In a statement on Sunday, the lawyers for ousted president Deborah Dugan said, 'Harvey Mason’s public statement on the eve of the Grammys is all smoke and mirrors'
the Recording Academy to “get this shit together” at Saturday night’s Clive Davis and Recording Academy’s Pre-Grammy Gala, the 25,000 members of the organization woke to a missive from interim CEO and board chair Harvey Mason Jr. detailing specific steps to become more inclusive and diverse.
The letter comes after a terrible 10 days for the Recording Academy that started Jan. 16 when it announced the organization’s board has placed CEO/president Deborah Dugan on Dugan fired back with a 44-page scorched-earth Equal Employment Opportunity Commissionthat called the Recording Academy a “boys club” so entrenched in its way of thinking that she was not allowed to move the organization forward, despite its allegedly “corrupt” Grammy voting procedures beset with conflicts of interest.
Wigdor and Willemin continued, "Therefore, in order for there to be real change four things must happen immediately. First, there must be an independent and qualified professional Chair and Board. Second, the Academy must agree to immediately suspend the conflict-rife nominating review committees . Third, there must be a truly independent investigation into the Board’s relationships, self-dealings, and use of public non-profit monies. Finally, the Board must immediately reinstate Ms.
In entering this role six months ago, I was fortunate to be building on courageous and inspiring work. Artists – especially women and artists of color – had long begun demanding transparency and taking on our traditional power structure. They have found allies across the industry who believe that we can do better and have joined the fight for change.
That’s why I’m proud to announce these new initiatives, initiatives developed in partnership with the Diversity Task Force and other champions of change. They include the following: The Academy will recommit to meeting all 18 of the Task Force Recommendations as outlined in the full report and in a manner that will endure, with the caveat that we will have a deeper exploration, along with the Task Force into voting processes for the GRAMMYS.
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