPD officer confirming that she’d spoken with the police about
Bingenheimer. However, no charges were ever filed against him.”542
537 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
538 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
539 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
540 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
541 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
542 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
146
Bingenheimer’s Los Angeles club English Disco was described as “a clearinghouse
for grooming underaged girls and serving them to rock stars” in the 1970s.
Mitchell claimed she first met Bingenheimer at age 13 in the early 1970s at his Los Angeles
nightclub English Disco. The club, a “popular haunt among rock stars,” was allegedly “notorious
for allowing underage kids to come inside.” The suit claimed that Bingenheimer, then 28,
“‘immediately’ started grooming Mitchell ‘to believe they were becoming friends and that she
could trust him,’ and that at the time, she felt ‘reassured because Bingenheimer often had
numerous young girls around him, especially at the nightclub, and she had stayed at his
apartment numerous times without any attempts at physical contact with her.’”543 Mitchell’s
attorney, Karen Menzies, described English Disco as “a clearinghouse for grooming underaged
girls and serving them to rock stars,” adding that “he assaulted the girls themselves.”544
Bingenheimer told the filmmakers behind the 2021 documentary “Look Away” that at English
Disco, “they did not need to check attendees’ IDs because they served food and he was not aware
of any crime that took place on the premises.”545 In the documentary, Mitchell “tells her own
‘hair-raising stories,’ raped as a teen by a staffer in a back room at hip LA hang-out Rodney
Bingenheimer’s English Disco: ‘Bam — this guy got me.’ Afterwards, ‘he dusted me off’ and
brought her a Coke. ‘He acted like it was no big deal. […] A lot of the guys, they don’t think they
did anything wrong.’ (In the programme, Bingenheimer denies any knowledge of an assault on
his premises.)”546
Rachel, among the friends of Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin who alleged Bingenheimer sexually
assaulted them as minors, said the club was “used as a way to groom young girls for rock stars
[and] is nauseating…. The whole idea of rock stars as gods, and that you should be grateful if you
were one of the chosen, is so repulsive. I can’t even fathom that that was something we all
thought was normal.”547
Silencing Victim
Mitchell claimed she had “never been taken seriously when she brought up the
allegations” against Bingenheimer to confidants in the past.
543 variety.com, April 27, 2023
544 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
545 the-sun.com, September 13, 2021
546 ft.com, September 10, 2021
547 rollingstone.com, December 11, 2023
147
While the lawsuit was Mitchell’s first public accusation of Bingenheimer, she told Rolling Stone
that “the allegations have weighed on her for years. In the past, she says, she felt she’d never
been taken seriously when she brought up the allegations to confidants. […] ‘I never shut up
about it. Just nobody wanted to hear it. Nobody seemed to care. We’re still looking at these
characters through a lens of glamorization of that era and that scene instead of looking at them
through a lens of doing things that are criminal.’”548
Mitchell told Rolling Stone, “Rock stars are still looked upon like gods, literally. When people go
to rock concerts, it’s like everyone’s bowing down. People will literally defend their sacred cows
until the last dying day, [and] people are always willing to overlook that.” She continued, “I
think it’s an unfair fight for the people that are getting abused because you can’t fight against the
whole culture. There needs to be dialogue about this. People need to be educated.”549
Menzies said Bingenheimer “has enjoyed the false reputation of a sweet, innocent friend to rock
stars, when in reality he was the source for the exploitation and sexual assault of underage
girls.”550
Continued Work in Music Industry
As of 2024, Bingenheimer continued to host a weekly radio show on Sirius XM’s
Little Stevens Underground Garage Channel.
In 2017, SiriusXM announced that Bingenheimer would “host a new weekly music show on
SiriusXM’s Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel. […] ‘Rodney was one of my first calls
when I started the channel,’ said Steven Van Zandt. ‘We are honored to have him. This is where
he belongs!’”551 As of January 2024, Bingenheimer was still listed on the SiriusXM website as a
host with Underground Garage, with weekly shows at 9pm on Sundays and 12am on
Mondays.552
548 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
549 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
550 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
551 variety.com, June 28, 2017
552 siriusxm.com, accessed January 16, 2024
148
Mike Bone
Allegations
In 1992, Def American hired Mike Bone as an executive, despite objections from
multiple female employees who accused him of sexual harassment.
In July 1992, Mike Bone became a sales and marketing executive at Def American Recordings,
then a Time Warner (WMG) subsidiary and now a subsidiary of UMG known as American
Recordings. According to the Los Angeles Times, 12 female employees “objected to working with
Bone and voiced their opposition to management.” Warner Bros. Records vice president of
publicity Bob Merlis said that Def American founder Rick Rubin “has every right to staff Def
American the way he sees fit” and added that “Warner Bros. has no specific objections to any of
his executive choices.”553
Def American’s head of media relations, Heidi Robinson, told the Los Angeles Times that the
label “made sure that everybody here who had a problem with [Bone’s appointment] had the
opportunity to speak with Mike directly to get the truth out. […] The way it was dealt with was
they were told that Mike was always just a phone call away and his door is always open and
anybody is more than welcome to sit down and talk with him about it and get it all sq uared
away.”554
Heather Gifford of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences “applauded Def
American’s hiring of Bone” and said she had “never seen any indication of sexual harassment in
his interaction with women.” Mary Catherine Sneed, vice presi dent of operations at the Atlanta,
Ga.-based Summit Communications, “who oversees 11 urban contemporary and album rock
radio stations across the nation, echoed Gifford’s assessment. ‘As far as Mike Bone goes, he’s
been a close friend of mine for 15 years and in my opinion he’s one of the brightest and level-
headed gentlemanly executives in the industry,’ Sneed said.”555
Tammy Bruce, president of the National Organization for Women Los Angeles, “called Bone’s
hiring a ‘blatant’ example of the lack of respect shown toward women in the recording industry.
‘The message that Warner Bros. (Records, the records division of Times Warner) is sending to
women is that they just don’t care about us,’ Bruce said. ‘By allowing a person with this
553 latimes.com, July 21, 1992
554 latimes.com, July 21, 1992
555 latimes.com, July 21, 1992
149
background to be hired, what they are telling women is that they think sex harassment is
irrelevant and that we are useless and it doesn’t matter how we feel. How quickly these guys
forget. It’s as if Anita Hill had never testified and sexual harassment wasn’t a serious issue.’”556
Bone allegedly committed other inappropriate actions, including mailing dead rats
to rock deejays to promote a band.
In 1988, the Los Angeles Times reported, “When Mike Bone was a record company promotion
man and couldn’t persuade an ornery rock radio program director to play a new single, he sent
the programmer a pig’s head with a cassette of the song in its mouth and a note which read:
‘Don’t be so pig-headed. Play the record.’ Bone has also appeared at a record industry fund-
raiser with his entire body painted yellow (to tout a band called Yello) and once hyped the
Boomtown Rats (‘Live Aid’ organizer Bob Geldof’s old band) by mailing rock deejays packages
filled with huge sewer rats.”557
According to the Los Angeles Times, when Bone worked at Arista, “he promoted an Atlanta
concert by the heavy-metal band Krokus by organizing a Miss Heavy Metal Atlanta contest. ‘We
had about 15 girls on stage, all dressed in these wild outfits, with the audience voting for the
winner,’ recalled Elektra Records album-rock promotion exec Jeff Cook, who worked at Arista
then. ‘One girl was a clear winner--we took publicity pictures with her backstage and Bone was
all over her--kissing her, with his arms around her…’ Cook chuckled. ‘A few minutes later, this
guy came backstage and told us that the ‘girl’ who’d won was actually a ‘he’--a female
impersonator! Boy, was Bone surprised.’”558
Settlement & Retaliation Against Victim
In 1990, Bone propositioned a female assistant while at Island Records and fired
her the next day after she turned down his advances. He was later sued and settled
the matter out of court for a five-figure sum.
In July 1990, Island Records president Mike Bone “allegedly propositioned his then
administrative assistant, Lori Harris, 28, at a company party,” and fired her the next day after
she declined his advances. In December 1991, Entertainment Weekly reported that following
her firing, Harris “was unemployed for six months and still has found only part -time work.”559
556 latimes.com, July 21, 1992
557 latimes.com, April 6, 1988
558 latimes.com, April 6, 1988
559 ew.com, December 6, 1991
150
Harris sued Bone and Island “for sexual harassment and wrongful discharge under New York
state human rights laws,” and Bone “settled the sexual harassment case out of court in
November 1991 for a five-figure sum,” according to the Los Angeles Times.560
Bone left Island Records in December 1990, “a few months after the alleged incident of
harassment, to become co-president of Mercury Records. Island officials said Bone’s departure
was unrelated to the alleged incident. Mercury and Island both are owned by PolyGram,” a
division of Universal Music Group.561 Harris told Entertainment Weekly, “What’s ridiculous is
that no one stopped him. Island Records and PolyGram don’t care what happened to me. They
moved him from president of a company where he had been accused of harassing and firing his
assistant to president of a new company (Mercury) where no one knew what he’d done. He got
to start over.”562 According to the Los Angeles Times, female employees at other record labels,
“most of whom did not want to be identified, expressed concern about Bone’s return as an
industry executive.”563
Richard Branson
Allegations
In 2017, a backup singer for British singer Joss Stone alleged that she was sexually
assaulted by Virgin CEO Richard Branson at a party on his private island in the
British Virgin Islands.
In November 2017, Antonia Jenae, a backup singer for British singer Joss Stone, alleged that
Richard Branson, CEO of the Virgin Group, “assaulted her during a party on his private island in
the British Virgin Islands in 2010.” Notably, the Virgin Group is the parent company of Virgin
Records, owned by Universal Music Group. Jenae claimed that Branson “‘motorboated’ her
cleavage while making engine noises.” Speaking to the Sun, Jenae said, “His behaviour was
disgusting. I feel like it was sexual assault.”564
Jenae referenced the incident in an October 2017 Facebook post where she discussed her
experiences with sexual assault. She wrote, “the last time that I can remember was by Sir
560 latimes.com, July 21, 1992
561 latimes.com, July 21, 1992; universalmusic.com, accessed August 3, 2023; universalmusic.com, accessed August 3, 2023
562 ew.com, December 6, 1991
563 latimes.com, July 21, 1992
564 thecut.com, November 25, 2017; thesun.co.uk, November 24, 2017; virgin.com, accessed August 30, 2023; universalmusic.com,
accessed August 30, 2023
151
Richard Branson, yes... you read that right.... he kept trying to convince me to show him my
boobs like this Indian statute he had at his pool on his island, I took it as a ‘joke’. As everyone
was saying goodnight, he proceeded to ‘motorboard’ [sic] my breasts with his face, In front of
my boss at the time, who was also a woman, in front of her dad, and the makeup artist and
hairstylist. I was so shocked. I think everyone was, no one said or did anything. I think I made a
post about that on FB when it happened. I like to think that karma came back in a way when his
island was struck by [lightning], but who knows how many other women he has done/ is doing
that to. The girl who I worked for and I made a video about how appalled and shocked we
were.”565
Branson “had invited Joss and her band to his Caribbean home after they played the Go Green
festival on nearby Tortola.” Jenae claimed, “We were by the bar and he was saying bye to
everyone. He came up to me and put his face in my breasts.” She added, “It w as surreal, totally
out of the blue. Joss and I were like, ‘What the hell was that?!’ Everyone was wondering why I
wasn’t angry because I’m usually a firebrand. But I was just too shocked.”566
While a representative for Stone declined to comment on the allegations, an unnamed “source
confirmed that the singer did remember the incident,” according to the Sun. In addition to
Stone, Jenae claimed that “many people witnessed the assault.”567
A spokesperson for Virgin stated, “Richard has no recollection of this matter and neither do his
family and friends, who were with him at the time. There would never have been any intention
to offend or make anyone feel uncomfortable in any way and Richard apologizes if anyone felt
that way during their time on the island.”568
Sean Combs aka Diddy
Allegations
In a lawsuit, R&B singer Cassie alleged Sean “Diddy” Combs engaged in “a pattern
of control and abuse” during their relationship, giving her drugs, forcing her to
have sex with male prostitutes, and raping her.
565 facebook.com, October 16, 2017
566 thesun.co.uk, November 24, 2017
567 thesun.co.uk, November 24, 2017; thecut.com, November 25, 2017
568 money.cnn.com, November 27, 2017
152
In November 2023, Sean “Diddy” Combs, “the producer and music mogul who has been one of
the most famous names in hip-hop for decades,” was sued in Federal District Court by R&B
singer Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura. Cassie “accused Mr. Combs of rape, and of
repeated physical abuse over about a decade.” According to the New York Times, Cassie – “who
had long been Mr. Combs’s romantic partner — says that not long after she met him in 2005,
when she was 19, he began a pattern of control and abuse that included plying her with drugs,
beating her and forcing her to have sex with a succession of male prostitutes while he filmed the
encounters. In 2018, the suit says, near the end of their relationship, Mr. Combs forced his way
into her home and raped her.”569
Ventura’s lawsuit alleged that Combs “began to assert an extraordinary level of command over
her life. In addition to controlling her career, he paid for her car, apartments and clothing, and
even had access to her personal medical records. […] Mr. Combs also provided Ms. Ventura with
‘copious amounts of drugs,’ including ecstasy and ketamine, and urged her to take them, the suit
says, and often became violent, beating her ‘multiple times each year.’ The suit says Ms. Ventura
never went to the police because she feared it ‘would merely give Mr. Combs another excuse to
hurt her.’” Furthermore, Ventura alleged “that in early 2012, Mr. Combs grew so angry about
her dating the rapper Kid Cudi that he said he would blow up the rapper’s car. ‘Around that
time,’ the suit says, ‘Kid Cudi’s car exploded in his driveway.’”570
Ventura described how Combs “began coercing her ‘to engage in a fantasy of his called
‘voyeurism,’’ in which she was directed to have sex with a succession of male prostitutes, while
Mr. Combs watched, masturbated, took pictures and shot video.” Combs referred to these as
“freak offs,” and Ventura’s suit said “that during a ‘freak off’ at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016, an
intoxicated Mr. Combs punched Ms. Ventura in the face, giving her a black eye. He fell asleep
and she tried to leave the room, but Mr. Combs woke up and followed her into the hallway,
where he threw glass vases at her, sending glass shattering throughout the corridor, according to
the court filing. The hotel’s security cameras captured that incident, but the suit says Mr. Combs
paid the hotel $50,000 for the footage.” Ventura alleged “that as a result of these sexual
encounters in different cities, Ms. Ventura was a victim of sex trafficking.”571
In December 2023, Tiffany Red, a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, published a letter
addressed to Combs in Rolling Stone describing her “experience as a witness to events detailed
in my friend Casandra Ventura’s now-settled civil lawsuit.” Red wrote, “We did a song called
‘Loyal’ that you didn’t like. We were writing about her pain. In the first verse of that song, she
sings, ‘I don’t know what is real, I just know how I feel, and you keep acting like you don’t know
569 nytimes.com, November 16, 2023
570 nytimes.com, November 16, 2023
571 nytimes.com, November 16, 2023
153
what you did wrong, trying to get me to chill. Since we ain’t been together, I been on some
whatever.’ She was pushing back in that song. You later came back up to me and said you were
playing. I didn’t believe you.”572
Rolling Stone noted that in 2019, Combs was also accused by another ex-girlfriend of abuse.
Speaking to blogger Tasha K, Gina Huynh alleged “that Combs physically abused her throughout
their five-year relationship. She claimed he once stomped her on the stomach, causing her to
lose her breath, and also punched her in the back of the head. She told Tasha K that, ‘He was
mentally, emotionally and physically abusing me. He would always compare me to Cassie and
tell me that I’m the bad one, she’s a good one.’ She also said that ‘everyone’ in Combs’ circle
‘allowed’ the abuse to occur.”573
Two additional women filed suit against Combs under New York’s Adult Survivors
Act before the law expired, alleging “sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging”
in the early 1990s.
In November 2023, before the Adult Survivors Act expired in New York, two women “accused
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs of sexual abuse, one week after the music mogul settled a separate lawsuit
with the singer Cassie that contained allegations of rape and physical abuse. [...] The filings
detail acts of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging allegedly committed in the early 1990s
by Combs, then a talent director, party promoter and rising figure in New York City's hip -hop
community.”574
Joi Dickerson, one of the plaintiffs, “said she was a 19-year-old student at Syracuse University
when she agreed to meet Combs at a restaurant in Harlem in 1991. After their date, Combs
‘intentionally drugged’ her, then brought her home and sexually assaulted her, according to the
filing. Without her knowledge, Combs videotaped the assault and later shared it with several
friends in the music industry, the suit alleges. The public exposure sent Dickerson into a
‘tailspin,’ contributing to severe depression that landed her in the hospital and forced her to
drop out of college, the lawsuit says.” The second plaintiff, an unnamed Jane Doe, “accused
Combs and an R&B singer, Aaron Hall, of sexually assaulting her and a friend, then beating her
several days later.” The incident occurred in 1990 or 1991 after a music industry event.
According to CBS News, “A few days later, an ‘irate’ Combs allegedly showed up at the home of
the two women in an attempt to stop them from speaking out about the abuse.”575
572 rollingstone.com, December 7, 2023
573 rollingstone.com, December 7, 2023
574 cbsnews.com, November 24, 2023
575 cbsnews.com, November 24, 2023
154
Furthermore, Dickerson’s lawsuit said “that the victim filed police reports in New York and New
Jersey after the abuse. […] After the filmed assault, Dickerson said she approached friends in the
music industry asking them to confirm the existence of the ‘revenge porn’ tape, but was rebuffed
by those who were ‘terrified that Combs would retaliate against them and that they would lose
future business and music opportunities.’”576
After the window created by the Adult Survivors Act (ASA) in New York closed in November
2023, attorneys who spoke to Rolling Stone said reopening the window with new legislation was
“necessary particularly because of the lack of awareness around the bill until high -profile suits
like the one against Combs were filed. Susan Crumiller, who says she filed about a dozen claims
through the Survivors Law Project, tells Rolling Stone that her firm has gotten ‘10 times as many
calls’ last week compared to the several months before.”577 Speaking to PBS, Mariann Wang,
who represented Ventura and other clients filing under New York’s ASA, said, “We were fielding
and [sic] dozens in the final days, sometimes even in the final hours.”578
An unnamed Jane Doe accused Combs, former Bad Boys president Harve Pierre,
and a third defendant of gang raping her at a music studio when she was 17, and
she filed suit under New York City’s gender-motivated violence law.
In December 2023, an unnamed Jane Doe filed suit against Combs, former Bad Boys president
Harve Pierre, and a third unnamed defendant in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District
of New York, accusing the men “of gang raping her [at a music studio] in 2003 when she was 17
years old.” According to CBS News, unlike the lawsuits filed by Ventura and two others under
New York’s Adult Survivors Act, “this lawsuit was filed under New York City's gender-motivated
violence protection law.” The lawsuit “included multiple pictures of Doe in what is allegedly
[Combs's] studio, including a picture of her sitting on Combs' lap on the night of the alleged
sexual assault.”579
Jane Doe’s lawsuit “said that she was approached by Pierre at a lounge in Michigan and was
convinced by him and Combs to take a private jet to a recording studio in New York City to meet
up with the rapper. Combs had spoken to the teen over the ph one and said he would love to
meet her.” The suit stated, “Once there, the defendants plied Ms. Doe with drugs and alcohol
and viciously gang raped her, one after the other.” Jane Doe alleged “that as Combs was raping
her he told her he could not ‘get off’ unless she pinched his nipples as hard as she could.”
According to CBS News, “Pierre and the third assailant took their turns raping Doe and when
576 cbsnews.com, November 24, 2023
577 rollingstone.com, November 29, 2023
578 pbs.org, December 12, 2023
579 cbsnews.com, December 6, 2023
155
they were done they left her in the bathroom of the studio alone, where she curled up into the
fetal position and lay on the floor.” She then “had to be helped out of the building and taken
back to the airport to be flown home.”580
Silencing Victims
Combs allegedly tried to silence Ventura with threats of retribution, tying “a non -
disparagement clause to her record deal termination agreement,” and offering a
settlement to prevent her from filing her lawsuit.
