3 more accusations made against publicist
Three more men have stepped forward to claim Nashville music industry publicist Kirt Webster sexually harassed or abused them.
Webster, 43, abruptly stepped down from his role at the helm of the Webster PR firm on Wednesday amid a growing number of sexual harassment and abuse claims. The firm is one of the most powerful in Nashville’s country music scene, with a roster of high profile clients, which included Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and Kid Rock.
Some of those clients, including Kid Rock, have begun parting ways with Webster.
Coming forward now are a former household contractor who alleges Webster molested him during a job interview in 2009, a former office manager who claims Webster twice groped him in 2014 and a former personal assistant who alleged he was subject to unwanted touching and verbal abuse in 2015. That brings to 13 the number of former employees who have spoken to the USA Today Network - Tennessee about Webster’s alleged misconduct.
A representative for Webster on Thursday referred questions to his attorney, who did not respond to a voice mail message.
On Wednesday, the USA Today Network - Tennessee reported the accounts of 10 more people — all former Webster employees — who described a workplace culture of abuse and sexual harassment, including allegations of unwanted touching and that Webster traded explicit photographs of individuals and sexual favors for passes to meet-and-greet sessions with Parton.
Last week, former client and one-time aspiring singer Austin C. Rick accused Webster of drugging and sexually assaulting him in 2008.
Webster on Wednesday described his relationship with Rick as consensual, but did not respond to queries about the additional allegations against him.
He stepped away from his company to fight the “egregious and untrue allegations,” the statement issued Wednesday said.
Metro police confirmed they are looking into allegations pertaining to Rick, according to spokeswoman Kris Mumford.
THE HOUSEHOLD CONTRACTOR
The man, who requested anonymity because he feared repercussions at his current job, said he was just out of college when a female friend who interned for Webster arranged a job interview for him at the publicist’s Hermitage home.
His friend was in the kitchen while Webster spoke to him in the den.
Webster took notice of a tattoo on his arm.
“He was like, ‘So, you got a tattoo?’” the man said. The man said his friend poked her head in the den and said, “‘he’s got a bunch of them. They’re everywhere’ … and he (Webster) was like ‘Yo, let me see some.’”
“That was when I had my first pang of like, ‘Oh dear, God,’” said the man, who is now 33.
He showed Webster the tattoo on his back, then agreed to take off his shirt momentarily so Webster could get a better look, he said. His friend left to run an errand.
“That’s when he was, like, take your shirt back off. Then, because he had seen a tattoo on my torso that went underneath my pants, that went behind my waistband, he was like, show me that.”
The man took his pants off. “I was just in some kind of, like, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “I was terrified, you know. And I didn’t have any way out of there.”
Webster performed oral sex on him, then he asked the man to perform oral sex on him, the man said. He complied. Webster then asked him to stimulate himself on the sofa, the man said. The encounter ended when the man saw the headlights of his friend’s car returning home, he said. He went out to dinner with his friend and told no one for months, he said.
He worked for Webster for another six and a half months, but there was no further sexual contact, he said.
Webster instead criticized him for his work.
“It just grew every single day, like just the pressure of having that happened, and I think that after he got me he didn’t have to chase after me anymore and so he just told me what a sh** job I was doing and made it very clear I was not living up to his expectations,” the man said. He eventually quit.
The man didn’t come forward because he was fearful. Webster often spoke about powerful connections, including how he was in the office of the late Fox News CEO Roger Ailes — who had resigned in 2016 amid a sexual harassment scandal. Webster also talked about other powerful people in national politics and the music industry.
“When people start talking that high up, that’s the kind of stuff that makes me nervous,” he said. “It’s hard to go forward to anybody when you know the person you’re going forward about knows … has such a grip over certain things.”