Los Angeles (AFP)
The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Grammy Awards in the United States every year, announced on Friday that it had suspended its patroness, barely a week before the holding of this high mass. music industry.
The Recording Academy, which brings together more than 13,000 professionals, says that it has placed its president Deborah Dugan, the first woman to lead the organization, on "administrative leave", because of "accusations of misconduct brought by an officer of the Academy. "
Two independent investigators have started investigations into the accusations, the Academy added, without giving further details on this unexpected decision, which comes just days before the Grammy Awards.
Celebrities of the moment, Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X, are among the favorites at the ceremony to be held on January 26 in Los Angeles.
The 2020 edition was to be the first under the auspices of Deborah Dugan, who had succeeded last summer to Neil Portnow, who had not wanted to extend his contract. He had been strongly criticized for remarks sexist, declaring that women must "move up a gear" to justify that few of them obtained awards during the 2018 edition.
Dugan's lawyer Bryan Freedman reacted to the suspension on Twitter. "When our ability to express ourselves is not limited by a 28-page contract and legal threats, we will reveal what happens when you + go up a gear + at the Recording Academy," he wrote.
According to the New York Times, a staff member who was Neil Portnow's assistant filed a complaint against Ms. Dugan, accusing her of having "harassment management".
The daily, which cites a source close to the file, also claims that the PDG of the Academy had sent to the directorate of human resources a note in which she was worried about irregularities in the ballot for the Grammys, of bad management and conflicts of interest.
© 2020 AFP