Combs “founded Bad Boy in 1993 and became one of the primary figures in the
commercialization of hip-hop, working with stars like the Notorious B.I.G. and Mary J. Blige,”
according to the New York Times. Ventura’s suit also named “a number of his associated
companies as defendants,” alleging “that others who worked with Mr. Combs had helped him to
control Ms. Ventura, at times by threatening her with retribution — like suppressing her music if
she did not obey his orders — or by helping to conceal his behavior.”581
In an open letter to Combs addressing Ventura’s allegations against him, singer-songwriter
Tiffany Red wrote, “when I was part of her management team in 2019 — a year after she was
able to leave you — I saw you try to silence her by attempting to tie a nondisparagement clause
to her record deal termination agreement, which felt unjust. With Cassie bravely sharing her
story, I’m finally free to share mine.” Red added, “Recent events, such as the unveiling of
accusations against numerous former record label CEOs and artists for sexual assault due to the
Adult Survivors Act in New York, underscore the gravity of the situation. The systemic issues of
rape culture and misogyny deeply entrenched in the music industry pose a real threat to so
many people’s safety every day in this business. How can we expect meaningful change when
senior leadership and superstars face accusations of these crimes?”582
Ben Brafman, a lawyer for Combs, initially responded to the suit, “For the past six months, Mr.
Combs has been subjected to Ms. Ventura’s persistent demand of $30 million, under the threat
of writing a damaging book about their relationship, which was unequivocally rejected as blatant
blackmail. Despite withdrawing her initial threat, Ms. Ventura has now resorted to filing a
lawsuit riddled with baseless and outrageous lies, aiming to tarnish Mr. Combs’s reputation and
seeking a payday.” A lawyer for Ventura said, “Mr. Combs offered Ms. Ventura eight figures to
580 cbsnews.com, December 6, 2023
581 nytimes.com, November 16, 2023
582 rollingstone.com, December 7, 2023
156
silence her and prevent the filing of this lawsuit.”583 Combs settled Ventura’s lawsuit for an
undisclosed sum one day after it was filed.584
Public Reckoning
After lawsuits were filed against Combs in late 2023, Hulu cancelled a planned
reality TV show with Combs and his family. Combs also stepped down as chairman
from a Black music TV company, and several other brands cut ties with him.
In December 2023, Hulu announced “that the company would no longer make a reality show
centered around Combs and his family. The news arrived as multiple companies severed
business ties with the hip-hop mogul following the accusations of sexual abuse and physical
violence.”585 Combs also “stepped down from his role as chairman at Black music TV company
REVOLT on Nov. 28,” and “a total of 23 brands have severed ties with Combs’ e-commerce
marketplace Empower Global, which officially launched in July, since the allegations came out.”
Furthermore, “liquor company Diageo — with which Combs has been embroiled in a bitter legal
battle over his DeLeon Tequila brand for months — filed a request asking a judge to deny
Combs’ request to control a $15 million marketing budget for DeLeon, which would entail his
image appearing in new ads for the spirit.”586
Stephen Cooper
Allegations
A WMG executive claimed that WMG CEO Stephen Cooper propositioned her for
sex. Despite telling HR representatives, her allegations were brushed aside.
In February 2017, Samantha Maloney, a former vice president of A&R at Warner Records,
signed a non-disclosure agreement “that would perpetually silence her regarding speaking out
about a sexual harassment incident she allegedly experienced while working at Warner Music
583 nytimes.com, November 16, 2023
584 cbsnews.com, November 24, 2023
585 rollingstone.com, December 7, 2023
586 billboard.com, December 13, 2023
157
Group’s flagship record label.” According to Rolling Stone, her story followed “where most
sexual harassment claims in the music industry end: with a non-disclosure agreement.”587
In September 2017, Maloney was let go from WMG “as part of a company restructuring. She
signed a separation agreement and was paid severance. About a month later, her lawyer wrote to
WMG alleging misconduct by executives both at Warner Records and WMG she’d heard about
and, in one case, personally encountered. That final allegation involved one of the company’s
highest-ranking executives: Maloney alleged that she’d been propositioned by WMG chief
executive Stephen Cooper.”588
Maloney alleged that in February 2017 at a Grammy Awards afterparty, Cooper “propositioned
her for a sexual act with himself and a female party guest.” Later that night, “Maloney
approached a Warner Music Group HR executive who was also at the party and told her about
Cooper’s alleged comment.” According to individuals that Maloney discussed the incident with,
“Maloney told them in subsequent days and months that she told the HR rep that their boss had
asked her to join in a sexual encounter — a comment that would have been a violation of the
company’s code of conduct and an abuse of power from a significantly higher ranking executive
at the company. According to these three people whom Maloney separately confided in after the
alleged incident, the HR representative brushed it off.”589
Michael Howe, a former vice president of A&R at Warner whom Maloney confided in, said, “The
whole thing feels wrong to me.” Another Warner executive who requested to remain
anonymous, “recalled feeling most surprised about the human resources exec’s alleged dismissal
of Maloney’s claim at the Grammy event, rather than the notion that a high-ranking
entertainment executive might make an inappropriate comment to a female subordinate. ‘I’m
not surprised it happened — which is so sad — but surprised nothing was done about it when
she went to them in the beginning,’ she says.”590
WMG said that its “leadership was not made aware of Maloney’s claims until after she had been
let go, and they initiated an independent investigation the day after she lodged them with the
company. In addition to investigating Maloney’s sexual harassment claim against Cooper, the
legendary music company also looked into sexual misconduct allegations against senior vice
president Dave Dyer and executive vice president Jeff Fenster. The allegations and broader
details of the investigation, which ended three weeks later in November 2017, were never made
public.”591
587 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
588 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
589 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
590 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
591 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
158
In June 2022, three months after Rolling Stone’s report on her allegations against Cooper, the
WMG CEO announced that he “will exit the company” in 2023. Cooper “said he has instructed
the board to begin the search for his successor, and that he and the board expect the transition
to take place by the end of 2023.”592
Settlement With Victim
A WMG executive who alleged that Cooper propositioned her was paid a
settlement from the company and had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, meaning
that she could not discuss the incident.
A year after Maloney’s alleged incident with Cooper, Warner paid her “$240,000 and signed a
settlement agreement.” In the agreement, “Warner denied any wrongful conduct and
documented their payment to Maloney by pointing to her participation in the investigation.”
Additionally, Maloney “agreed to nondisclosure terms that would prevent her from discussing
the settlement or any alleged harassment at Warner. As laid out in the agreement, any breach of
the confidentiality terms by Maloney or the few people she was authorized to share the
settlement agreement’s terms with would result in a $60,000 fine. In signing the NDA, Warner
was also bound to keep it confidential. But if it failed to keep the document private, that
wouldn’t constitute a breach, according to the document’s terms.” By signing the NDA, Maloney
“is not allowed to speak about the incident to anyone but her lawyers, tax advisors, and
husband.”593
Rolling Stone noted, “Maloney’s allegations and the steps the company took at the conclusion of
the investigation, critics of the company and the broader entertainment industry say, are
indicative of a wider pattern: Misconduct accusers are silenced with ironclad NDAs, while
powerful male executives are protected against a public airing of allegations against them. In
recent years, advocates and lawyers who represent employees have increasingly criticized NDAs
in the context of sexual harassment allegations, asserting they keep claims against powerful
members of the entertainment industry protected from public view.”594
592 wsj.com, June 22, 2022
593 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
594 rollingstone.com, March 14, 2022
159
Edgardo Díaz
Abuse by Management
Menudo manager Edgardo Díaz was accused of physical, sexual, and mental abuse,
most notably by group member Roy Rosselló in two recent docuseries.
Music promoter and manager Edgardo Díaz founded the 1980s hit boy band Menudo, which
“encompassed dozens of performers since its 1977 inception as Díaz employed a turnstile of
boys.” Diaz “established the rule that once a member reached his 16th birthday, he was booted
for a young replacement.”595
According to Rolling Stone, Menudo had “longstanding accusations of sexual abuse against the
group’s Svengali and manager, Edgardo Díaz.” 596 The 2022 HBO docuseries “Menudo: Forever
Young” featured allegations from Menudo members of “physical, sexual and mental abuse by
music promoter/manager Edgardo Díaz; grueling schedules and a lack of parental oversight
(Díaz required parents to sign over most legal rights before the boys could become members);
and showbiz deceit.”597
Former Menudo star Roy Rosselló previously spoke out about alleged abuse he experienced
during his time with Menudo, but “his account regained new focus” with the release of the 2023
Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” in which he recounted multiple
instances of abuse inflicted on him by Díaz during his time in the group.598
In the docuseries, Rosselló “recounts a visit to the Biltmore Hotel during a trip to L.A. [when]
Menudo was staying at the hotel, and Rosselló says he and other teenage members of the band
rented a second room for girls, who were the same age as they were. Rosselló alleg es in the
series that Díaz slapped another member of the band, then punched him repeatedly when he
found out about the girls. Díaz allegedly took Rosselló to another room, tied him to the bed, beat
him with a wet towel and raped him. ‘He told me, ‘This better be the last time I see you with a
woman because you are mine. I’m not going to share you with anyone,’’ Rosselló says in Spanish
in the docuseries.”599
595 usatoday.com, June 23, 2022
596 rollingstone.com, May 2, 2023
597 usatoday.com, April 18, 2023
598 latimes.com, May 2, 2023
599 latimes.com, May 2, 2023
160
In 2014, Rosselló “appeared on the Brazilian reality show ‘A Fazenda 7’ and alleged he had been
a victim of sexual abuse by Díaz. Six years later, he appeared on a Mexican entertainment news
program, ‘Ventaneando,’ and repeated claims of sexual abuse by Díaz.”600
In May 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported that Díaz was “under investigation by the Los
Angeles Police Department over allegations that he sexually assaulted a former teenage member
of the group in the 1980s, police officials said. Allegations of sexual, verbal and physical abuse
have swirled around Menudo for decades, but the investigation by the LAPD, centered around
an attack that allegedly occurred at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, is the first
known criminal investigation surrounding Menudo and its creator by law enforcement. […] The
investigation stems from allegations made by former Menudo star Roy Rosselló, who was part of
the teen-pop band during the height of its international popularity in the 1980s.”601
Rolling Stone described the Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” as a
“damning brief against Díaz and a culture of complicity which, according to several sources
interviewed here, allowed him to prey on the young teens that cycled in and out of Menudo
(group members were generally replaced when they turned 16). The series paints a convincing
picture of a monster whose sex crimes were covered up by media who exchanged their silence
for exclusive coverage of Latin America’s biggest pop phenomenon, and law enforcement who
saw Menudo as a cash cow beneficial to the territory as a whole.”602
Since the 1990s, there have been allegations of sexual abuse towards members of
Menudo, a hit boy band that “employed a turnstile of boys” in the 1980s.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “abuse allegations had plagued the boy band since the early
1990s.” Bolivar Arellano, a freelance photographer who worked with Menudo, “alleged on a
Puerto Rican talk show in 1991 that several members of the band had been given alcohol, drugs
and were sexually abused.” In 1983, former Menudo member Ralphy Rodríguez “appeared on
the Univision program ‘El show de Cristina’ and said that he’d seen the alleged abuse
perpetrated by Díaz with underage members of the band.”603 In the 2022 HBO docuseries
“Menudo: Forever Young,” former group member Angelo Garcia said he was “raped a series of
times” while he was in Menudo between 1988 and 1990.604
According to USA Today, former group members Andy Blázquez and Jonathan Montenegro “tell
nearly identical stories about the Menudo production team threatening to touch the boys’
600 latimes.com, May 2, 2023
601 latimes.com, May 2, 2023
602 rollingstone.com, May 2, 2023
603 latimes.com, May 2, 2023
604 usatoday.com, June 23, 2022
161
private parts as a rite of passage into the group. Blázquez says that as he was held down, braced
for the encounter, the team members instead began to sing a silly song. ‘That was not funny,’
says Blázquez, adding there was always an atmosphere of ‘extreme sexualization’ and comments
about anal sex.”605
Abuse by Sony Executive
In a 2023 docuseries, Roy Rosselló alleged that he was sexual assaulted as a child
by RCA executive Jose Menendez, who was infamously murdered by his two sons
over an alleged history of sexual abuse.
In April 2023, the New York Times reported that Roy Rosselló was “coming forward with an
allegation that he was sexually assaulted as a teenager by Jose Menendez.” In 1983, while
serving as executive vice president at RCA Records, a label owned by Sony, Menudo “signed a
long- term recording contract” with RCA that called “for 12 albums in six years.” Menendez
became nationally known in 1996 after he was murdered by his sons Lyle and Erik Menendez,
who were convicted of the murder and argued in their trial that they were sexually molested b y
their father for years.606
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s defense argued that the brothers suffered years of sexual abuse at the
hands of their father, and according to The New York Times, the credibility of that account “was
central to the criminal trials that unfolded after the discovery of the murders in 1989.” Defense
asserted that Lyle “had confronted his father about the family’s sex abuse secrets, that his father
had become enraged and threatening, and that the brothers had killed out of concern for their
lives.”607
According to the Los Angeles Times, Rosselló alleged that when he was 13 or 14, Menudo
founder and manager Edgardo Díaz “took him to the Menendez family home in New Jersey.
There, he says, he was given wine, drugged and raped by Jose Menendez, suggesting the trip was
to help seal a deal between RCA and Menudo. In a declaration filed as part of the petition [for
the Menendez brothers], Rosselló alleged Menendez performed oral sex on him before a concert
in New York. After the concert, Menendez raped him at a hotel, Rosselló said.”608
605 usatoday.com, June 23, 2022
606 nytimes.com, April 18, 2023; nytimes.com, November 23, 1983; sonymusic.com, accessed July 27, 2023
607 nytimes.com, April 18, 2023
608 latimes.com, July 17, 2023
162
In April 2023, LAMag reported that a source close to the 2023 Peacock docuseries “Menendez +
Menudo: Boys Betrayed” told the publication “that more individuals claiming to be victims of
the late Menéndez are now contacting the filmmakers. This is exactly what Robert Rand says he
was hoping the film would provoke. It’s Rand’s reporting, along with his writing partner, Nery
Ynclan, that will be featured in the series. ‘The stories about Jose Menéndez and his obsession
with Menudo have been around for 30 years,’ Rand, the author of The Menéndez Murders, tells
LAMag. ‘It was our hope that Roy’s honesty would allow other victims to come forward.’”609
Ahmet Ertegun
Allegations
Warner Music Group’s Atlantic Records faced a lawsuit by Jan Roeg, a former
employee who said that she was sexually assaulted by the label’s founder Ahmet
Ertegun and that the company knew about the allegations and enabled his abuse.
In November 2022, Jan Roeg, who worked as a talent scout at Warner Music Group’s Atlantic
Records from 1984 to the mid-2000s, sued the label and the estate of its founder, Ahmet
Ertegun, for sexual assault. Roeg’s lawsuit alleged “that Atlantic knew about Ertegun’s
misconduct and took a ‘laissez faire’ approach when dealing with it.” Rolling Stone reported
Roeg alleged that Ertegun “sexually [harassed] and assaulted her throughout her time at the
label, masturbating in front of her numerous times, forcing her head to his crotch in attempts to
engage in oral sex, digitally penetrating her and, during a dinner in 1990, drugging her, resulting
in her getting her stomach pumped.” Ertegun died in 2006.610
Roeg’s complaint stated that “Ertegun made it clear to Ms. Roeg that she had to ‘get to know’
him in order to maintain her place (and that of her artists) at Atlantic. That is, women who
wanted to do business with Atlantic had to play along with Mr. Ertegun’s sexual desires, and
could not rock the boat with a complaint or lawsuit.” Further, Ertegun “held the fate of Ms.
Roeg’s artists, including the first one who was signed by the Label, as well as her own career, in
his hands.” According to the lawsuit, “Ertegun and others in the industry referred to Roeg as his
girlfriend. She denies that label and said that the phrase ‘stunted her career in the music
business.’”611
609 lamag.com, April 20, 2023
610 theguardian.com, November 29, 2022; rollingstone.com, November 28, 2022
611 rollingstone.com, November 28, 2022; iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952003/2022, filed November 28, 2022
163
Dorothy Carvello, another former employee of WMG’s Atlantic Records, sued the
companies alleging that she was sexually abused and harassed by Ertegun,
President Doug Morris, and Chairman Jason Flom.
In December 2022, Dorothy Carvello, a former employee at Warner Music Group’s Atlantic
Records, filed a complaint against the companies, along with “former Atlantic president and
Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris, former Atlantic chairman Jason Flom, and the estate
of late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, alleging that she was sexually abused and
harassed by Ertegun and Morris, and sexually harassed by Flom, during her time at Atlantic
Records. Carvello began at Atlantic as an administrative employee.” In 1988, she “became the
label’s first female head of its artists-and-repertoire division since its founding in 1947. She
brought top talent to Atlantic, including the rock band Skid Row.”612
According to her suit, “Ertegun violently and sexually attacked” Carvello twice in 1988. In one
instance in March 1988, Carvello accompanied Ertegun and Atlantic chairman Jason Flom from
New York City to Allentown, Pennsylvania by helicopter to a see a performance by Skid Row, a
rock band the label was in the process of trying to sign. At the concert, in the presence of Flom
and others, Ertegun “grabbed at her underneath her skirt, forcibly clawed at the bike shorts she
was wearing underneath her skirt and pulled them down to access her underwear. He then
forcibly pulled down her underwear and exposed her vagina to all present at the club.” Ertegun
“grabbed her genitals, causing her significant physical pain,” and caused bruises and a scratch
on Carvello’s body that began to bleed. According to the complaint, “Carvello begged Mr. Flom
and others in attendance to stop Mr. Ertegun, but they laughed and did nothing to assist her or
to stop Mr. Ertegun’s attack.”613
Carvello alleged sexually inappropriate behavior by Doug Morris, including that he
forcibly kissed her and constantly commented on her body and appearance.
According to Billboard, “while working as [Morris’s] de facto secretary,” Carvello “claims Morris
would ‘forcibly kiss’ her on the face and touch her inappropriately on a daily basis while
‘constantly’ commenting on her body and appearance. She also claims that on multiple
occasions, both Morris and Ertegun would suggest that Atlantic would pay for her to get breast
augmentation surgery.” She claimed these routine comments about her body were made “at
times negatively with the intent to humiliate.” She also alleged that Morris “once [placed] a
pornographic magazine on her desk while seated next to her.”614
612 theguardian.com, December 13, 2022; latimes.com, December 6, 2022; iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed
December 4, 2022
613 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed December 4, 2022
614 billboard.com, December 5, 2022; theguardian.com, December 13, 2022
164
Industry Knowledge of Abuse
Roeg claimed that Atlantic’s management was aware of sexual abuse and
misconduct, which occurred out in the open, and helped create a culture of abuse
prevalent in the music industry.
According to Roeg’s complaint, “Atlantic’s management was very aware of Mr. Ertegun’s
outrageous and abusive sexual conduct towards female employees and business associates,
including his propensity for assault.” Before meeting Roeg, Ertegun “already had a reputation
for such misconduct at Atlantic, and the Label notoriously took a laissez faire approach to sexual
misconduct, misogynistic and hostile sexual attitudes towards women, and harassment of
women in its offices, with a culture of abuse that has become famous in music industry
history.”615
Ertegun’s sexual misconduct “would often occur at business dinners and on trips with other
Company executives.” Additionally, he would “brag openly in large Company meetings about his
sexual escapades with women he was not married to, including with so-called ‘groupies’
backstage at concerts.”616
While Roeg worked at Atlantic with Ertegun, open “physical harassment of female employees by
Atlantic executives also was everyday business at Atlantic.” Roeg claimed that she “learned to
‘hold onto her skirt’ whenever she entered Atlantic’s offices, due to Mr. Ertegun’s conduct and
the conduct of other male employees who regularly took liberties and would proposition or
otherwise make sexual comments to women at work. She adopted a defensive practice of
wearing only long skirts to the office, at or nearly to her ankles in anticipation of warding off
such behavior.”617
Carvello compared the offices of WMG’s Atlantic Records to the set of a porn
movie, and alleged that leadership at WMG and Atlantic, including Doug Morris,
knowingly enabled sexual misconduct.
