Recording Academy president/CEO, Deborah Dugan has been placed on administrative leave by the board of trustees of the organization in less than a year after assuming office. In a released statement reported by Billboard, members of the board made the final decision upon several complaints by individual members within the organization.
“In light of concerns raised to the Recording Academy Board of Trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team, the Board has placed Recording Academy President and CEO Deborah Dugan on administrative leave, effective immediately. The Board has also retained two independent third-party investigators to conduct independent investigations of the allegations,” read the statement.
“The Board determined this action to be necessary in order to restore the confidence of the Recording Academy Membership, repair Recording Academy employee morale, and allow the Recording Academy to focus on its mission of serving all music creators. Board Chair Harvey Mason Jr. will serve as interim President and CEO pending the conclusion of the investigation,” continued the statement.
Close sources to the investigation do not point out the exact reason why Dugan is placed on leave, but speculate that her relationship with members of the Academy is not in good form due to administrative differences.
An insider disclosed to Billboard, “It’s heartbreaking for people who care deeply about the organization that someone they trusted to fill that position would so quickly become so at odds with the organization.”
“Once there were some indications that she was not cooperating with the staff and the board, everything unraveled surprisingly quickly and in a very complex way. It wasn’t like a single incident. It was a series of issues. I think it goes way beyond not just being a good fit,” another source commented.
Dugan was brought in as a perfect replacement for her immediate predecessor Neil Portnow, who faced severe backlash in 2018 when he made a comment backstage to reporters that women in music should ‘step up’. Many stakeholders in the music fraternity were filled with renewed hopes when she assumed office as the first woman ever in Recording Academy history to be named president/CEO. This was with the intention of increasing the Academy’s diversity and inclusivity, but the intention has rather been met with complaints and misconduct few months after her appointment.
Her administrative leave will however not affect the live telecast of the 2020 Grammy awards set to air on February 26, since investigations are being handled internally by the organization. Additionally, Dugan would not have addressed the audience during the show even if she was still president/CEO as Portnow always did, a decision she herself made weeks ago.
Dugan is yet to make an official statement about her administrative leave.
