The female musician claims in the lawsuit that the former Grammy boss drugged and raped her in 2018.
Neil Portnow served as CEO of The Recording Academy until 2019, when he resigned following the so-called me too uproar. PDO
A female musician accuses the former CEO of The Recording Academy Neil Portnow of rape. According to the lawsuit, Portnow drugged the woman and raped her in a hotel room in 2018.
The Recording Academy annually awards the Grammy Awards. Portnow resigned as CEO in 2019 due to his controversial comments that were interpreted as degrading to women. He managed to act as CEO of The Recording Academy for 17 years.
The lawsuit does not name the woman, but describes her as an instrumentalist from outside the United States who once performed at Carnegie Hall.
About it with news of the New York Times according to which the suit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. According to court documents, the female artist met Portnow at the Grammys in New York in 2018. The woman claims that Portnow invited her to his hotel room and offered her wine. After drinking the wine, he started to feel sick.
The woman said she wanted to leave, but Portnow said there would be no taxis available. He passed out shortly after Portnow told him “I’ve been thinking about you for a very long time”.
According to the lawsuit, the woman woke up several times during the night when Portnow raped her. He was also unwell the next morning.
The woman reported the matter to the police, but the prosecutor refused to press charges, the lawsuit says.
Portnow denies the accusations through his spokesperson.
– The charges are a figment of the plaintiff’s imagination, and were undoubtedly motivated by Portnow’s refusal to comply with the plaintiff’s outrageous demands for money and assistance in order to obtain a visa, Portnow’s spokesperson said in a statement.