Carvello’s lawsuit alleged that WMG, Atlantic, and their executives knowingly enabled Ertegun’s
and others’ “outrageous workplace sexual assault.” According to the Los Angeles Times,
Carvello’s suit against industry executives “called Atlantic studios and offices ‘places to indulge
615 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952003/2022, filed November 28, 2022
616 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952003/2022, filed November 28, 2022
617 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed December 4, 2022
165
their sexual desires.’” Describing her work at WMG’s Atlantic Records, Carvello told Rolling
Stone in 2018, “It was insanity. It was like a porn movie. That’s what I walked onto: the set of a
porn movie.” She added, “When you work a 12-hour day and you’re serving a man like Ahmet
[Ertegun], you’re not sleeping, you’re not capable of making decisions, you’re a slave with a half
hour for lunch. This was all wrong and illegal, but nobody cared. You just did it. It became
normal: guys showing you their penises, people asking you to blow them, people reading
pornography during meetings. This is the shit we did. And I contributed to it. I got caught up in
it and it became normal.”618
The Los Angeles Times also reported that Ertegun “allegedly broke Carvello’s arm after
slamming it against a table.” In her lawsuit, Carvello claimed that after reporting the incident to
Doug Morris, he responded, “What do you want me to do about it?”619
WMG and Atlantic Records allegedly failed to protect female employees from
ongoing sexual abuse and harassment.
Roeg claimed that top executives and other management at Atlantic “had ample opportunities to
observe Mr. Ertegun’s drunken, abusive conduct and hateful attitude towards women, including
in Company meetings in which he would openly brag about and recount in detail sexually
exploitative escapades he engaged in backstage at concerts and the like.” However, Atlantic “did
not act to protect Ms. Roeg or its other female employees, business partners, and other women
who crossed paths with” Ertegun.620
Meanwhile, victims like Roeg and “other women in Mr. Ertegun’s and Atlantic’s orbit tried to
take precautions to protect themselves while in those offices and on business trips for Atlantic.”
For instance, “Roeg would ‘hold onto her skirt,’ in her words, while on Atlantic’s premises, and
took to wearing long, ankle-length skirts when visiting the Label’s offices.”621
Carvello nominated herself to WMG’s board of directors as part of a shareholder
campaign “to force WMG to fix a culture she says is broken,” alleging “WMG’s
management is not doing enough to investigate and act upon allegations of sexual
misconduct at the company.”
In November 2022, Dan McDermott, an adjunct professor of shareholder activism at the
University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, wrote, “The #MeToo movement, shareholder
618 rollingstone.com, September 9, 2018; latimes.com, December 6, 2022
619 latimes.com, December 9, 2022
620 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952003/2022, filed November 28, 2022
621 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952003/2022, filed November 28, 2022
166
activism, and the powerful empire of music are about to collide.” McDermott was referring to
Dorothy Carvello’s nomination of herself to the board of Warner Music Group (WMG) under a
new SEC rule that “allows for shareholders to nominate themselves as directors for election on
public company boards – on the same slate as the incumbent directors- rather than separate
board slates required previously.” McDermott noted that the change “has far-reaching
consequences to shareholder activism and corporate accountability to shareholders.”622
As McDermott wrote, “Carvello is seeking to become WMG’s agitator-in-chief. For years she has
alleged sexual assault by current and former WMG executives against herself, other former
Warner employees and WMG female artists.” According to McDermott, “Her thesis is simple:
Warner Music Group cannot attract top female artists or employees in a corporate culture that
she believes is beyond broken. She contends that change must happen from within, not from
silencing victims with NDAs and hush money.” Her campaign sought “to force WMG to fix a
culture she says is broken.”623
Furthermore, before nominating herself to WMG’s board, Carvello sent a letter to WMG’s board
of directors “requesting records relating to the company’s investigations into previously-
reported sexual misconduct claims and royalties accounting at the label.” The letter said that
Carvello had “concerns that WMG’s management is not doing enough to investigate and act
upon allegations of sexual misconduct at the company, and not monitoring the distribution of
artist royalties in a manner that ensures sound accounting and payment. Both issues have the
potential to expose the company to substantial liability and cause great reputational harm to
WMG … [and] raise serious concerns about the truthfulness and accuracy of the company’s
statements to investors.”624 Carvello also said she was “exploring other legal options to file
similar requests” at Sony Music and UMG.625
A law firm announced an investigation into whether WMG’s “board of directors or
senior management failed to manage Warner Music in an acceptable manner”
following the filing of Carvello’s sexual harassment and assault lawsuit.
In January 2023, after a sexual harassment and assault lawsuit was filed against WMG and
former WMG executives by Carvello the prior month, at least one law firm announced an
investigation into “whether members of Warner Music’s board of directors or senior
management failed to manage Warner Music in an acceptable manner, in breach of their
622 icrinc.com, November 30, 2022
623 icrinc.com, November 30, 2022
624 billboard.com, September 13, 2022
625 rollingstone.com, September 13, 2022
167
fiduciary duties, and whether Warner Music and its shareholders have suffered damages as a
result.”626
Silencing & Retaliation Against Victims
One of Ertegun’s victims was reportedly fired from Atlantic Records after alerting
WMG CEO Doug Morris about ongoing sexual abuse and harassment at the label.
In September 1990, Atlantic chairman Jason Flom, who was Carvello’s direct boss, demanded
that she sit on his lap at a meeting attended by other executives, according to her lawsuit.
Carvello refused and immediately wrote a memo to WMG CEO Doug Morris, stating “that she
was ‘tired of this juvenile behavior by all the men at Atlantic Records,’ and she asked that Mr.
Morris let her know ‘what [he] intend[ed] to do about it.’” In response, Morris had “Ertegun fire
Ms. Carvello the very next morning.” According to Carvello’s complaint, “Ertegun was explicit:
she was being fired at Mr. Morris’ direction for sounding the alarm in writing about the sexual
harassment and sexual misconduct that she had reported to Mr. Morris in her written memo.”627
A former Warner Music employee claimed that Morris took “vengeful and
retaliatory actions” to blacklist her from the music industry after she reported
harassment by Ertegun.
According to The Guardian, “After her termination by Atlantic, Carvello started working at
Giant Records, another Warner Music Group subsidiary, but her employment was terminated
shortly after. Carvello says in the claim ‘on information and belief’ that Morris had used his
influence to have her fired and blacklist her from the industry. Carvello’s laws uit says that if not
for Morris’ ‘vengeful and retaliatory actions,’ she would still be working in the music
industry.”628
Victims of Ertegun’s and other executives’ sexual abuse and harassment were
allegedly paid off by WMG’s Atlantic Records on his behalf.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Roeg alleged that Atlantic Records “was aware of Ertegun’s
alleged behavior of sexual harassment and assault toward female employees at the company, as
well as female business associates.” The lawsuit stated, “yet the label allowed and enabled it to
626 businesswire.com, January 18, 2023; billboard.com, December 5, 2022
627 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed December 4, 2022
628 theguardian.com, December 13, 2022
168
continue for decades, imposing suffering on and hampering the careers of countless women
within and outside the company.”629
In Jan Roeg’s complaint against Ertegun, she alleged that Atlantic “frequently paid money, often
in the form of cash or a personal check, to women alleging sexual misconduct (as well as
compromising sexual conduct) on the part of Mr. Ertegun. Mr. Ertegun’s sexual misconduct
towards and predatory treatment of women was well known at Atlantic among his peers at the
Label and his staff, and Ms. Roeg was far from the first target of his repeated sexual misconduct
known to Atlantic.” According to her complaint, “Atlantic also is known to have regularly paid
money to women accusing Mr. Ertegun of sexual misconduct.”630
Similarly, in her lawsuit against Ertegun, WMG, and Atlantic Records, Carvello alleged that
when Ertegun’s and other executives’ “violence and sexual assault was reported, their victims
were routinely paid settlements with corporate funds in exchange for signed non-disclosure
agreements.”631
Notably, as Ertegun’s secretary, Carvello’s regular tasks included “opening his postal mail each
morning.” In many instances, Carvello would open mail to “find Polaroid photographs of him
naked, engaged in various sex acts with women, along with letters from women blackmailing
Mr. Ertegun. This occurred so frequently that Mr. Ertegun had a protocol for how Ms. Carvello
was to handle such mail: Ms. Carvello was to turn the blackmail over to another Atlantic
Records executive who would make arrangements for the blackmailers to receive cash payments
(taken from a safe in Atlantic Records’ office) in exchange for entering into nondisclosure
agreements concerning the women’s interactions with Mr. Ertegun.”632
Noel Fisher aka Detail
Allegations & Criminal Charges
In 2020, Grammy-award winning producer Detail was arrested on 15 counts of
sexual assault including forcible rape after music industry professionals and
newcomers spoke publicly about his sexual aggression.
629 latimes.com, November 28, 2022
630 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952003/2022, filed November 28, 2022
631 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed December 4, 2022
632 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Case No. 952006/2022, filed December 4, 2022
169
In August 2020, Noel Christopher Fisher, the Grammy award-winning music producer known
as Detail, was arrested “on more than a dozen charges of sexual assault.” According to a
statement from the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department, Fisher “was charged on 31 July
with 15 counts of sexual assault and five counts of felony assault” and “held on nearly $6.3m
bail.” By September 2022, Fisher faced more than 30 charges “filed against him including
forcible rape, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, forcible oral
copulation, sodomy by use of force and false imprisonment by violence.”633
Fisher was ordered to pay $15 million in a lawsuit that alleged he raped and
sexually and emotionally abused an aspiring singer. Fisher reportedly told the
victim that the abuse was necessary to succeed in the industry.
In September 2019, Fisher was ordered to pay $15 million to Kristina Buch, “a model and
aspiring singer who alleged in a lawsuit that she was raped and sexually and emotionally
abused” by Detail. Buch’s lawsuit included “allegations of assault and battery, sexual battery,
sexual harassment, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent
infliction of emotional distress.” The complaint stated that the case “tells the tale of an aspiring
musician who was manipulated, abused, and ferociously and repeatedly raped at the hands of a
person she trusted, her supposed mentor, a critically acclaimed music producer.” According to
the complaint in the case, Fisher allegedly told Buch that “she had to have sex with him and
other music producers to convince them to work with her.”634
In her lawsuit, Buch said “that she met Fisher at a recording studio when she was working as a
model after arriving in Los Angeles from Indiana in 2016.” Buch “said Fisher had agreed to help
her launch a music career and had started making recordings with her, but soon became
aggressive and abusive, demanding sex and telling her it was necessary to get somewhere in the
industry, and eventually raping her when she refused.” Buch’s complaint detailed “Fisher’s
‘controlling and verbally abusive’ behavior toward Buch, with Fisher ‘viciously and violently’
raping Buch on seven occasions, two of which allegedly took place in front of other people.”635
Similarly, another artist named Peyton Ackley accused Fisher, according to TMZ, “of essentially
making her and [Buch] his sex slaves. Peyton says she considered Detail a mentor in the
industry, but he'd told her the biz was all about sex.” According to legal filings reviewed by TMZ,
Fisher “walked in on Peyton taking a bath and forced her to have sex with him in front of
another producer. She also claims he forced her to take nude photos while he masturbated --
633 theguardian.com, August 6, 2020; signalscv.com, September 12, 2022
634 billboard.com, December 28, 2018
635 apnews.com, September 26, 2019; spin.com, December 30, 2018
170
and also forced her to record him having sex with [Buch]. In March, she says he got violent and
slammed her head into a wall and dragged her up a flight of stairs.”636
Buch’s lawsuit alleged “that Fisher pressured Buch to break up with her boyfriend, threatening
that his ‘goons will come after him,’ insisting she should be ‘naked at all times’ and posting one
of his assistants with her 24 hours a day. The allegations of sexual abuse include six more
instances of alleged rape, at Buch’s apartment, again in Miami — where he allegedly forced
Ackley to participate as well in an unwanted sexual encounter — a third time in Miami, during
which he demanded that Ackley record the alleged assault, and a seventh time in Malibu,
California, where he allegedly verbally berated her, physically assaulted her and raped her once
again.”637
In 2017, a singer released a song and music video describing how she was harassed
and assaulted by a music producer. The singer later confirmed the song was about
Fisher.
In 2017, the singer Jessie Reyez, who co-wrote “Calvin Harris hits ‘One Kiss’ (with Dua Lipa)
and ‘Promises’ (with Sam Smith), released a powerful short film for her song ‘Gatekeeper.’ In it,
she described how she was harassed by a producer: ‘Oh I’m the gatekeeper/Spread your
legs/Open up/You could be famous/If you come up anywhere else, I’ll erase you.’” The film
depicts an instance of sexual assault in which others in the producer’s entourage are complicit
and enabling. Screenshots from the video are shown below.638
636 tmz.com, May 9, 2018
637 billboard.com, December 28, 2018
638 youtube.com, accessed July 28, 2023
171
In 2018, Reyez “identified her tormentor as music producer Noel ‘Detail’ Fisher.” In May 2018,
Reyez tweeted a TMZ article describing allegations against Fisher, stating, “One night, over 6
years ago Noel ‘Detail’ Fisher tried this on me. I was lucky and I got out before it got to this. I
didn’t know what to say or who to tell. I was scared. Fear is a real thing. The girls that came out
are brave as hell.”639
Fisher was sued by his former assistants who alleged that he demanded sexual
favors while they performed their jobs.
In June 2018, Janae Knox filed a lawsuit against Fisher “claiming that after she was hired as his
assistant, she experienced ‘severe and pervasive sexual harassment and sexual assault by
Fisher,’ according to court documents.” The suit claimed that “Fisher asked Knox to shower with
him and demanded sexual favors while she performed her job.” Knox told the Associated Press,
“Detail is a sexual predator and it is troubling that I was one of his victims. I want to encourage
other victims to come forward because by doing so, they will begin to heal.”640
Isabella Mack, another former assistant of Fisher’s, claimed in a “lawsuit that she was forcefully
held against her will while Fisher masturbated and that he demanded she pose for nude pictures
and videos.” In a statement to the Associated Press, Mack said, “Detail has to be held
accountable for his actions. I also hope that other music industry victims come forward because
it is time to expose the system that enables men to abuse women in this business.”641
639 twitter.com, May 10, 2018
640 apnews.com, March 1, 2019
641 apnews.com, September 26, 2019
172
Work With Major Labels
During his career, Fisher has produced music for artists signed to Sony Music
Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group.
According to the Guardian, Fisher “won a Grammy in 2015 for co-writing the Beyoncé and Jay-
Z hit Drunk in Love,” which was released by Columbia Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music
Entertainment (SME). Fisher also “produced hits for Lil Wayne,” including songs such as “How
to Love,” “No Worries,” and “Changed It.” Those songs were released by Cash Money Records, a
“subsidiary of Universal Music Group.” Fisher’s producing credits include work with Nicki Minaj
(Sony Music Entertainment), the Pussycat Dolls (Universal Music Group), Lady Gaga (Universal
Music Group), T-Pain (Sony Music Entertainment), Jennifer Lopez (Universal Music Group),
and Wiz Khalifa (Warner Music Group).642
Kim Fowley
Allegations
In 1975, Runaways manager Kim Fowley allegedly raped the band’s bassist Jackie
Fuchs in a crowded room at a party when she was 16.
HuffPost reported that the Runaways’ late manager Kim Fowley raped the band’s bassist Jackie
Fox, whose legal name is Jackie Fuchs, at a 1975 party when she was 16. After being given drugs
by an adult man at the party, Fuchs was highly intoxicated and “having trouble staying upright.
When a roadie checked to see if she was OK, Fowley asked him if he was interested in having sex
with her. ‘She doesn’t mind,’ Fowley said. ‘Do you?’ […] The roadie declined Fowley’s offer, and
soon after, Jackie says she started to slip in and out of consciousness.”643
According to HuffPost, Fuchs tried to protest Fowley’s offer to the roadie, “but she was frozen.
‘You don’t know what terror is until you realize something bad is about to happen to you and
you can’t move a muscle,’ she says. ‘I can’t move. I can’t speak. All I can do is look him in the eye
and do the best I can do to communicate: Please say no. ... I don’t know what it looked like from
the outside. But I know what was going on inside and it was horror.’”644
642 theguardian.com, August 6, 2020, famousfix.com, accessed July 31, 2023; aceshowbiz.com, accessed July 31, 2023
643 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
644 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
173
According to Fuchs’s friend Helen Roessler who attended the party, Fowley then undressed
Fuchs and penetrated her with the handle of a hairbrush, in view of others at the party. Fowley
“invited other guys to have sex with Jackie before removing his own pants and climbin g on top
of her. […] On the bed, Fowley played to the crowd, gnashing his teeth and growling like a dog as
he raped Jackie.” According to band songwriter Kari Krome, “Jackie was dead, dead, dead
drunk—like corpse drunk. She was just laying down on her back, sound asleep, out of it.” Krome
said Fowley picked up Jackie’s arm “and it flopped down like a marionette. … He had to
manually move her body parts into positions that he wanted for himself.” Fuchs said, “I
remember opening my eyes, Kim Fowley was raping me, and there were people watching me.”645
Cherie Currie said of the Runaways, “Our management, our booking agent – they were all
feeding us drugs.” Currie previously called Fowley “a beast [who] should not be allowed near
young girls.”646 According to HuffPost, Fowley “always denied any sexual impropriety with
members of the Runaways, including in a 2013 band biography: ‘They can talk about it until the
cows come home but, in my mind, I didn't make love to anybody in the Runaways nor did they
make love to me.’”647
In 2023, Runaways member Kari Krome filed a lawsuit against Fowley, accusing
him of sexually assaulting her starting when she was 13.
In 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported that Kari Krome, a “songwriter and co-founder of the
1970s all-female punk group the Runaways,” filed a lawsuit against the estate of the Runaways’
late manager Kim Fowley, whom Krome alleged “sexually assaulted her in the 1970s, starting
when she was 13.” Court documents alleged that Fowley, as well as former KROQ DJ and
nightclub owner Rodney Bingenheimer, “used their roles, status, and power as adults, as well as
their connections to and work in the music industry to gain access to manipulate, exploit, and
sexually assault” her.648 Krome, whose legal name is Carrie Mitchell, listed sexual assault and
battery as causes of action in her suit.649
According to the lawsuit, one night when Runaways members were sleeping in Fowley’s living
room, “Fowley dragged Mitchell from his living room by her ankle, took her to his room, and
‘instructed plaintiff not to say anything or make any sound.’ Fowley then sexually assaulted her
and forced her to sleep in his bed with him afterward, she alleges.” According to HuffPost,
Fowley “told her if she didn’t give in to his sexual demands, she’d have to go back to Long
645 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
646 theguardian.com, January 24, 2023
647 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
648 latimes.com, April 27, 2023
649 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
174
Beach” where she was from. Fowley “abused her six more times over the course of the year, the
suit claims. Mitchell was 14 or 15 at the time, while Fowley was 35 or 36.”650
In her complaint, Mitchell also alleged that Fowley “took credit for a number of Runaways songs
that she wrote or co-wrote, including the band’s biggest hit, ‘Cherry Bomb.’ He also allegedly
continued to contact Mitchell into the 1990s, and would ‘commit sexual crimes’ on Mitchell over
the telephone.”651 Mitchell said of Fowley, “It wasn’t just the sexual abuse, it was also the
humiliation. Kim was good at shaming people, and he shamed the shit out of me. He bad-rapped
me to everybody that I had a drinking problem [and] was unstable. They put these labels on you,
no one will work with you anymore.”652
Mitchell told Rolling Stone “the allegations have weighed on her for years. In the past, she says,
she felt she’d never been taken seriously when she brought up the allegations to confidants.” She
said, “I never shut up about it. Just nobody wanted to hear it. Nobody seemed to care. We’re still
looking at these characters through a lens of glamorization of that era and that scene instead of
looking at them through a lens of doing things that are criminal.”653
In 2001, former Runaways bassist Michael Steele said she left the band because of
attention from Fowley that made her feel unconformable and intimidated.
