Republic Records chief on leave over harassment allegations
The head of Republic Records, one of the biggest music labels whose acts include Ariana Grande, Lorde and The Weeknd, was placed on leave on Wednesday after sexual harassment allegations.
Republic president Charlie Walk becomes one of the highest profile figures in pop music to be swept up in the rising #MeToo movement against workplace harassment.
Universal Music Group, the world’s largest label conglomerate which includes New York-based Republic, said Walk had been put on leave as an outside law firm investigates the accusations against him.
“Republic Records is committed to a safe workplace environment where employees are treated fairly and respectfully,” a company statement said.
The action comes two days after Tristan Coopersmith, founder of a California wellness studio for women called Life Lab, posted an open letter accusing Walk of harassment when she worked under him in the 2000s at Columbia Records, part of Sony Music.
She wrote that the married Walk made lewd comments about his sexual fantasies, grabbed her thigh under the table at business dinners and once pushed her onto his bed at an event at his home.
“To you, Charlie Walk, what you did was normal. It was a power you perceived to have earned, with a right to exercise it,” she wrote.
“But to me it was insulting, confusing and objectifying. And it was a secret that I held for a very long time, my experiences only spilling out in flashbacks and nightmares,” said she. Walk in a statement published by entertainment industry site Deadline denied the allegations and said he had never received complaints about his behavior in his more than 25-year career.
Two music legends, hip-hop producer Russell Simmons and former Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine, have been suspended or stepped down from roles following multiple allegations of sexual abuse.