The Grammys continue to be rocked by scandal leading up to Sunday’s ceremony.
Deborah Dugan — the suspended head of the Recording Academy — filed an explosive legal claim against the organization on Tuesday in which she called the Grammys a “boys’ club” and alleged there were rape allegations against former CEO Neil Portnow. She also leveled her own sexual-harassment claims.
But Portnow has fired back, saying of Dugan’s US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint, “This document is filled with inaccurate, false and outrageous and terribly hurtful claims against me.” He added, “The allegations of rape are ludicrous and untrue … The baseless complaint about my conduct referenced in the EEOC filing was immediately brought to the attention of the board of director’s executive committee. An in-depth independent investigation by experienced and highly regarded lawyers was conducted and I was completely exonerated.”
Dugan claims a board member told her to hire Portnow as a consultant for $750,000, despite some members knowing about the rape allegations (which she says she found out about later). But Portnow stated in response, “At no time did I ever demand a $750,000 consulting fee.”
Dugan’s complaint also alleges she was sexually harassed by the academy’s general counsel, Joel Katz, during a dinner in which she says he repeatedly called her “baby,” suggested they travel to one of his “many homes” and told her she was “very pretty.” Hollywood power attorney Howard Weitzman told Page Six in a statement: “Mr. Katz categorically and emphatically denies her version of that evening … Mr. Katz will cooperate in any and all investigations or lawsuits by telling the absolute and whole truth.”
The women on the executive committee of the Recording Academy released a statement on Wednesday saying, “We support the independent investigations that have been launched.”
Dugan’s lawyer said on Wednesday, “Portnow’s statement is only the most recent in a series of defamatory attacks aimed at Ms. Dugan.”