In an interview for the 2001 book “We Got The Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story Of L.A. Punk,”
former Runaways bassist Michael “Micki” Steele (who would later go on to have a successful
career as the bassist in The Bangles) said unwanted attention and advances from Fowley led her
to leave the band. She said, “The official story [why I didn't stay in the band] was that
ideologically I wasn't in line with the others…but early on this thing started with Kim, this sordid
personal angle. He was enamored of me in a way that I found very uncomfortable. I'd been
raised in a sheltered manner ... and wasn't savvy enough to know I could say, ‘C'mon Kim, fuck
off.’ I got it in my head that he would throw me out of the band. But I didn't want to say yes
because I definitely wasn't into it. I dealt with it by trying to stay neutral, but the pressure
started building and building. My performance went down the tubes. I—I started going kind of
nuts from it.”654
Steele said in the interview, “When Kim finally got rid of me, he was out for blood. He'd realized
I wasn't into it, and I guess he resented my inability to simply tell him to knock it off. But I was
just too intimidated. When he pulled the plug he went a little over the top. He said, ‘You have no
650 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023; highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
651 pitchfork.com, April 27, 2023
652 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
653 rollingstone.com, April 27, 2023
654 We Got The Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story Of L.A. Punk, 2001, accessed via Archive.org; mtv.com, June 1, 1999
175
megalo, you have no magic. This is the only chance you'll ever have to be a rock star and you've
blown it.’ Perhaps my musical thing didn't lend itself to his slutty jailbait design, but the way
Kim treated me made me depressed for a long time. Then I got angry, and I decided I was gonna
show him. So it was a harsh experience, but it firmed my resolve.”655
Fowley was known for his sexual interest in teenage girls, as well as occasional
violent behavior, but “it was too risky to cross him.”
According to HuffPost, Fowley was “sex-obsessed,” and “as he would admit to anyone, Fowley
was mostly after teenage girls.” In 1975, he posted a personal ad, pictured below, featuring a
photo of himself that read, “If you are eighteen and like it or if you are under 18 and legally
emancipated (with paper work [sic]) then you may have just stumbled upon the opportunity of a
lifetime.” Steve Tetsch, a guitarist who worked with Fowley and considered him a close friend,
said the two “used to drive to high schools looking for teenage girls to hit on. ‘Westlake was a
gold mine because these girls came from wealthy families,’ he recalls. ‘We’d all be arrested
today.’ As Fowley himself put it in Queens of Noise, describing his taste for vulnerable women:
‘I’m like a shark. I’ll smell the blood.’”656
655 We Got The Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story Of L.A. Punk, 2001, accessed via Archive.org
656 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
176
HuffPost detailed other violent behavior of Fowley’s, including an incident in 1975 where Fowley
ran at 18-year-old Audrey Pavia without warning. Pavia said, “He threw me up against the wall
and he put his arm across my neck. […] Then he hammered his knee between my legs.” Fowley
then “lifted her up off the ground and licked her face. He bit and sucked on her ear. She says she
struggled to get away, but he pinned her to the wall for five minutes, telling her all the things he
was going to do to her.”657
According to NME, Fowley recruited the Runaways in 1975 and “parted with the group in 1977
over a disagreement.”658 According to his obituary in The Guardian, Fowley “put together a
657 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
658 nme.com, January 16, 2015
177
female singing group called the Murmaids and took the resulting record to the top of the US
charts” in the early 1960s. He also produced music for singer Helen Reddy.659 Additionally,
Fowley was credited as a co-writer for “two KISS classic songs, ‘King of the Night Time World’
and ‘Do You Love Me.’”660
HuffPost reported, “So many people in the industry knew what Fowley was like, what he was
capable of. But he had just enough clout to convince the naïve and the desperate that he could
make them stars. It was too risky to cross him.” Witnesses of Fowley’s assault of Fuchs “say they
felt intimidated.” Brent Williams, who witnessed the event, said that a day or two after the
incident, Fowley “warned him not to talk about what he'd seen,” and “then asked Williams to
pick up a guitar and gave him an on-the-spot songwriting lesson.” Williams also allegedly
received a call from Joan Jett after Fuchs left the band, telling Williams that Fuchs’ parents
might file a lawsuit and that “if lawyers ever contacted him, he needed to deny being in the
motel room that night.”661
Dismissal of Abuse Claims
Prominent Runaways members denied witnessing Fuchs’s assault, and another
member claimed that many in the band regarded the incident as “kind of a
running joke.”
Fuchs said her last memory from the night of her assault was noticing Runaways members
Cherie Currie and Joan Jett staring at her as Fowley raped her. In 2015, HuffPost reported that
Currie “claims that she spoke up and stormed out of the room” during the incident. Currie later
posted on her Facebook page, “All I can say is if Joan, Sandy [West, the Runaways’ drummer]
and I saw an unconscious girl being brutally raped in front of us, we would have hit him over the
head with a chair. […] I have been accused of a crime. Of looking into the dead yet pleading eyes
of a girl, unable to move while she was brutally raped and doing nothing. […] I will not allow
anyone to throw me under the bus and accuse me of such a foul act. I will fight for myself.”662
Joan Jett, through a representative, denied witnessing the assault as it was described by
HuffPost and “referred all further questions to Jackie.” In July 2015, Jett issued a statement,
“Anyone who truly knows me understands that if I was aware of a friend or bandmate being
violated, I would not stand by while it happened.” She said, “For a group of young teenagers
659 theguardian.com, January 18, 2015
660 paulstanley.com, January 2015
661 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
662 theguardian.com, July 13, 2015
178
thrust into 70s rock stardom there were relationships that were bizarre, but I was not aware of
this incident. Obviously Jackie’s story is extremely upsetting and although we haven’t spoken in
decades, I wish her peace and healing.”663
Runaways member Kari Krome told HuffPost “that Jett and Currie were sitting off to the side of
the room for part of the time, snickering” during Fuchs’s assault. Krome said she herself
“escaped to the adjoining room and began drinking” and “was confused why nobody did
anything to end the attack.” Following the incident, the band members did not talk to Fuchs
about the assault. Victory Tischler-Blue, who replaced Fuchs in the band, described “how some
of the other members made fun of what happened to Jackie. […] ‘They would talk about Kim
fucking Jackie like a dog. It was kind of a running joke.’”664
Krome, who alleged she was also assaulted by Fowley, said she tried to talk to Jett and
Runaways drummer Sandy West after the first time Fowley assaulted her. She said, “I told them
he’s abusing me. I’m powerless, and I don’t know what to do. […] They just looked at me blankly
like I was the idiot. … I remember getting really mad and saying, ‘You know what? Watch your
ass, because you might be next.’”665
In July 2015, Fuchs posted on Facebook, “I know some people watching the online drama unfold
have been discouraged by the lack of support I’ve received from my former bandmates. To which
I can only say that I hope you never have to walk in their shoes. My rape was traumatic for
everyone, not just me, and everyone deals with trauma in their own way and time.”666
Lukasz Gottwald aka Dr. Luke
Allegations
In 2014, singer Kesha claimed that she was drugged and raped by her producer,
Dr. Luke, in 2005. Kesha alleged Dr. Luke, whose name is Lukasz Gottwald,
psychologically tormented her throughout their partnership.
In 2014, pop star Kesha, full name Kesha Sebert, sued Lukasz Gottwald, the producer known as
Dr. Luke, “alleging he drugged and raped her nine years earlier and psychologically tormented
663 theguardian.com, July 13, 2015
664 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
665 highline.huffingtonpost.com, July 8, 2015
666 facebook.com, July 13, 2015
179
her throughout their working relationship. She said he harangued her about her weight,
denigrated her voice and lorded his power over her career.”667
Kesha claimed that Gottwald had her take “pills that she alleges turned out to be a date rape
drug.” According to her lawsuit, Kesha “took the pills and woke up the following afternoon,
naked in Dr. Luke’s bed, sore and sick, with no memory of how she got there.” She “immediately
called her mother and made a ‘fresh complaint’ telling her that she was naked in Dr. Luke's hotel
room, she did not know where the clothes were, that Dr. Luke had raped her, and that she
needed to go to the emergency room.”668
For years, cases filed by Kesha and Dr. Luke “wound their way through legal systems on two
coasts. And while Kesha seemed to dominate in the arena of public opinion — culminating in an
all-star performance of a survivor’s anthem at the Grammy Awards in 2018 — most of her legal
claims were rejected in court or withdrawn, leaving her on the defensive in Dr. Luke’s remaining
defamation suit.” Notably, in April 2016, “Kesha was dealt a major setback […] in her legal fight
against the producer Dr. Luke after a New York State Supreme Court judge in Manhattan
rejected her claims of infliction of emotional distress, gender-based hate crimes and
employment discrimination, citing a lack of evidence and jurisdiction.”669
Silencing Victim
Dr. Luke allegedly threatened Kesha and her family to prevent her from going
public with her abuse allegations, including that he raped her in 2005.
In her 2014 lawsuit, Kesha said that she didn’t previously report the 2005 alleged assault,
explaining “that Dr. Luke threatened to ‘destroy’ her and her family if she went public with the
abuse charges. She also claims that Dr. Luke forced her to enter one-sided, long-term contracts
denying her ‘any meaningful profit from her work due to Dr. Luke's exploitation of her over the
last decade.’”670
In January 2014, “Kesha checked herself into a rehab for treatment for an eating disorder, which
her mother blamed on Dr. Luke in an interview with People.” Her lawsuit alleged that “Kesha’s
doctors ‘concluded that Dr. Luke had physically and psychologically damaged Ms. Sebert to the
point where continuing such contact would be ‘life threatening’ to Ms. Sebert.’”671
667 npr.org, June 22, 2023
668 nbcnews.com, October 14, 2014
669 nytimes.com, June 22, 2023; nytimes.com, April 7, 2016
670 nbcnews.com, October 14, 2014
671 nbcnews.com, October 14, 2014
180
Following Kesha’s lawsuit and public allegations, Dr. Luke countersued her for
defamation.
Facing rape and abuse allegations from Kesha, Dr. Luke “pursued a defamation countersuit,
alleging she invented the accusation to get out of her contracts with him. (The case expanded to
a separate count, ultimately upheld by a judge, that Kesha defamed Gottwald in a text to Lady
Gaga that falsely claimed he raped Katy Perry.).” Lawyers for Dr. Luke argued “that the rape and
abuse accusations — which they called ‘extortionist threats’ by Kesha, her lawyer at the time,
Mark Geragos, and her mother — stemmed only from contentious contract negotiations that
began in 2013.” At the time, Dr. Luke’s lawyer said Kesha’s allegations were “part of ‘a campaign
of publishing outrageous and untrue statements.’”672
In his defamation suit, Dr. Luke “pointed to additional contracts that Kesha signed after the
alleged 2005 rape, in addition to a sworn deposition, from 2011, in which Kesha said, ‘Dr. Luke
never made sexual advances at me.’” Following the alleged 2005 rape, Kesha and Dr. Luke
“worked together closely for the next decade, selling millions of albums and scoring two No. 1
hits, ‘Tik Tok,’ in 2009, and ‘We R Who We R,’ in 2010.”673
In June 2023, a month before the defamation case was set to go to trial, Kesha “announced that
a ‘resolution’ has been made between her and producer Dr Luke after an extended legal
battle.”674
Continued Work
Despite Kesha’s allegations, Dr. Luke continued to record with major artists. His
publishing company, Prescription Songs, grew into a major force, and he had a
record label distributed by Sony.
In August 2023, Rolling Stone reported that even before Dr. Luke seemingly settled all legal
matters with Kesha stemming from her rape and abuse allegations, he “made it back to the
center of pop music — and his renewed success arrived despite a series of reputational bruises
that went beyond the rape accusation. The allegations of fixating on Kesha’s weight have never
gone away (though he’s denied it), along with accusations of controlling behavior toward artists,
and the overarching sense, as one successful songwriter puts it, that Gottwald was ‘a fucking
672 rollingstone.com, August 16, 2023; nytimes.com, June 22, 2023
673 theguardian.com, June 22, 2023; nytimes.com, June 22, 2023
674 theguardian.com, June 22, 2023
181
dick to everybody.’ But even so, ‘he continues to just win,’ says an executive who works with
producers and songwriters. (Like the other sources interviewed in this story, he asked for
anonymity because of Gottwald’s power and influence.) ‘It’s unbelievable.’”675
Kesha’s 2014 lawsuit “forced Gottwald into the shadows, in contrast to what had been an
unusual level of visibility for a writer-producer — he had even come close to becoming a judge
on American Idol. Even in retreat, however, the powerful business apparatus he built at his peak
kept humming. His publishing company, Prescription Songs, continued to sign songwriters of
various stripes: the melody writers known as topliners, producers, beatmakers, artists, ‘vibe
people.’ He also had a Sony-distributed record label, Kemosabe, and Gottwald never stopped his
own production work, even as he experimented with abandoning his Dr. Luke moniker for
aliases like Tyson Trax and Made in China.”676
Dr. Luke’s Prescription Songs “only grew larger during the Kesha-Gottwald battles, becoming
one of the industry’s most successful pop factories: It ranked seventh on Billboard’s 2022 Year
End Hot 100 Publishing Corporations list. Among the songs credited to its signees are hits for
Dua Lipa, Lizzo, the Weeknd, Selena Gomez, Iggy Azalea, Troye Sivan, and dozens of others.”
One L.A.-based songwriter told Rolling Stone, “You can’t set foot in a session here without
working with someone who is signed to Prescription.”677
At Prescription Songs, “Gottwald stays in the background, and lets a crew of personable
executives — almost all women — run the company.” One songwriter noted, “They’re mostly
great people to work with, to be honest,” adding, “They act as a buffer between Luke and the
company.”678
While some female artists avoided working with Dr. Luke following Kesha’s allegations, “he
simply doubled down on working with new ones. Prescription and Kemosabe, and the scouts at
each, were powerful tools to funnel new talent his way.” One industry executive noted that being
a writer-producer like Dr. Luke is “such an inside job that I think you can kind of sneak your way
back into the ballpark.” Dr. Luke “also began to refocus on hip-hop and R&B, where he seemed
to face less scrutiny, the executive suggests.”679
675 rollingstone.com, August 16, 2023
676 rollingstone.com, August 16, 2023
677 rollingstone.com, August 16, 2023
678 rollingstone.com, August 16, 2023
679 rollingstone.com, August 16, 2023
182
Michael “Mike” Greene
Allegations
Terri McIntyre, former Recording Academy executive, filed a lawsuit accusing
Michael Greene of sexual harassment and assault as well as the National Academy
of Recording Arts & Sciences of negligence.
According to Rolling Stone, Terri McIntyre, former executive director of the Recording
Academy’s Los Angeles chapter, “filed a lawsuit against former Grammys CEO Mike Greene as
well as the organization itself, accusing Greene of sexually assaulting her multiple times when
she was his employee.” According to the lawsuit, McIntyre claimed “that Greene, who stepped
down as Grammy chief in 2002 amid other sexual misconduct claims, sexually harassed and
assaulted her over the two-year period. McIntyre also named the National Academy of
Recording Arts & Sciences, the longstanding organization that oversees the Grammys, as
defendants, claiming it was negligent and attempted to help cover up the claims.”680
McIntyre was “suing Greene for sexual battery, battery and assault and is suing the Academy for
negligent hiring, supervision and retention, negligence, harassment on the basis of sex/gender
and failure to take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment.” The allegations against Greene
“date back to when McIntyre started her job at the Recording Academy in 1994. According to the
suit, soon after starting her job, Greene allegedly told McIntyre that ‘he expected Plaintiff to
perform sex acts for Defendant Greene in order to remain employed and progress at Defendant
Academy.’” Additionally, “Greene threatened to blackball McIntyre in the music business if she
didn’t meet his demands.”681
As reported by Rolling Stone, the suit alleged that “just over two months into her employment,
McIntyre claims Greene drugged and sexually assaulted her in a hotel room during the
organization’s annual meeting of trustees in Hawaii.” Then, “Greene allegedly sexually assaulted
McIntyre again at his home in Malibu after the alleged Hawaii incident.” It was also reported
that, according to the suit, “Greene continued to sexually harass McIntyre after the alleged
assault, invading her personal space at the office as well as touching McIntyre’s legs, shoulders,
neck, breasts and butt.”682
680 rollingstone.com, December 6, 2023
681 rollingstone.com, December 6, 2023
682 rollingstone.com, December 6, 2023
183
A former Recording Academy executive, Joanne Gardner, “tells Rolling Stone that McIntyre
came to her home around 1995 to confide many of the same allegations detailed in Wednesday’s
lawsuit. Gardner says that when she worked at the Recording Academy, both Greene and the
organization cultivated a toxic and abusive workplace environment that was unsafe for women.”
Gardner said, “It was a predatory place for women and Mike Greene was predator in chief,”
adding, “This was deviant sexual manipulation. And it was all power-based. These young women
didn’t have anybody to take care of them at that point.”683
Rolling Stone reported that a representative for the Recording Academy commented, “in light of
pending litigation, the Academy declines to comment on these allegations, which occurred
nearly 30 years ago. Today’s Recording Academy has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to
sexual misconduct and we will remain steadfast in that commitment.”684
In 2001, the Recording Academy settled a sexual misconduct claim made against
Michael Greene for $650,000. Greene resigned in 2002 after a sexual harassment
investigation but took home an $8 million severance package.
In 2002, the New York Times reported that Michael Greene “resigned on Saturday at a meeting
of the academy's board in Los Angeles. The meeting was called to discuss the organization's
investigation of a sexual harassment lawsuit against Mr. Greene.” The lawsuit concerned “a
former executive in the academy's human resources department [who] threatened to sue after
accusing Mr. Greene of harassment and abuse.”685
Greene denied the charges, but the New York Times stated that in 2001, “Academy trustees
reportedly paid her $650,000 to settle the case out of court and then hired a private investigator
to look into Mr. Greene's conduct with female employees.” Greene ultimately resigned due to
“philosophical differences with board members,” and the New York Times reported that “he was
taking home a severance package worth as much as $8 million.” Regarding the outcome of the
investigation conducted by the Recording Academy, “Garth Fundis, chairman of the academy
board, said that the investigation was complete and that it revealed no sexual harassment, sex
discrimination or hostile work environment.”686
683 rollingstone.com, December 6, 2023
684 rollingstone.com, December 6, 2023
685 nytimes.com, April 29, 2002
686 nytimes.com, April 29, 2002
184
Silencing & Retaliation Against Victim
McIntyre alleged that she was told “Greene was beyond reproach,” Recording
Academy trustees feared retaliation from him, and she was offered settlements in
exchange for signing an NDA.
In the 2023 lawsuit, McIntyre said that she “went to another Recording Academy executive to
tell him she felt unsafe with Greene, and the executive gave her a new supervisor. McIntyre
claims she went to the new supervisor with the same claims, but that both told her that ‘Greene
was beyond reproach, bulletproof, and that there was nothing they could do to help Plaintiff.’”
According to the suit, “McIntyre began asking other Recording Academy trustees if she could
join their companies, but that none would hire her citing fear of retaliation from Greene.”
according to the suit. In April 1996, McIntyre resigned and “came to understand that her hopes,
dreams, and aspirations to work in the Music Industry were defunct and unreachable.”687
McIntyre claimed “that the Academy and Greene ‘attempted to cover up [Greene’s] sexual
harassment and assault’ and claimed she declined offers to receive a severance package or
payment in exchange for signing an NDA.” In another statement regarding the suit, McIntyre
said, “[Greene’s] criminal, disgusting and deviant actions were devastating and soul-crushing.
As a young, single mother pursuing what, until then, was a promising career in the music
industry, I had nowhere to turn and received no help from the Recording Academy. […] Mike
Greene lied, of course, and the Recording Academy covered up his crimes. I, too, was offered
significant settlements to silence and coerce me to sign non-disclosure agreements, which would
forever protect Mike Greene and the Recording Academy from the crimes he and they
committed against me.”688
Jimmy Iovine
Allegations
An unnamed Jane Doe alleged Jimmy Iovine “forcibly touched” her and sued him
for sexual abuse and harassment in New York.
687 rollingstone.com, December 6, 2023
688 rollingstone.com, December 6, 2023
185
Jimmy Iovine, “a storied music executive and entrepreneur who founded Interscope Records
and served as chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M,” was issued a summons by an
unnamed Jane Doe in New York County “accusing him of sexual abuse and harassment, among
other allegations.” According to Variety, “Court documents do not go into explicit detail about
the nature of the allegations, but claim that Doe has ‘suffered as a result of being sexually
abused, forcibly touched, and subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of anti-
discrimination laws in or around August 2007.’”689
At the time the notice was filed in November 2023, Rolling Stone reported, “The legal filing
contained little additional information regarding the woman’s specific claims, but a lawsuit is
expected by the end of the year.”690 In December 2023, an affidavit was filed in Jane Doe’s case
by her attorney, noting that the “sexual abuse and forcible touching” took place when she “was
contracted with Iovine’s record label. […] Given the sexual abuse inflicted on Plaintiff and the
graphic nature of the allegations necessary to describe what she experienced, Plaintiff has
substantial privacy interests in her identity remaining anonymous, and she would suffer
significant psychological harm, trauma, humiliation, and re-victimization and other harm if she
is forced to reveal her identity to the public.”691
A spokesperson for Iovine commented, “We are quite shocked and baffled by this alleged claim,”
adding, “this inquiry is the first we’ve heard of this matter. No one has ever made a claim like
this against Jimmy Iovine, nor have we been contacted or made aware of any complaint by
anyone, including this unknown plaintiff prior to now.”692
In February 2024, Jane Doe “dropped the case after ‘the matter was resolved to the satisfaction
of the parties,’ according to her lawyer.” The case against Iovine “was discontinued on February
15, with prejudice—meaning the woman cannot refile—and without costs to either party,
according to documents viewed by Pitchfork. Iovine’s representatives did not respond to
requests for comment.”693
689 variety.com, November 22, 2023
690 rollingstone.com, November 22, 2023
691 iapps.courts.state.ny.us, Index No. 952307/2023, accessed February 14, 2024
692 variety.com, November 22, 2023
693 pitchfork.com, February 21, 2024
186
Abbey Konowitch
Allegations
Between the late 1980s and early 1990s, several employees alleged that Arista vice
president Abbey Konowitch made sexually suggestive comments to female
coworkers.
In 1991, Entertainment Weekly reported allegations of verbal abuse by Abbey Konowitch, the
former vice president for video and artist development for Arista Records, a division of Sony
Music. Although several women alleged to EW reporters that Konowitch was verbally abusive,
Joanne Smat, who had been promoted in 1987 to national manager of artist development in
Konowitch’s department at Arista, was “the only one willing to go on the record with charges.”694
Smat recounted that Konowitch would repeatedly ask female coworkers “such questions as ‘Can
I bite you?’ ‘Can I touch your thigh?’ ‘Can I bite your ass?’” According to Smat, Konowitch
“predicted that [Smat] would sleep with him on a company trip to Maui” and directed an intern
to “[shoot] rubber bands at my ass.” Another female coworker claimed that “On a day-to-day
basis Abbey would say gross things,” and that “If you asked him for a vacation day, he’d say,
‘Scratch my back and I’ll think about it.’ And he was serious.”695
Smat claimed that when she told Arista’s vice president about Konowitch’s behavior, she was
told she would be given a transfer, “effectively a demotion, to a secretarial position.” Smat then
consulted a lawyer, who advised her against pursuing legal action because of difficulties of proof
and suggested that “since she was considering other career options anyway, maybe she should
just move on.” She resigned from Arista in January 1988 “but also received severance pay” from
the company, according to Billboard.696
In 1995, Playboy reported that Konowitch was regarded by multiple people in the
music industry as offensive or abusive.
In 1995, during Konowitch’s tenure as vice president at MTV, Playboy reported that “according
to sources both outside and inside MTV, exercising the daily power to make or break careers
ultimately went to Konowitch's head. One industry executive called him ‘an egomaniac’ who
694 ew.com, December 6, 1991; sonymusic.com, accessed August 1, 2023
695 ew.com, December 6, 1991
696 ew.com, December 6, 1991; Billboard, December 14, 1991
187
managed to offend even those whose videos he did play, as well as those he didn't. ‘No one could
rein him in,’ the executive said. ‘He was incredibly abusive.’ […] Asked who specifically in the
record industry Konowitch might have offended, one source laughed and said, ‘It would be
quicker to tell you who he didn't offend.’”697
In 1992, Konowitch left MTV and joined Maverick Entertainment, a joint venture record label
launched in 1991 by Madonna and Time Warner Inc. According to Playboy, after reports
surfaced of Konowitch’s abusive behavior at Arista, two of his former MTV colleagues
“laughingly called it poetic justice that he'll now be ‘fetching coffee’ for Madonna and her ball-
busting publicist, Liz Rosenberg.”698 In 1995, Variety reported that Konowitch unexpectedly
resigned from his Maverick position with more than a year left on his contract. A statement from
Maverick manager Freddie DeMann read, “Though the exit comes in the wake of a sexual
harassment suit, no one close to the situation said that had anything to do with the departure.
Instead, they believe it was management and style differences between DeMann and Konowitch,
amplified recently by the labels [sic] sudden success.”699 According to the Los Angeles Times,
sources said Konowitch “had been at odds for about a year with Maverick co-Chairman Freddy
DeMann regarding an expansion of his duties as well as a bigger salary.”700
Failure to Take Action by Label
Arista was aware of complaints about Konowitch but did not take any action
against him, and instead, offered to transfer female employees to other
departments.
Konowitch’s attorney denied Smat’s allegations and claimed that Arista had no record of any
formal complaints or discussions of Smat’s charges. However, according to Entertainment
Weekly, a woman who worked with Smat and Konowitch said “that there were several formal
meetings between Smat and a top Arista manager. ‘One of the vice presidents,’ she says, ‘called
up every woman who worked with Abbey and said, ‘Does he really do these kinds of things?’ And
all of us said yes. Their solution was to ask us if we wanted to transfer to other departments.’”701
Roy Lott, executive vice president and general manager of Arista Records, told EW, “Complaints
were made by Joanne to me. […] The situation was analyzed. I, and others, talked to various
697 Playboy, March 1, 1993
698 Playboy, March 1, 1993
699 The Hollywood Reporter, December 12, 1995
700 latimes.com, December 12, 1995
701 ew.com, December 6, 1991
188
people. And we found no basis for taking any action against Abbey Konowitch.”702 Konowitch's
attorney Barry H. Platnick described Smat as a “disgruntled employee” attempting to use the
charges against Konowitch as leverage to avoid being fired for other reasons.703
In 1991, MTV said the accusations made against Konowitch would have no bearing
on his position as MTV’s vice president of music and talent relations.
In 1991, Entertainment Weekly reported that Konowitch’s career had “not been affected by any
of the complaints” and noted that in 1990, he had been selected as #25 on the publication’s
Power 101.704 In 1991, when Konowitch was working for MTV, Billboard reported, “MTV
officials say allegations of verbal sexual harassment made against Abbey Konowitch while he
worked at Arista Records in the mid-'80s have no bearing on his current position as VP of music
and talent relations at the music channel. The charges were made by a former Arista employee
in the Dec. 6 issues of Entertainment Weekly. MTV spokeswoman Carole Robinson confirms
that the article has ‘no impact on Abbey's status here.’”705
Konowitch's attorney Barry H. Platnick said “he intends to take legal action against the
magazine [Entertainment Weekly], including a possible lawsuit for libel.” Platnick
“unsuccessfully tried to block the story before it was printed.” Robin Bierstedt, deputy general
counsel for Time Warner Publishing, Entertainment Weekly's parent company, asserted that
“the magazine stands by its story.”706
Nigel Lythgoe
Allegations
Singer and “American Idol” host Paula Abdul accused executive Nigel Lythgoe of
sexual assault, and Abdul claimed she feared retaliation if she came forward, as
her contracts prevented her from making “derogatory” comments about the shows
and peopled involved.
702 ew.com, December 6, 1991
703 Billboard, December 14, 1991
704 ew.com, December 6, 1991
705 Billboard, December 14, 1991
706 Billboard, December 14, 1991
189
In December 2023, Paula Abdul, a singer and former host of “American Idol,” filed a civil suit in
Los Angeles County Superior Court “accusing American Idol executive producer and So You
Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe of sexual assault and gender-based violence against
her.” According to court filings obtained by NPR, “the multipart complaint describes long-term
harassment […] by executives and others involved in the production of American Idol,” with the
focus of the suit being “a pair of direct physical attacks Abdul, 61, allegedly experienced at the
hands of the 74-year-old British TV executive, director and choreographer [Nigel Lythgoe].”707
According to NPR, the first attack against Abdul allegedly occurred in the early 2000s. The suit
detailed that “Lythgoe and Abdul were on the road for Idol's regional auditions when Lythgoe
allegedly groped and kissed Abdul in a hotel elevator.” Abdul “quickly called one of her
representatives to inform them of the assault, but ultimately decided not to take action for fear
that Lythgoe would have her fired from American Idol.” Then, “in 2015, shortly after Abdul
agreed to be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, Lythgoe invited Abdul to dinner, where he
allegedly assaulted her again. ‘As with the earlier incident, Abdul feared she would be retaliated
against or blackballed if she spoke out about the incident,’ Abdul's lawyers said in the
complaint.” Additionally, “Abdul's lawyers said that Abdul signed contracts that prohibited her
from publicly discussing details about the two shows and the people who worked on them that
might be viewed as ‘derogatory.’”708
In addition to Lythgoe, Abdul’s “complaint accuses [co-defendants] American Idol Productions,
Dance Nation Productions, 19 Entertainment and Fremantlemedia North America of being
aware of Lythgoe's behavior and doing nothing about it.” Abdul’s lawsuit was “the latest in a
string of high-profile California lawsuits filed ahead of the expiration, on Sunday [December 31,
2023], of part of the state's Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act.”709
In a statement to NPR, Lythgoe denied the allegations. He stated, “For more than two decades,
Paula and I have interacted as dear — and entirely platonic — friends and colleagues. Yesterday,
however, out of the blue, I learned of these claims in the press and I want to be clear: not only
are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.” He added, “While
Paula's history of erratic behavior is well known, I can't pretend to understand exactly why she
would file a lawsuit that she must know is untrue. But I can promise that I will fight this
appalling smear with everything I have.”710
707 npr.org, November 30, 2023
708 npr.org, November 30, 2023
709 npr.org, November 30, 2023
710 npr.org, November 30, 2023
190
Two “All American Girl” contestants filed lawsuits against Nigel Lythgoe, accusing
him of sexual harassment and assault. One of the victims would have been six
years old at the time of the alleged assault.
In January 2024, according to USA Today, “Jane Doe K.G. and Jane Doe K.N. accused Lythgoe
of sexual assault/battery, sexual harassment and negligence stemming from an alleged attack in
May 2003. At the time, they were contestants on ABC's talent competition show ‘All American
Girl,’ which aired for one season in 2003 and was produced by Lythgoe.” The lawsuit was filed
“under California's Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act.” However, it was filed after
the one-year window closed, and the law was limited to individuals who were adults at the time
of the alleged assault. USA Today reported that one of the victims would have been six years old
at the time.711
Both Does alleged “that Lythgoe drove them to his home in Los Angeles after the ‘All American
Girl’ finale party instead of a studio to meet others, according to the documents obtained by USA
TODAY.” Upon arriving at the residence, “the contestants said Lythgoe ‘made sexual advances’
to both of them, including ‘attempting to kiss (Jane Doe K.G.) and pushing her body close to
his.’ The contestants ‘did not consent to the contact on any occasion,’ according to the filing.”
The Jane Does “say they have suffered ‘emotional distress, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem’
and ‘will continue to incur expenses for medical and psychological treatment, counseling and/or
therapy.’”712
USA Today reported that Roe Production Company, a pseudonym, was listed “as a defendant in
the lawsuit for ‘failure to maintain a work environment that was free from harm, harassment,
assault, battery and/or other unlawful behavior against its employees and agents.’ It's unclear
which production company to which this refers.”713
Kenny MacPherson
Allegations & Lawsuit
In October 2023, Sara Lewis, former employee of the music company Chrysalis,
sued former Chrysalis president Kenny MacPherson for sexual assault.
711 usatoday.com, January 17, 2024
712 usatoday.com, January 17, 2024
713 usatoday.com, January 17, 2024
191
In October 2023, Sara Lewis, a former A&R executive at the music publishing company
Chrysalis, filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Chrysalis’s former president Kenny MacPherson.
Lewis, who worked under MacPherson from around 2004 until 2008, alleged in her suit “that
MacPherson sexually assaulted her in her hotel room during a business trip in 2005, groomed
and harassed her the previous year, and blackballed her when she tried seeking employment
elsewhere, eventually causing Lewis to leave the music industry.”714
The lawsuit also named BMG, which bought Chrysalis in 2010, as a defendant in the lawsuit.
According to Rolling Stone, BMG “is the largest independent music company outside of the
major three record labels, and it oversees the music of artists like Tina Turner, Motley Crue and
John Legend. Lewis has sued both MacPherson and BMG for sexual battery, sexual harassment
and gender violence. BMG is the only defendant [sued] over claims of negligence, hostile work
environment, [labor] violations, discrimination, sexual harassment in violation of the fair
employment and housing act [and] failure to prevent sexual harassment.”715 According to
Billboard, Lewis “is accusing BMG and/or MacPherson of 12 different counts of civil
wrongdoing, including sexual battery, gender violence, and a slew of violations of California
labor and employment laws covering sexual harassment and wrongful termination.”716
Lewis’s lawsuit claimed that MacPherson sexually assaulted, harassed, and
groomed Lewis while she was working under him at Chrysalis.
According to Lewis’s lawsuit, MacPherson “began grooming and sexually harassing her shortly
after he joined Chrysalis, with him allegedly ‘invading Sara’s personal space, standing a little too
closely and leaning suggestively over Sara’s desk when speaking with her.’” On a 2004 work trip
to Vancouver, MacPherson allegedly “invited himself” to Lewis’s hotel room and “leaned over
her, placed his hands on her thigh, and confessed that he loved her and could no longer control
his feelings.”717
Subsequently, MacPherson “regularly cornered her at the office, tried to kiss her numerous
times, and ‘at work lunches and dinners, he positioned himself next to her at the table, visibly
groping her legs and even her vagina,’ per the filing.” The suit alleged that MacPherson would
buy Lewis expensive gifts and “regularly called Lewis to talk about his issues with his marriage,
flirt with her on the phone and attempt to initiate phone sex, she alleges.”718
714 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
715 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
716 billboard.com, October 5, 2023
717 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
718 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
192
In 2005, on a work trip in Chicago, MacPherson went to Lewis’s hotel room, where he allegedly
told Lewis he loved her, and “tried to have sex with her anyway” after she rebuffed his advances.
The suit claimed that MacPherson “forced himself upon Sara, undressing them both.
MacPherson attempted to penetrate Sara, but was unable to maintain an erection. […]
MacPherson then forcibly performed oral sex on Sara as she laid motionless, repeatedly crying
and saying ‘no,’ and pleading for MacPherson to stop. Eventually, frustrated with Sara’s lack of
participation, he relented. ‘The words that came out of my mouth on repeat were any version of
‘no, ‘I don’t want this,’ ‘this can’t be,’ ‘leave me alone,’ ‘don’t touch me,’’ Lewis says.”719
Silencing & Retaliation Against Victim
After Lewis reported the alleged assault to her supervisor at Chrysalis, no action
was taken by the company, and MacPherson “stonewalled” and “blackballed”
Lewis, causing her to leave the industry.
Lewis’s lawsuit claimed that “Chrysalis did not have a human resources department to file
complaints, so Lewis reported MacPherson to her direct supervisor Jamie Cerreta, who has
worked with MacPherson for decades and is now also an executive at Hipgnosis Songs Group.
Lewis spoke with Cerreta for over three hours about the allegations, but Cerreta ‘did nothing and
never mentioned the topic again,’ the suit alleged. […] After reporting MacPherson to Cerreta,
Lewis claimed that MacPherson stonewalled her, making it more difficult to perform her job.
She claims he wouldn’t set meetings with Lewis and she couldn’t arrange meetings with others,
making her job impossible to perform. She sought employment elsewhere but claimed that
MacPherson blackballed her, causing her to leave the music business outright.”720
According to Lewis’s lawyers, “MacPherson and Chrysalis created an environment wherein Sara
was without recourse. […] She either acquiesced to MacPherson’s relentless and unwanted
sexual advances, or faced a career-ending fate. Sara will no longer remain silent and now brings
this action to seek redress for the years of sexual harassment and abuse she suffered at the
hands of MacPherson, which was enabled and covered up by Chrysalis.”721
On October 4, 2023, the day Lewis’s lawsuit was announced, Jeff Anderson & Associates
(@AndersonCause) tweeted, “Kenny stole my dreams and life from me, not just my career. I
719 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
720 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
721 billboard.com, October 5, 2023
193
never filed a police report or tried to obtain justice because justice wasn't an option until now. I
suffered in silence and was intimidated – I am no longer intimidated. - Sara Lewis, survivor.”722
Lewis said of the incident, “I told people … and collectively everybody turned a blind eye because
— I can’t speak for them — but I imagine it’s because they were concerned for their own
situation. […] I left [the music industry] with my tail between my legs. Kenny took away my
worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my voice, my laughter, my trust.” She
added, “My career was probably one of the least concerning things in the context of what Kenny
stole away from me. Fifteen years later, you move through life, I’m always guarded. I’m always
ready to defend myself and I’m always ready to be angry. That’s not something that a Band-Aid
heals.”723
Continued Work in Music Industry
MacPherson denied Lewis’s allegations, and Chrysalis’s parent company BMG
distanced itself from the alleged incidents.
722 twitter, October 4, 2023
723 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
194
MacPherson’s attorney told Rolling Stone in a statement, “On behalf of my client Mr.
MacPherson, we vehemently deny all allegations made against Mr. MacPherson in Ms. Lewis’
unverified complaint filed earlier today.” A representative for BMG said the company “stands
solidly against all forms of discrimination and abuse, and we are shocked and dismayed by the
allegations. As a point of fact, BMG did not exist until October 1, 2008, years after the alleged
events had taken place, and did not acquire Chrysalis until years later in 2011.”724
MacPherson was a “respected figure in music publishing” who founded the
successful music licensing company Big Deal Music, which was later renamed
Hipgnosis Songs Group.
According to Rolling Stone, following his tenure at Chrysalis, Kenny MacPherson was “a top
executive at Hipgnosis Songs — the company that helped drive the music industry’s copyright
acquisition boom while buying catalogs from stars like Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake and the
Red Hot Chili Peppers.” Hipgnosis became “one of the most prominent music companies in the
industry and has played a major role in the much-covered catalog acquisition boom of the past
several years. The company and its founder and chief executive Merck Mercuriadis helped drive
up catalog values as they offered songwriters and artists hefty premiums for their work, leading
competitors to follow suit. Since 2018, the company has bought copyrights from the likes of Neil
Young, Richie Sambora, Mark Ronson, Justin Bieber and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Mercuriadis bought MacPherson’s publishing company Big Deal Music in 2020, renaming the
company Hipgnosis Songs Group.”725
MacPherson “built a reputation as a respected figure in music publishing from his tenure at
Chrysalis and Big Deal, signing artists and songwriters including My Morning Jacket, St.
Vincent, Sharon Van Etten, Ray Lamontagne and Teddy Geiger. MacPherson has served on the
National Music Publishers’ Association’s board of directors since 2018.”726
Lewis filed suit against MacPherson “weeks before Hipgnosis Songs Fund is expected to vote on
whether the fund continues as a publicly traded company, as well as whether to approve a $440
million asset sale to sell several catalogs Hipgnosis previously purchased to pay down the
company’s debt.”727
MacPherson was placed on leave at Hipgnosis the day after Lewis filed suit against
him “pending an investigation.”
724 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
725 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
726 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
727 rollingstone.com, October 4, 2023
195
On October 5, 2023, the day after Lewis filed suit against him, MacPherson was placed on a
leave of absence from his job at Hipgnosis. In a statement to Billboard, Hipgnosis — which “was
not named in the lawsuit nor accused of any wrongdoing — said it had placed MacPherson from
his role as the CEO of the company’s publishing unit pending an investigation. ‘Hipgnosis Songs
Fund has a policy of zero-tolerance to harassment or abuse,’ a spokesperson for the company
said. ‘While the company is not a defendant to these historic allegations which relate to a period
15 years before Hipgnosis was founded, Kenny MacPherson was placed on leave of absence from
Hipgnosis Songs Group as soon as it became aware of the allegations. Our rigorous procedures
for dealing with such matters have commenced.’”728
Lenard McKelvey aka Charlamagne Tha God
Allegations & Criminal Charges
Charlamagne Tha God allegedly sexually assaulted a 15 year old at a party in 2001,
for which he was arrested and pleaded guilty to “contributing to the delinquency of
a minor.” He was sued over the incident in 2022.
In 2022, Jessica Reid sued radio host Charlamagne The God, whose real name is Lenard
McKelvey, “for alleged sexual assault, battery, and defamation. In 2018, The Blast broke the
story that in 2001 the radio host was arrested on a warrant stemming from [sic], ‘from a charge
of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the 2nd degree, for an incident that allegedly
occurred the month before.’ Court documents accused a then 22-year-old Charlamagne of
‘willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously [engaging] in penile/vaginal intercourse with a fifteen-
year-old female child.’” According to RadarOnline.com, “Reid ended up not cooperating with
the investigation,” and Charlamagne “ended up pleading to a lesser charge of contributing to the
delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to 3 years of probation.”729
In the civil case, “Reid said she met Charlamagne through a mutual friend. She said he invited
her to attend his birthday party on June 8, 2001, at the Short Stay Naval Recreation Center [in
Charleston, South Carolina]. At the party, she claimed to have drank a drink provided by
Charlamagne. Reid claimed the drink caused her to become dizzy and she collapsed ‘as it felt like
her legs gave out and she could not walk.’” Reid, who was 15 at the time, alleged that “two men
728 billboard.com, October 5, 2023
729 radaronline.com, April 20, 2023; vibe.com, April 21, 2023
196
took her upstairs where they assaulted her. Once they left, she said Charlamagne came in and
did the same.”730
RadarOnline.com reported that “Reid’s mom called the police to report her daughter had been
raped.” The officers “found Reid intoxicated and ‘crying uncontrollably.’” Reid went to a
hospital, and a rape kit was performed. However, Charlamagne’s DNA was not found.
Charlamagne argued that the civil case should be dismissed because of the lack of DNA
evidence, and the filing noted “that the South Carolina Solicitor in 2018 declined her request to
re-open the case due to a lack of evidence while confirming that no basis existed to bring sexual
assault charges against Charlamagne.”731
Speaking to HollywoodLife.com in 2018, Reid said, “He definitely knew how old I was. I was
still in high school. He told me he was 20-years-old.” She added, “I thought Charlamagne and I
were friends so I didn’t understand. He was somebody I felt I could trust. I wasn’t a groupie
type. I wouldn’t just hang out at parties. I wasn’t on drugs. I wasn’t that type of person. In his
interview [with DJ Akademiks] he tried to discredit me, but I wasn’t that type of person.”732 In
the civil case, Reid also “accused Charlamagne of defaming her when he spoke about the
incident publicly years later. She said he spread ‘false, insulting’ claims about her, including
calling her a ‘groupie.’”
David Mueller
Allegations
In 2017, a jury found that Denver radio host David Mueller groped singer Taylor
Swift during a 2013 photo session. After Swift first made the allegations against
Mueller, he sued her alleging that her accusations were false, prompting Swift to
countersue.
In August 2017, a jury found that Denver radio host David Mueller groped singer Taylor Swift
“during a preconcert photo session in 2013.” Jurors ruled that Mueller’s actions “amounted to
assault and battery of the star.”733 Swift accused “Mueller of reaching under her dress and
730 radaronline.com, April 20, 2023;
731 radaronline.com, April 20, 2023; vibe.com, April 21, 2023
732 hollywoodlife.com, July 12, 2018
733 nytimes.com, August 14, 2017
197
grabbing her buttocks while they posed for a photograph together backstage at one of Swift’s
concerts.”734
Swift’s lawsuit against Mueller “argued that the trial would ‘serve as an example to other women
who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.’”735 Following the
verdict, Swift’s lawyer said that the singer saw the $1 in compensation that she demanded and
won from Mueller “as symbolically ‘immeasurable to all women,’ proving that they could report
an assault without fear of facing a lawsuit from the attacker.”736
Mueller first initiated “the litigation with a 2015 suit that portrayed Ms. Swift’s accusation as
false.”737 He “sued Swift, the singer’s mom Andrea Swift, and radio promotions director Frank
Bell in 2015, accusing them of interfering with his $150,000/year contract as a local morning
radio DJ in Denver by pressuring his employer, KYGO radio, to fire him.”738 Subsequently, Swift
“filed a federal counterclaim” in March 2015 against Mueller.739
In August 2017, Swift was dismissed from Mueller’s lawsuit “after a judge ruled that there was
insufficient evidence to show that Swift had acted improperly.”740 Additionally, a jury “rejected
similar claims Mueller had made against the singer's mother.”741
Continued Work in Music Industry
After a jury found that Mueller groped Swift, he was hired as a DJ for a Mississippi
radio station. Mueller’s employers defended the hiring and dismissed the
accusations made against him.
In January 2018, the New York Daily News reported that Mueller “returned to the airwaves on
a Mississippi station.” At the time, he was “co-hosting the morning show ‘Jackson & Jonbob’ on
Greenwood’s KIX 92.7 under the on-air name Stonewall Jackson.”742 In Denver, Mueller
broadcasted under the name Jackson, which was lengthened “to Stonewall Jackson — a
reference to the Confederate Civil War general — on KIX to give his moniker a southern spin.”743
734 time.com, August 7, 2017
735 cnn.com, August 14, 2017
736 nytimes.com, August 14, 2017
737 nytimes.com, August 14, 2017
738 cnn.com, August 14, 2017
739 denverpost.com, March 30, 2015
740 cnn.com, August 14, 2017
741 bbc.com, August 14, 2017
742 nydailynews.com, January 30, 2018
743 nydailynews.com, January 30, 2018
198
Delta Radio CEO Larry Fuss defended Mueller’s hiring despite Swift’s accusations. Fuss told the
New York Daily News, “I sat down with him face-to-face in Minneapolis before I offered him
the job and talked to him about it.” He added, “He’s either the world’s best liar, or he’s telling
the truth. I tend to believe his version of the story and most people who have talked to him face -
to-face do believe his version of the story.”744
Fuss told CNN that “he believes Mueller’s protestations of innocence.” He stated, “He’s very
sincere and if you talk to him face to face, he comes off as sincere.” Fuller also “said many of
those complaining have made the situation about their own traumas.” Additionally, he said,
“I’ve been getting calls and emails from people saying, ‘My uncle molested me when I was 14’ or
‘My boyfriend beat me severely.’” He added, “I understand that and I’m sorry for those people
that had to go through those ordeals, but what does that have to do with me and what does that
have to do with David Mueller?”745
Lou Pearlman
Allegations
Lou Pearlman, who founded boy bands such as the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC,
engaged in sexual misconduct with teenage boys that were members of his bands
and/or aspired to make it in the music industry.
In February 2009, ABC News reported that Lou Pearlman, who founded boy bands such as the
Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, faced “allegations by young men who claim Pearlman acted
inappropriately, molested them or sought to exchange sex for help with their careers.” In the
November 2007 copy of Vanity Fair, Pearlman was “described by several former singers,
aspiring singers and their parents as a lecher, who used the same deceptive charms to cop cheap
feels off teenage boys.”746
According to Vanity Fair, “Some, especially the teenagers, shrugged and giggled when
[Pearlman] showed them pornographic movies or jumped naked onto their beds in the morning
to wrestle and play. Others, it appears, didn’t get off so easily. These were the young singers seen
emerging from his bedroom late at night, buttoning their pants, sheepish looks on their faces.
744 nydailynews.com, January 30, 2018
745 cnn.com, February 1, 2018
746 abcnews.go.com, February 11, 2009
199
Some deny anything improper ever happened. But the parents of at least one, a member of the
Backstreet Boys, complained. And for any number of young men who sought to join the world’s
greatest boy bands, [Pearlman’s] attentions were an open secret, the price some paid for
fame.”747
Steve Mooney, an aspiring singer who served as Pearlman’s assistant and lived in his home for
two years, said, “I would absolutely say the guy was a sexual predator. All the talent knew what
Lou’s game was. If they say no, they’re lying to you.” Vanity Fair noted, “To a number of his
former band members, Pearlman seemed so enamored of his male singers that it called into
question his motivations for entering the music business in the first place.” Rich Cronin, lead
singer of the band LFO, said, “Honestly, I don’t think Lou ever thought we would become stars.”
He added, “I just think he wanted cute guys around him; this was all an excuse. And then
lightning crazily struck and an empire was created. It was all dumb luck. I think his motives for
getting into music were very different.”748
According to Vanity Fair, “people remarked how odd it was for a blimp-industry executive to be
diversifying into boy bands. In fact, insiders raised questions about Pearlman’s motivations
almost from the moment the Backstreet Boys was formed.” Phoenix Stone, who was one of the
Backstreet Boys initial co-managers, said, “Basically this was an excuse for Lou to hang around
with five good-looking boys.”749
Around 1997 when the Backstreet Boys achieved success in the United States, “the first
allegations of inappropriate behavior involving Pearlman appear to have surfaced. One incident
centered on the youngest of the Backstreet Boys, Nick Carter, who in 1997 turned 17. Even for
many of those closest to the group, what happened remains unclear. ‘My son did say something
about the fact that Nick had been uncomfortable staying [at Pearlman’s house],’ Denise McLean
says. ‘For a while Nick loved going over to Lou’s house. All of a sudden it appeared there was a
flip at some point. Then we heard from the Carter camp that there was some kind of
inappropriate behavior. It was just odd. I can just say there were odd events that took place.’”750
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Nick Carter’s mother, Jane Carter, stopped “just short of
acknowledging Pearlman made improper overtures to her son.” However, she noted, “Certain
things happened.” Told that Vanity Fair was writing an article detailing allegations of
misconduct against Pearlman towards young men, Jane Carter said, “If you’re doing that, and
747 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
748 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
749 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
750 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
200
exposing that, I give you a big flag. I tried to expose him for what he was years ago.… I hope you
expose him, because the financial [scandal] is the least of his injustices.”751
On one occasion at his Orlando residence, Julian Benscher, a member of Pearlman’s third boy
band, Take 5, recalled “one sleepover when he and another boy were dozing and Pearlman
appeared at the foot of their bed, clad only in a towel.” According to Tim Christofore, another
member of Take 5, “Pearlman performed a swan dive onto the bed, wrestling with the boys, at
which point his towel came off.” Christofore recalled, “We were like, ‘Ooh, Lou, that’s gross.’” He
added, “What did I know? I was 13.”752
In another instance, “Christofore and another band member telephoned Pearlman to say they
were coming to his home to play pool. When they arrived, Pearlman met them at the door
naked, explaining he was just getting out of the shower. Another time, Christofore rememb ers,
Pearlman showed him security-camera footage of his girl group, Innosense, sunbathing topless.
On still another occasion, Pearlman invited all five band members to watch the movie Star Wars
in his viewing room. At one point the film switched off and was replaced by a pornographic
movie. At the time, Christofore says, ‘We just thought it was funny. We were kids. We were like,
‘Great!’’”753
Pearlman hired a 20-year-old singer as a personal assistant, who said he was
promised a chance to join his new boy band. However, the assistant alleged that
Pearlman made it clear that joining the group required sexual favors.
Steve Mooney “was trying to get started as a singer when a Pearlman aide approached him at an
Orlando mall.” Mooney subsequently performed for Pearlman at his offices and was then offered
“a job as his personal assistant,” saying that JC Chasez of NSYNC got his start that way. Mooney
accepted the offer, “and Pearlman soon invited him to live in his home. All the time Pearlman
held out the chance that Mooney could join one of the groups he was planning, called O -Town.
According to Mooney, Pearlman told him, ‘By this time next year, you’ll be a millionaire.’”754
Mooney quickly “noticed how Pearlman enjoyed hugging him, rubbing his shoulders, and
squeezing his arms, usually in conjunction with one of his odd pep talks.” Mooney recalled, “He
would say, ‘Do you trust me?’ [And I would say], ‘Of course I trust you, Lou.’” According to
Mooney, it reached a point “where every time they were alone Pearlman would rub his muscles.”
He added, “It’s like you have this creepy friend who’s always touching you.”755
751 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
752 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
753 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
754 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
755 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
201
Mooney alleged that “he saw firsthand the price many young men were paying. Pearlman’s
bedroom lay behind a pair of double doors, and when they were closed, Mooney knew not to
intrude. More than once, he says, he encountered young male singers slipping out of those doors
late at night, tucking in their shirts, a sheepish look on their faces. ‘There was one guy in every
band—one sacrifice—one guy in every band who takes it for Lou,’ says Mooney.” He added,
“That’s just the way it was.” Mooney’s sentiment echoed that of several individual who spoke to
Vanity Fair.756
In 2000, as Pearlman was in the final stages of selecting members to join his new boyband
called O-Town, Pearlman called Mooney telling him to come over to his house, “explaining he
needed someone to take out the garbage.” Phoenix Stone, a manager who had worked with the
Backstreet Boys, was with Pearlman when he called Mooney. Stone recalled, “It was very clear to
me what was going on.” He told Pearlman, “If it’s about the garbage, there’s plenty of people
who can take out your garbage. If it’s not, well, leave the kid alone. It’s late.”757
After Stone left, Pearlman called Mooney a second time insisting that he come to his mansion at
2am. Mooney allegedly “found Pearlman in his office, clad in a white terry-cloth bathrobe. A
long argument ensued. It climaxed, Mooney says, when he beseeched Pearlman, ‘What do I have
to do to get in this band?’ At that point, Mooney says, Pearlman smiled. ‘I’ll never forget this as
long as I live,’ Mooney says. ‘He leaned back in his chair, in his white terry-cloth robe and white
underwear, and spread his legs. And then he said, and these were his exact words, ‘You’re a
smart boy. Figure it out.’’”758
Silencing Victims
Pearlman’s suspected victims reportedly would not speak out against him over
fear of what it would do to their careers.
Questions regarding Pearlman’s alleged misconduct, according to Vanity Fair, remained a
“sensitive topic among former members of his boy bands. For every young man or parent who
says he experienced or saw something inappropriate, there are two who won’t discuss it and
three more who deny hearing anything but rumors. More than a dozen insiders told me they
heard stories of Pearlman’s behavior while insisting they experienced no thing untoward
themselves. Asked who might have been targets of Pearlman’s overtures, the names of seven or
756 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
757 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
758 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
202
eight performers are repeatedly mentioned. Only two of these men would talk to me, and while
one acknowledges hearing stories from other boys of inappropriate behavior, both strenuously
deny experiencing it themselves.” One attorney who previously sued Pearlman stated, “None of
these kids will ever admit anything happened.” The attorney added, “They’re all too ashamed,
and if the truth came out it would ruin their careers.”759
Harve Pierre
Allegations
A former assistant of Harve Pierre, former president of Sean Combs’s Bad Boy
Entertainment, sued Pierre for grooming and sexual assault and sued Bad Boy
companies for negligence and gender violence.
In November 2023, Harve Pierre, former president of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s Bad Boy
Entertainment, was “sued for allegedly grooming and sexually assaulting his assistant.” He was
“accused of preying on the Jane Doe plaintiff ‘on multiple occasions in New York City and other
locations throughout the country,’ the complaint filed in New York County Supreme Court and
obtained by Rolling Stone reads.” The filing stated, “Pierre used his position of authority as
plaintiff’s boss to groom, exploit, and sexually assault her,” alleging he “engaged in a year -long
pattern of grooming plaintiff, leading to sexual harassment of plaintiff, and sexual assault.” The
incidents took place between 2016 and 2017.760
The complaint filed by the former assistant under New York’s Adult Survivors Act also named
“Bad Boy Entertainment, Bad Boy Records, and Combs Enterprises as co-defendants, accusing
the companies of negligence and gender violence. ‘Defendants knew or should have known that
Pierre was unfit to be in a position of authority before Pierre sexually assaulted plaintiff,’ the
lawsuit states. It claims the companies failed to ‘properly supervise’ Pierre, especially
considering his access to ‘individuals like plaintiff.’”761
Pierre, Combs, and a third defendant were sued for gang raping a 17-year-old at
Combs’s recording studio after Pierre used his connections to Combs to convince
the teenager to fly to New York City.
759 vanityfair.com, October 3, 2007
760 rollingstone.com, November 22, 2023
761 rollingstone.com, November 22, 2023
203
In December 2023, an unnamed Jane Doe filed suit against Pierre, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and a
third unidentified defendant alleging that they “gang raped her when she was a 17-year-old in
her junior year of high school.” The lawsuit sought “unspecified compensatory damage s for lost
wages, as well as ‘mental pain and anguish and severe emotional distress.’” Unlike prior lawsuits
filed against Pierre and Combs under the Adult Survivors Act, “this lawsuit was filed under New
York City's gender-motivated violence protection law,” and it stated, “seeing two other women
bravely speak out … gave Ms. Doe the confidence to tell her story as well.”762
Jane Doe’s complaint said that “Pierre approached the 17-year-old in 2003 at a lounge in
Michigan, telling her he was ‘best friends’ with Combs. After calling Combs to prove their
relationship, the woman alleges Pierre and Combs convinced her to take a private jet to Daddy’s
House Recording Studio, owned and operated by Diddy.” At the studio, the defendants “then
plied the plaintiff, referred to as ‘Jane Doe,’ with drugs and alcohol, the suit claims, and
‘viciously’ gang raped her.” Doe’s attorney said that “Combs and Pierre ‘preyed on a vulnerable
high school teenager as part of a sex trafficking scheme that involved plying her with drugs and
alcohol and transporting her by private jet to New York City where she was gang raped by the
three individual defendants at Mr. Combs’ studio.’”763
Neil Portnow
Allegations
Neil Portnow was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a female recording
artist in 2018 with the plaintiff claiming the Recording Academy “aided and
abetted Portnow’s conduct.”
In November 2023, a recording artist, listed as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit against former
Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow “just two days before the Academy is slated to announce
the nominations for this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony.” According to Rolling Stone, the suit
alleged “that Portnow drugged and sexually assaulted her in his hotel room in New York in June
2018, and that the Recording Academy ‘aided and abetted Portnow’s conduct to protect their
reputations and silence Plaintiff’s and other women in the music industry who have stood up
and spoken up.”764
762 usatoday.com, December 6, 2023; cbsnews.com, December 6, 2023
763 usatoday.com, December 6, 2023
764 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
204
The plaintiff was identified as “a former Academy member who lives in New York and was 37
years old at the time of the allegation.” The lawsuit “alleged that she met Portnow in January
2018 at a Grammy event.” After their initial meeting, according to the suit, Portnow reached out
to Jane Doe in June 2018, and “she met him at the Kitano Hotel to conduct an interview for her
magazine.” Upon entering his hotel room, “Portnow allegedly gave her some Grammy
memorabilia then offered her a glass of wine, which she alleged was spiked with drugs that
disoriented her.” The lawsuit claimed the plaintiff tried to leave the hotel, “but Portnow
allegedly told her it was too late and there weren’t taxis available.” Doe then “alleges she
repeatedly lost and regained consciousness while Portnow sexually assaulted her.” The plaintiff
recalled one instance where “she awoke to Portnow forcing Plaintiff’s hand to manipulate his
penis, telling her that it was ‘okay.’ Portnow then forcibly penetrated Plaintiff’s vagina with his
penis.”765
After the incident, “the accuser alleged that she woke up in the hotel room the next morning
‘woozy and confused.’” Doe claimed “that she attempted to contact Portnow multiple times after
the alleged assault ‘to understand and gain clarity as to what had occurred,’ and that by October
[2018], she reached out to the Recording Academy regarding the allegation.” An Academy
representative responded and requested to schedule a phone call with her. Despite this request,
“the plaintiff alleged in her suit on Wednesday that no one from the Recording Academy had
ever interviewed her regarding the allegation.” Three weeks after the alleged call request,
“according to the suit, the plaintiff got an email from who she said was Portnow’s legal
representative, containing a personal message from Portnow to her that didn’t address the
allegations directly.” Following this, in December 2018, “the plaintiff filed a police report with
the NYPD, according to the suit.”766
Rolling Stone reported, “the causes of action list Portnow as the lone defendant on a count of
sexual battery, while the Academy was listed on a count of negligent hiring, supervision and
retention. Both defendants were listed as defendants on counts of gender -motivated violence.”
The lawsuit, which was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, claimed, “As a result of
Portnow’s sexual assault, enabled by Defendant the Recording Academy, Plaintiff has suffered
severe emotional, physical and psychological distress, including shame, guilt, economic loss of
earning capacity, and emotional loss.”767
A representative for the Recording Academy commented on the complaint, “We continue to
believe the claims to be without merit and intend to vigorously defend the Academy in
this lawsuit.” A representative for Portnow “denied the allegations, calling them ‘completely
765 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
766 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
767 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
205
false.’” Portnow’s representative further stated, “The claims are the product of the Plaintiff’s
imagination and undoubtedly motivated by Mr. Portnow’s refusal to comply with the Plaintiff’s
outrageous demands for money and assistance in obtaining a residence visa for her.”768
Deborah Dugan, who succeeded Portnow as CEO, called the Recording Academy “a
‘boys’ club’ network,” experienced sexual harassment by its general counsel, and
was pressed by the board chair to hire Portnow as a consultant after his departure.
Portnow stepped down as Recording Academy CEO when his contract expired in the summer of
2019, announcing it as he faced “significant backlash after the 2018 Grammy Awards, when he
told reporters that women needed to ‘step up’ for better representation in the business after
minimal representation at that year’s awards.”769 In January 2020, Deborah Dugan, who was
named CEO after Portnow’s departure, filed a complaint against the Recording Academy with
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for gender discrimination. Her
complaint stated, “the Academy is a ‘boys’ club’ network where men work together to the
disadvantage of women and disenfranchised groups in order to line their own pockets and
maintain a firm grip of control on the Academy’s dealings.”770
Dugan’s EEOC complaint was the first time the rape allegations against Portnow were made
public.771 According to her complaint, Dugan was “asked by the then-current Chair of the Board,
John Poppo to hire former CEO Neil Portnow as a consultant for the hefty sum of $750,000. […]
As Ms. Dugan came to learn after she agreed to take the CEO position (for wh ich she was paid
substantially less than her two male predecessors), Mr. Portnow also allegedly raped a female
recording artist, which was, upon information and belief, the real reason his contract was not
renewed.”772
Additionally, Dugan’s complaint alleged that she was sexually harassed by Joel Katz, “general
counsel to the Academy and a former Board member and Board Chair,” in May 2019 before she
“began her work at the Academy” and was attending a “meeting of the Academy’s Board.” She
said that Katz invited her to a one-on-one dinner before the meeting, and during the dinner,
“Mr. Katz acted extremely inappropriately.” She alleged that he “repeatedly referred to Ms.
Dugan as ‘baby,’ rather than by her name,” and “repeatedly commented on Ms. Dugan’s physic al
appearance, telling her multiple times that she was ‘very pretty.’” She said he continued to act
this way “in every one-on-one conversation Ms. Dugan had with Mr. Katz” after the dinner. He
768 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
769 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
770 Deborah Dugan vs. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Complaint, January 21, 2020
771 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
772 Deborah Dugan vs. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Complaint, January 21, 2020
206
also ended the dinner by attempting to kiss her, even though she said she “made it clear that she
was not interested in Mr. Katz’s advances.”773
In January 2020, Dugan was put “on administrative leave” by the Academy board, which she
alleged was retaliation due to her December 2019 email complaint to HR “and came with thinly
veiled threats of termination in the event that Ms. Dugan persisted in pursuing claims against
the Academy.” The Academy claimed that Dugan was placed on leave due to an allegation of
hostile behavior towards Portnow’s executive assistant. However, Dugan’s complaint noted that
the board was prepared to rehire Portnow “even after he was accused of rape, made misogynistic
comments and resigned in disgrace.” She also argued that the assistant’s allegations
“accusations are not of the sort that would ever result in a CEO being put on administrative
leave.”774 Dugan later settled her complaint in 2021.775
Antonio “L.A.” Reid
Allegations
Music executive L.A. Reid resigned as head of Sony Music Entertainment’s Epic
Records following sexual harassment allegations. According to one of his victims,
industry executives knew about Reid’s misconduct.
In May 2017, Billboard reported that Antonio “L.A.” Reid’s exit from the head of Sony Music
Entertainment’s Epic Records “followed a claim by a female assistant alleging ‘unlawful
harassment of an employee.’” Sources told Billboard that “the claim prompted a company
investigation into his conduct.” Subsequently, “there have been ‘multiple’ claims made against
Reid.”776
In a letter to Sony, an attorney representing Reid’s assistant “detailed alleged harassment his
client had faced on a daily basis, which included alleged inappropriate remarks about her
appearance and clothing and alleged propositions that caused her embarrassment and distress,
making it impossible for her to continue working at the label.” The letter “threatened litigation if
a settlement wasn’t reached.”777
773 Deborah Dugan vs. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Complaint, January 21, 2020
774 Deborah Dugan vs. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Complaint, January 21, 2020
775 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
776 billboard.com, May 14, 2017; variety.com, May 14, 2017
777 variety.com, May 14, 2017
207
The attorney’s letter to Sony pointed “out that on multiple occasions, the assistant had
complained to her immediate supervisor about Reid’s misconduct, but the supervisor offered no
direction or solution for what had occurred, according to a source who has seen the letter. She
also complained to another high-ranking Epic executive about the harassment, and in response,
she was told: ‘Before you say anything more, think about what that means for you. Just think
about what it means.’”778
Drew Dixon, a former executive at Sony’s Arista Records said that she experienced
sexual harassment under Reid, who was her direct supervisor. The executive
described Reid’s advances as quid pro quo, saying that she worried her artists
would suffer because she refused.
Drew Dixon, a successful executive and producer at Def Jam Records in the 1990s, started at
Sony Music Entertainment’s Arista Records in 1996. Notably, Dixon left Def Jam Records for
Arista due to “prolonged and aggressive sexual harassment by her direct supervisor, Russell
Simmons, the rap mogul and co-founder of the label.”779
In 2000, Reid became head of Arista Records and Dixon’s supervisor. Subsequently, “Reid
began sexualizing her, Ms. Dixon said, and would turn cold when she denied his unwanted
overtures.” Dixon told the New York Times that “she tried to parry his come-ons as best she
could without offending him. But when she openly defied his demands — declining his invitation
to meet him late at night at his hotel; wearing jeans when he insisted on skirts — she worried
that her artists would receive short shrift.” Dixon stated in 2017, “It was a quid pro quo: ‘I have
power, you want access, sleep with me — or I’m going to be really mean to you the next day. And
there will be consequences.’”780
Dixon filed suit against Reid under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, alleging
continual sexual harassment and two instances of sexual assault.
In November 2023, Dixon sued Reid under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, “alleging the music
mogul continually harassed and sexually assaulted her twice in 2001 while she was working for
him, according to court records obtained by Rolling Stone.” She was “a vocal supporter of the
2022 act after coming forward to The New York Times in 2017 to accuse Russell Simmons —
another mega-producer who co-founded Def Jam Recordings — of rape. […] In that same
778 billboard.com, May 15, 2017
779 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
780 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
208
interview, there was a brief mention that Dixon also faced continued harassment from Antonio
Marquis ‘L.A.’ Reid during her music career.”781
According to Rolling Stone, Dixon’s suit claimed “her encounters with Reid went beyond just
harassment, but also two instances of sexual assault, once on a private plane and another in the
back of Reid’s private car. ‘L.A. Reid is a known predator, who uses his singular professional
power to force himself on his victims,’ Dixon said in a statement provided to Rolling Stone. ‘In
my case, his persistent campaign of sexual harassment and assault forced me to abandon the
work I loved when I was at the top of my game in the music business, having worked my way up
from internships and a job as a receptionist.’” Dixon alleged that after she began turning down
his calls and requests for meetings, “Reid grew unhappy with Dixon and retaliated against her
by allegedly being unprofessional and embarrassing her in front of her colleagues. In some
cases, Dixon claims that Reid would shoot down or blow off potential artists that she brought to
Arista Records, including a young Kanye West and John Legend.”782
Settlements With Victims
Reid’s ongoing sexual harassment was known to fellow executives. In some
instances, he reached six-figure settlements with victims, according to a music
industry source directly involved in the matters.
In May 2017, the New York Post reported that the employee complaint about alleged sexual
harassment that led to Reid’s ouster “wasn’t the first time the music industry executive faced
such accusations.” According to an unnamed music industry source, Reid “and a previous
employer quietly settled a handful of sexual harassment complaints brought by female
employees over a more than five-year stretch.” In some instances, “the settlements reached into
the six figures,” according to a source directly involved in the matters.783
The source told the New York Post that “people came to me with complaints ‘and I was
obligated to deal with it.’” The source said, “We threatened to fire him, had long conversations
and asked, ‘What the f–k are you doing?’”784
781 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
782 rollingstone.com, November 8, 2023
783 nypost.com, May 16, 2017
784 nypost.com, May 16, 2017
209
Work With Sony & UMG
During his career, Reid ran major labels for Sony Music Entertainment and
Universal Music Group.
Labels that Reid has “run have included Epic, Universal Music Group’s Island/Def Jam and
LaFace Records, which was co-founded by Reid in 1989 and eventually absorbed into Sony.”785
At the time of his resignation, Reid “was the only current black label CEO at the three major
record companies, and had rebuilt Epic into a high-profile generator of pop and urban-leaning
hits, from artists such as Meghan Trainor, Future, Fifth Harmony, Travi$ Scott and DJ
Khaled.”786
Russell Simmons
Allegations
A woman alleged that, in 1991, Russell Simmons tried to force himself on her and
coerced her into performing oral sex. At the time, the woman was a 17-year-old
fashion model.
In November 2017, the Los Angeles Times detailed allegations against Def Jam Records co-
founder Russel Simmons made by Keri Claussen Khalighi. Khalighi was a 17-year-old fashion
model “when she met Brett Ratner and Russell Simmons at a casting call. Ratner was an up-
and-coming music video director and a protege of Simmons, the Def Jam Recordings mogul.
They took Khalighi to dinner one night in 1991 at Mr. Chow in New York, and then back to
Simmons’ apartment to show her a music video they’d been working on. Quickly, Simmons
began making aggressive sexual advances, yanking off her clothes, Khalighi said.” She recalled,
“I looked over at Brett and said ‘help me’ and I'll never forget the look on his face.” She added,
“In that moment, the realization fell on me that they were in it together.”787
Khalighi told the Los Angeles Times that “Simmons, who was then about twice her age, tried to
force her to have intercourse. ‘I fought it wildly,’ she said. He eventually relented and coerced
her to perform oral sex, she alleged. ‘I guess I just acquiesced.’ Ratner, meanwhile, ‘just sat there
785 billboard.com, May 14, 2017
786 billboard.com, May 14, 2017
787 latimes.com, November 19, 2017
210
and watched,’ she said. Feeling ‘disgusting,’ Khalighi said she went to take a shower. Minutes
later, she alleged, Simmons walked up behind her in the shower and briefly penetrated her
without her consent. She said she jerked away, then he left. ‘It hurt so much.’”788
Simmons was accused of rape in a lawsuit filed by an unnamed victim. The lawsuit
sought $10 million in damages.
In March 2018, the New York Times reported that an unnamed woman “filed a $10 million
lawsuit against [Simmons] in Los Angeles County Superior Court,” and Simmons denied her
claims. The complaint sought “$10 million in damages for forcible rape, intentional infliction of
emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit does not specify
when the woman says she met Mr. Simmons.”789
In November 2020, a judge issued a judgment in favor of Russell Simmons, ruling that the
lawsuit against Simmons “was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.” Despite the fact
that Jane Doe’s “lawyers had argued that the deadline should be extended because Mr. Simmons
lived outside the state of California for a period of years […] the judge ruled that, even in that
instance, it had expired in 2014.”790
Settlements & Retaliation Against Victims
An actress alleged that Simmons spoke to her using vulgar sexual language, and
she said that an employee at one of Simmons’s companies reached out to her in an
attempt to play down the incident.
The Los Angeles Times reported that one of Simmons’s accusers, comedian Amanda Seales, said
that in September 2016, she “met with Simmons at the Los Angeles offices of his media
company, All Def Digital, to talk about potentially working together. Seales said Simmons used
vulgar language to ask if they had ever had sex. When she told him no, she said, Simmons
responded: ‘Oh, right. ‘Cause I would’ve remembered that, right?’” Seales “first spoke about the
meeting in a video she posted to Instagram” in December 2016.791
After the video was posted, Seales said “she received a call from Hasaun Muhammad, an
employee at Rush Communications, who had also been present during the meeting.” According
788 latimes.com, November 19, 2017
789 nytimes.com, March 25, 2018
790 nytimes.com, November 17, 2020
791 latimes.com, December 13, 2017
211
to the New York Times, “[Simmons’s] company Rush Communications oversees an array of
businesses and nonprofits.” Seales said that “[Muhammad] said he wanted to get my point of
view on what happened.” Seales replied, “There isn't really anything else to say. You were sitting
right next to me. What is the confusion?” Seales claimed that Muhammad “said he didn’t feel
that Russell [Simmons] had done anything wrong and was just being flirty.”792
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Simmons denied he spoke inappropriately to Seales,
providing two signed affidavits to The Times from witnesses Muhammad and Marissa Louie,
CEO of Portola Plush Co., who both said Simmons did not ask a vulgar question. Muhammad
said it was ‘clear’ to everyone in the meeting that Simmons ‘didn’t know who [Seales] was’ and
‘playfully’ asked, ‘Who are you? Do I even know you?’”793
Simmons was accused of raping a singer, who said that her career in the 1990s
languished after she tried to distance herself from Simmons, her manager at the
time, following the assault.
In December 2017, the New York Times described allegations against Simmons made by singer
Tina Baker, who was among women who said they “were pursuing careers in the music industry
that they said were disrupted or derailed in part by their experiences with him.” Tina Baker, who
alleged that she was raped by Simmons in the early 1990s when he was her manager, told the
New York Times, “I didn’t sing for almost a year.” She said, “The second he agreed to work with
me, my budget increased, the label was paying more attention to me.” However, after the
assault, Baker said, “I went into oblivion.”794
Baker performed as a backup singer for Bruce Springsteen and Madonna and released her own
pop records in the 1980s, and she “thought Mr. Simmons could elevate her career as her new
manager.” In late 1990 or early 1991, Baker “ran into Mr. Simmons at a club, and he invited her
back to his apartment to discuss her career. ‘I didn’t think anything of going,’ Ms. Baker said,
having been there many times without incident.” Baker said, “it all got really ugly, pretty fast.”
She claimed that as soon as they entered his apartment, Simmons “started pouring drinks and
trying to kiss her, leading to a scuffle, she said. She recalled ‘him on top of me, pushing me down
and him saying, ‘Don’t fight me,’’ Ms. Baker said. She was pinned on the bed. ‘I did nothing, I
shut my eyes and waited for it to end.’” According to the New York Times, Baker “cried the
whole way home, she said. In interviews and email, her ex-husband, Arthur Baker, a music
792 latimes.com, December 13, 2017; nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
793 latimes.com, December 13, 2017
794 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
212
producer; her psychologist, Dr. Robin Goldberg; another therapist; and a former roommate all
confirmed that she told them she was raped.”795
Following the assault, “Baker remained tethered to Mr. Simmons professionally, she said. She
returned to his apartment for a meeting; Mr. Simmons liked to conduct business while working
out in his penthouse. But as soon as he stopped exercising, she said, he pulled out his penis and
moved toward her. She fled.” Baker “tried to extricate herself from her contract with Mr.
Simmons, she said, but he ignored her. Her music — two years’ worth of songwriting and
recording — languished. ‘I went into a deep depression,’ she said, and her recording career
foundered.”796
Simmons was accused of repeated sexual harassment and of pressuring a Def Jam
Records employee into having sex, which eventually led her to leave the music
industry. Simmons paid the victim a settlement to keep her quiet.
In the mid-1990s, Drew Dixon, who left Stanford University to pursue a career in the hip -hop
industry, “had a professional breakthrough: Russell Simmons, whom she had met through
friends, was looking for a new A&R executive at Def Jam to scout talent and coordinate hit
records.” Dixon claimed that “his sexual advances started right away and became relentless. At a
restaurant, Mr. Simmons pushed Ms. Dixon into a broom closet, she said, and tried to kiss her.
At work, he would close the door to her office and expose himself, leading her to give a copy of
her key to a male co-worker.” Dixon told the New York Times, “I was like: ‘If I ever buzz you,
don’t pick up, don’t call me back — just open my door. That means Russell is in here and he
whipped his’ penis out, she said.” Fending Simmons “off ‘was a full-time job,’ Ms. Dixon said. ‘It
was exhausting. It was like making a record while swimming in rough seas.’”797
In 1995, Dixon said she ran into Simmons near his apartment while waiting for a cab ride and
said “she let her guard down and entered his apartment. ‘I remember realizing I was cornered,’
said Ms. Dixon, who said she rejected Mr. Simmons’s sexual advances that night directly —
‘many ways to say no’ — as well as explaining that she had just had a gynecological procedure
and could not have sex. He told her he didn’t care, she said, ‘and I just blacked out.’ ‘The last
thing I remember was him pinning me down to kiss me on the bed,’ she said. The next thing she
recalled was being in Mr. Simmons’s hot tub, both of them naked and Mr. Simmons gleeful. (Ms.
Dixon said she had not been drinking and did not think she had been drugged; rather, she said,
she had disassociated from the experience.).”798
795 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
796 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
797 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
798 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
213
Following the incident, Dixon “said she composed her resignation letter to Def Jam by hand,
humiliated and in a panic, crossing out her mistakes rather than starting again.” While she
considered leaving the music industry, her success led her to join “Arista Records, as an A&R
executive under Clive Davis, in 1996. She enjoyed more success, helping to orchestrate smash
singles like Whitney Houston’s ‘My Love Is Your Love,’ Aretha Franklin’s ‘A Rose Is Still a Rose,’
and Santana’s ‘Maria Maria.’”799
Despite leaving Simmons’s company, “the long shadow of Def Jam remained, partly over a
dispute about what she said were unpaid business expenses. Ms. Dixon hired a lawyer and
threatened to sue Mr. Simmons for sexual harassment, as well as outstanding bills from the
label. In 1997, the parties settled out of court. Mr. Rose, Mr. Simmons’s lawyer, confirmed the
settlement.” Ultimately, Dixson “accepted about $30,000 — around $3,000 for the expenses
and the rest for legal fees — and stayed quiet.”800
In 2002, following continued sexual harassment at Arista Records from executive L.A. Reid,
who was ousted from Epic Records in 2017, “Dixon left the music industry for Harvard Business
School. She concluded that no matter how many hits she had, ‘I could not have success in this
industry unless I slept with somebody — a gatekeeper,’ she said. ‘And the fact that I would be
doing it to advance my career, I would hate myself.’”801
A documentary filmmaker sued Simmons alleging that he raped and attacked her
after he used his name and status to invite her to his home to discuss an upcoming
film project. The case was ultimately dismissed, and it was unclear if it was settled
out of court.
In January 2018, filmmaker Jennifer Jarosik sued Simmons “for $5m, claiming that he invited
her to his house to discuss a potential documentary project and then attacked her.” The
Guardian reported that Jarosik’s lawsuit claimed that Simmons “pounced on her while she was
still in shock and fear, and proceeded to rape her.” The lawsuit referenced “Simmons’ alleged
pattern of behaviour, and cites the #TimesUp movement founded by Hollywood celebrities to
fight sexual harassment.” Additionally, Jarosik appeared on “Megyn Kelly Today” in January
2018 and discussed another instance of rape at the hands of Simmons outside the scope of the
lawsuit.802
799 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
800 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
801 nytimes.com, December 13, 2017
802 theguardian.com, January 25, 2018
214
Jarosik’s complaint against Simmons stated that he “by reason of his experience in the
entertainment industry exerted significant influence over her career.” The complaint claimed
that “Simmons reputation as a spiritual conscious person caused her to trust Defendant
Simmons who promised her help to make her film and befriended her only to be victimized
when he invited her to his home in Los Angeles, on the pretext that they would be discussing her
project, only to be attacked, and raped by him.” The complaint further stated th at “the sexual
exploitation of women is pervasive in the hip hop and music industry culture.”803
In April 2018, Variety reported that Jarosik “who accused Russell Simmons of raping her in
2016 has dropped her lawsuit against him.” Variety reported that “Simmons strongly denied the
claims, and earlier this month filed an answer to the suit quoting from emails and text messages
from Jarosik.” According to the New York Times, “It was unclear whether a settlement was
reached.” An April 2021 order by the judge overseeing the case in federal court dismissed the
case “without cost and without prejudice to the right” after being “advised by counsel that
the…action has been settled.”804
Abe Somer
Allegations & Settlements
Music industry attorney Abe Somer continued working at his firm despite several
sexual harassment complaints filed against him, including at least one settled out
of court and another filed by a woman who claimed he said she would have to have
sex with artists.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Abe Somer, the “longtime head of the music department at
Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp,” had a “history of sexual harassment complaints at the firm.” In
1990, Somer and the firm were sued for assault and battery when a young law clerk alleged that
Somer “threaten(ed) physical contact in the form of lewd sexual contact, actually engaging in
such improper contact and touching and physical abuse . . . without plaintiff’s consent.” The suit
was reportedly settled for a six-figure sum.805
In 1990, Somer was the subject of another sexual harassment complaint by a former law clerk,
who said that Somer harassed her in 1986 “when she expressed interest in working in the firm’s
803 theguardian.com, January 25, 2018; today.com, January 30, 2018, youtube.com, January 30, 2018
804 variety.com, April 25, 2018, nytimes.com, April 25, 2018; uscourts.gov, filed April 26, 2018
805 latimes.com, November 3, 1991
215
music department. She said Somer asked her to meet him at his home, where he often worked.
When she arrived, she said, Somer told her that as a condition of joining, she would have to drop
her boyfriend, take adjoining rooms with him when on the road, and engage in sex with
recording artists upon request. […] When she protested, she said, Somer told her she was ‘too
conservative’ for the music business. She said he disrobed and demanded sexual favors. She said
she ran out of the house and filed a complaint with the firm.”806
The clerk who filed the complaint alleged that a member of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp’s
management committee told her that Somer “similarly sexually harassed other women” at the
firm and received a “hand-slapping.” She was “also told that any damages assessed against the
firm for his behavior would ‘come out of Mr. Somer’s pocket.’” As of November 1991, Somer’s
status at the firm was “changed from partner to ‘of counsel,’ a loose association that means he is
not an employee. He no longer maintains an office on the premises.”807
In 1991, Entertainment Weekly reported that Somer “recently settled a harassment suit out of
court” after his former secretary, Phyllis Finkbeiner, “complained that Somer instructed her to
bring the office mail to his house, where he greeted her naked at the door. A former summer
associate at the firm alleged similar treatment in an affidavit supporting the suit. At a poolside
meeting at Somer’s home, she said, he told her, ‘You seem a little uptight. If Mick Jagger and
(producer) Richard Perry were sitting here, I don’t know if they’d be comfortable with you. If
they wanted you to kiss them or give them a hand job, you just do it.’”808
Ron Thorn
Allegations
In February 2023, a sexual abuse complaint was filed against Fender Custom
Guitar Shop director Ron Thorn, who allegedly used his industry status to “groom,
manipulate, and assault” an “up-and-coming young female guitar artist.”
In February 2023, a sexual abuse complaint was filed against Fender Custom Guitar Shop
director Ron Thorn in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The complaint was filed by an
anonymous Jane Doe, whom the suit described as an “up-and-coming young female guitar artist
whose dream was to work for Fender.” The plaintiff claimed that Thorn “used his notoriety,
806 latimes.com, November 3, 1991
807 latimes.com, November 3, 1991
808 ew.com, December 6, 1991
216
status, and his position as Director of the Fender Custom Guitar Shop to groom, manipulate and
assault” her. The suit also alleged that Fender’s “top-level executives ignored the abuse and
protected and promoted the predator for its own pecuniary gain.”809
According to the complaint, Thorn connected with the plaintiff, then a guitar painter in her mid -
20s, on Instagram in early 2020. They developed a relationship online, and Thorn’s “online
grooming caused Plaintiff to believe that he had become one of her closest friend s.” After the
plaintiff was told by a Fender recruiter that the company was interested in hiring her, Thorn
offered to help her get a job at the company. Several days later, he “began pursuing a sexual
relationship” with her, “encouraging her to open up to him, and to sexually reveal herself to him
against her initial instincts.” He encouraged her to send “sexually explicit photos through texts,”
and Thorn allegedly said to the plaintiff, “You know, it would be awful if I went to Fender with
your photos, right? It would ruin your career, so we aren't going to Fender with this, right?
We're going to keep this between us, right?” The plaintiff “felt like Defendant Thorn was
threatening to blackmail her.” Thorn allegedly “continued to use his authority, seniori ty, and
influence at Fender to sexually manipulate Plaintiff for the next seven months.”810
Jane Doe alleged in her complaint that in December 2021, while she was visiting Los Angeles,
Thorn came to her hotel room and “used force and violence to coerce digital penetration.
Plaintiff communicated her lack of consent in multiple ways, including telling Defendant Thorn
that he was hurting her. But Defendant continued to assault her, which caused great pain to the
point where she entered a state of disassociation. The assault was so violent that it caused severe
bleeding from Plaintiff's vagina, which continued for the next twenty-four hours.” The plaintiff
“suffered severe emotional distress requiring hospitalization,” and she “continues to suffer,
physical, emotional, and economic injuries,” according to the complaint.811
Silencing & Retaliation Against Victim
Fender denied that Thorn’s accuser had been offered a job at the company, despite
alleged email correspondence of the offer, and Thorn denied knowing he r.
Instead, Jane Doe said Fender conducted “internal interviews” about her.
According to the complaint, Jane Doe met with two employees of the Fender Human Resources
Department in February 2022 and told them about her experiences with Thorn, including the
alleged assault and threats of blackmail. Per the HR director’s request, the plaintiff sent the
company “proof of everything she had,” including emails with Michael Seal, “the Fender
employee who interviewed and offered Plaintiff the job at Fender.” The HR employees said they
809 trellis.law, accessed January 30, 2024
810 trellis.law, accessed January 30, 2024
811 trellis.law, accessed January 30, 2024
217
would conduct an investigation and follow up with the plaintiff a week later, which the
complaint alleged they failed to do.812
The plaintiff stated that after her conversation with Fender HR, she “noticed that many of the
people in the guitar industry, including Fender Master Guitar Builders and employees, were
unfollowing and then blocking Plaintiff on her social media accounts.” Another Fender
employee told the plaintiff “that Fender was doing internal interviews of executives and
employees about her, and Defendant Thorn was telling everyone that he did not know who she
was. On information and belief, the high-level employees at Fender made the decision to deny
that Plaintiff was offered the job at Fender and support Defendant Thorn's lie that he did not
know Plaintiff.” Several weeks later, “the Fender HR Vice President contacted Plaintiff” to tell
her “that she had no proof that Plaintiff was offered a job and she encouraged Plaintiff to
continue working with the law enforcement investigation. Plaintiff was devastated and suffered
a severe breakdown,” according to the complaint.813
Charlie Walk
Allegations
In 2018, Charlie Walk, then head of Universal Music Group’s Republic Group, was
accused of sexual misconduct by an employee who worked with him in the early
2000s at Sony’s Columbia Records.
In January 2018, a blog post published by Tristan Coopersmith “accused Charlie Walk, the
president of the Republic Group and one of the industry’s most successful promotion executives,
of persistent harassment.” In the blog post, Coopersmith “referred to events in 2004 or 2005,
when she worked with Mr. Walk at Columbia Records,” a label under Sony Music
Entertainment.814
Coopersmith wrote that “Walk had frequently made inappropriate remarks to her and
attempted to initiate sexual contact, including pushing her onto a bed in his home.” She stated,
“For a year I shuddered at the idea of being called into your office, where you would stealthily
close the door and make lewd comments about my body and share your fantasies of having sex
812 trellis.law, accessed January 30, 2024
813 trellis.law, accessed January 30, 2024
814 nytimes.com, February 1, 2018
218
with me.” Coopersmith said that eventually, she was “paid a settlement and left the
entertainment industry.”815
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Coopersmith described “being harassed by the exec with
‘vulgar’ comments via instant messaging and inappropriate touching in the presence of Walk’s
wife. She also notes one night Walk attempted to trap her in his bedroom while his wife was in
the room next door. ‘You invited me to dinners that in hindsight I had no business being at, but
you did it so that you could put your hand on my thigh under the table, every time inching it
closer and closer to my sacred place. You did it so you could lean over and whisper disgusting
things into my ear and I had to smile so that no one suspected anything,’ she writes. ‘On
multiple occasions your wife was sitting right across from us. And then there was that event at
your swank pad when you actually cornered me and pushed me into your bedroom and onto
your bed. The bed you shared with your wife… your wife who was in the room next door. You
being drunk and me being 6 inches taller was my saving grace.’”816
In response, Walk “issued a statement, denying Coopersmith’s accusations. ‘It is very upsetting
to learn of this untrue allegation made by someone who worked with me 15 years ago, without
incident. There has never been a single HR claim against me at any time during my 25+ year
career, spanning three major companies. I have consistently been a supporter of the women’s
movement and this is the first time I have ever heard of this or any other allegation – and it is
false.’”817
Multiple former employees and associates of Walk came forward and accused him
of sexual misconduct, including one who said he forcibly touched her in in the
presence of other coworkers. Many of Walk’s victims were young assistants and
new to the industry.
According to Rolling Stone, “After Coopersmith came forward, numerous former employees at
Columbia, Epic and Republic began sharing their stories privately about Walk’s alleged
inappropriate behavior. But after Walk issued his statement, some of them became angry at
what they perceived to be a false denial – and decided to tell their stories publicly to rebuke his
statement.” The New York Times reported that there were “anonymous allegations against Mr.
Walk, in The Lefsetz Letter, a well-known industry email and bulletin board. Later, four more
women said they were sexually harassed by Mr. Walk in an investigation published by Rolling
815 nytimes.com, March 29, 2018
816 hollywoodreporter.com, January 29, 2018
817 rollingstone.com, February 22, 2018
219
Stone, which included the additional claims that the executive had sent unsolicited and sexually
explicit photos and video to employees.”818
One of Walk’s victims, according Rolling Stone’s investigation, was Pam Kaye, who worked for
Walk at Sony’s Columbia Records for several years, “including an 18-month stint as his
assistant.” During that period, Kaye said “she endured near-constant sexual harassment and
inappropriate touching from the label executive.” In 2004, while Kaye served as a regional
promotion manager at Columbia Records, she was seated next to Walk as their “car drove back
to their Midtown Manhattan office after a late-morning meeting, [and] she claims Walk’s
behavior reached a new low.” Kaye told Rolling Stone, “He took his hand and put it down the
front of my pants.” Kaye said that “she discreetly batted Walk’s hand away, hoping the others in
the car wouldn’t notice, but Walk persisted and his hand went underneath her underwear.”819
Kaye recalled, “There were other people in the car and all I was thinking was, ‘Are they seeing
this?’” One former coworker who chose not to be named told Rolling Stone, “I remember her
getting out of the car and being bright red.” The coworker added, “She was mortified and was
just like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’” The 2004 case was “the most severe incident Kaye says she
suffered during her time with Walk at Columbia, but it was hardly the first. There was the
listening party in 1998 when she was 25 and she says Walk stuck his tongue in her ear. There
was the time they were at a club in South Beach in 2002 when she says Walk came up from
behind her while she was dancing and started rubbing himself against her. ‘Do you need to
change your underwear?’ Kaye alleges he said to her. ‘You’re probably wet.’”820
Kaye and 14 other people who worked with Walk told Rolling Stone that “this kind of conduct
exemplified a decades-long pattern for the current Republic Group president – moreover, most
described his behavior as an ‘open secret.’” Women who spoke to Rolling Stone said that “Walk
would behave inappropriately toward them, including making sexual comments, sending
unsolicited, sexually explicit pictures and video, exposing his penis and inappropriately touching
them both in private and in crowded meetings. All the women accusing Walk of misconduct fit
the same criteria: They were in their early twenties, relatively new to the industry and working
as assistants or in similar positions when they said the harassment against them began.”821
818 rollingstone.com, February 22, 2018; nytimes.com, March 29, 2018
819 rollingstone.com, February 22, 2018
820 rollingstone.com, February 22, 2018
821 rollingstone.com, February 22, 2018
220
Settlement With Victim
One of Walk’s victims, who then worked at Sony’s Columbia Records, said she
received a payout to keep quiet about her allegations.
In her blogpost, Coopersmith wrote, “After a year of working in fear, I finally called deep on my
courage and shared my story with your counterpart. He wasn’t surprised. He told me that there
was nothing I could do about it, but that he would help me coordinate a graceful exit if I wanted.
I was paid to keep my mouth shut and my reputation intact. I’m ashamed of that piece but it’s a
truthful part of my story. I took that dirty money and moved to LA.”822
In an open letter discussing why she went public with her allegations against Charlie Walk
published in March 2018, Coopersmith wrote, “Every single person that I worked with at
Columbia Records was a bystander. Every one of them, men and women, saw how Charlie
behaved, and to my knowledge no one did anything, no one said anything. We tell kids in school
all the time about bullies. We tell them, don't be a bystander. It's like if you see something, say
something; if you hear something, do something, you know. That same concept needs to apply
in the workplace. I got so many emails from men saying, thank you so much for coming out
about Charlie. It was disgusting having to see him mistreat women all of these decades. And I'm
like, you didn't have to see him. You could have done something.”823
Public Reckoning
Walk was placed on leave by UMG and was the focus of an internal investigation
following public allegations of sexual misconduct.
Within 48 hours of Coopersmith’s blogpost alleging sexual misconduct against Walk, “UMG
informed news outlets that Walk had been placed on leave and that it had hired boutique New
York firm Collazo Florentino & Keil to look into his behavior. A media feeding frenzy ensued.
Though the findings of the investigation were never made public, the impression left was strong:
Walk was guilty of #MeToo misconduct, according to an explosive lawsuit filed by the famed hit -
maker against his former attorney, high-profile Trump pitbull Marc Kasowitz.”824
822 digitalmusicnews.com, January 29, 2018
823 refinery29.com, March 19, 2018
824 hollywoodreporter.com, July 25, 2023
221
In March 2018, the New York Times reported that Universal Music Group “declined to
comment further on the outcome of the review, which was conducted by an outside law firm.”
However, Coopersmith told the New York Times “that she had spoken with the law firm
investigating Mr. Walk, and she commended Universal Music for setting up ‘a safe space and a
safe process’ for other women to come forward. ‘It’s really scary to talk about this stuff,
especially if you’re still in the industry,’ she said. But she added that she felt that the statement
announcing Mr. Walk’s departure as mutually agreed upon ‘supports Charlie in this instead of
the survivors — there’s not a true feeling of vindication.’”825
Walk resigned from Republic Group following public allegations of sexual
misconduct, receiving a $3.2 million payout from Universal Music Group.
In 2018, following the allegations of sexual misconduct, “Walk resigned from his executive
position” at Republic Group. The Republic Gro up said in a statement that “the label and Mr.
Walk ‘have mutually agreed to part ways.’”826 According to Variety, “As part of the settlement
with parent company Universal Music Group (UMG), Walk, who had also served as a judge on
the Fox singing competition series ‘The Four,’ was paid his severance (a base salary of more than
$1.5 million) plus a 2017 bonus ($1.7 million), which was negotiated by Kasowitz of the firm
Kasowitz, Benson Torres.”827
Work With Major Labels
Walk worked in the music industry for over 30 years, including as an executive at
Universal Music Group’s Republic Records and Sony Music Entertainment’s
Columbia Records.
According to Rolling Stone, Charlie Walk “has been in the music industry for more than 30
years, working with artists from New Kids on the Block to Ariana Grande.” From 2013 to 2019,
Walk worked as an executive at Universal Music Group’s Republic Records, where he oversaw
“the marketing, PR and promotion teams for the label” as an Executive Vice President. From
1990 to 2004, Walk worked as Sony’s Columbia Records, where he worked with artists such as
“Destiny's Child and Beyoncé Knowles, Will Smith, Maxwell, John Legend, Mariah Carey, The
Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, and Aerosmith.”828
825 nytimes.com, March 29, 2018
826 variety.com, January 22, 2022; nytimes.com, March 29, 2018
827 variety.com, January 22, 2022
828 linkedin.com, accessed July 26, 2023; musicbusinessworldwide.com, accessed July 26, 2023; musicmastery.com, accessed July
26, 2023; Rolling Stone, December 20, 2018
222
Methodology
The following outlines the methodology used to compile the 2024 report “Music’s #MeToo
Reckoning: Report on Financial Exposure on Sexual Abuse & Coverups at Sony, Universal &
Warner” (subsequently referred to as “the report”). This outlines various sources available in
the public record used to identify and detail notable cases of reported sexual abuse and
misconduct by artists, executives, and other music industry figures.
Alleged Cases of Sexual Abuse & Misconduct
News Reports, Social Media, & Third Party Reports
News coverage up until February 22, 2024, was reviewed in order to detail accusations and
alleged instances of sexual abuse and misconduct against music industry figures, including
artists, producers, managers, and record label executives, spanning more than six decades.
Researchers analyzed coverage of such allegations to detail instances in which record companies
were aware of and/or enabled such abuse. In addition to news coverage, researchers also
reviewed other online media, such as blogposts, op-eds, and social media.
In addition to specific allegations, researchers reviewed previous investigations focused on the
culture of alleged abuse in the music industry to build and expand on those findings. This
included quotes and statistics regarding the prevalence of alleged sexual misconduct in the
music industry, the effects of alleged cases of misconduct on women in the industry, and the
industry’s playbook for dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct.
Legal Records
As publicly available as of February 22, 2024, researchers reviewed legal records for cases filed
against alleged abusers in various local and federal courts. In some instances, such records were
published online by news outlets and/or third parties, while others were accesse d via online
court databases maintained by local jurisdictions or through the federal court system (PACER).
Researchers analyzed complaints and other filings to detail allegations against abusers, as well
as allegations that record companies enabled and/or covered up such abuse.
223
Shareholder Actions
Researchers examined shareholder actions taken against various industries, including the music
industry, in response to sexual misconduct allegations. This included news reports, industry
analysis, and corporate filings available as of February 22, 2024 to detail examples of
shareholder activism.
Additionally, researchers detailed the potential for shareholder litigation against companies over
sexual misconduct claims via news reports and legal analyses published as of February 22, 2024.
The report also detailed examples in other industries, such as settlements reached by Twenty-
First Century Fox and CBS with shareholders in response to alleged sexual harassment.
Legislative Actions
At the state level, researchers analyzed changes to statutes of limitations for filing claims of
sexual abuse from news and other online media published as of February 22, 2024. This
included past legislative efforts in California, New York, and other states to pass window
statutes that temporarily eliminate the statute of limitations for filing time-barred claims of
sexual abuse for children and adults, as well as pending efforts to expand such laws.
Researchers also examined investigations and hearings undertaken by legislative bodies as of
February 22, 2024 targeting alleged sexual abuse and misconduct in various industries,
including music. For instance, authors reviewed transcripts from hearings and news reports
regarding the investigation undertaken by the United Kingdom’s House of Commons Women
and Equalities Select Committee to examine misogyny in the music industry. Additionally,
authors reviewed reports on the investigation opened by the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science,
and Transportation Committee centering on sexual abuse allegations within the U.S. Olympic
gymnastics team.