Did the Grammys Stage a Sexist Coup Against Deborah Dugan?

On January 16, Deborah Dugan was placed on administrative leave and effectively removed from her position as president and CEO of the Recording Academy.

The event, which took place a mere ten days before the Grammy Awards, shocked insiders and stunned an industry already reeling from a series of power shifts.

According to the Academy's official statement to The New York Times, the decision happened because of "a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team," which led the board to "[place] 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," the statement continued. "The Board determined this action to be necessary in order to restore the confidence of the Recording Academy's 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. The Recording Academy Board of Trustees is committed to fostering a safe, diverse, and inclusive workplace, music industry, and society," it concluded.

Almost immediately after the news broke, some sources close to the Academy began calling these misconduct allegations into question. According to Variety, sources accused the Academy of staging a "coup" against a new leader who was attempting to change the system. If this is true, it would reveal that the biases already known to be plaguing the Academy are far more deeply entrenched (and resolutely preserved) than anyone knew.

Agent for Change: How Deborah Dugan Challenged the Academy

"Who are most of the senior executives in the Academy and the board? Older people resistant to change," said one anonymous source. "It was too much change for them, too soon."

During her time at the Academy, Dugan was working to reshape it from many angles, particularly with respect to its use of finances. Before she was fired, Dugan apparently sent a memo to the board that expressed her concern about "voting irregularities, financial mismanagement, 'exorbitant and unnecessary' legal bills, and conflicts of interest involving members of the academy's board, executive committee and outside lawyers," according to the Variety article.

Another source added, "She may have been asking questions like 'Why is the board so large?' and 'Why are we spending so much money' on certain executives and expenses. There are people who had been there for years who knew they were going to be let go, and who knew they would not get a job that paid as well anywhere else."

In a memo sent weeks before her removal, Dugan expressed the feeling that "something was seriously amiss at the Academy." She was attempting to institute structural changes, also working to remedy some of the Academy's issues with diversity. "There's a lot more communication, and there have been huge efforts to make sure we're more inclusive and more diverse," she stated of her new visions. "I want us to be of the industry, but also ahead of it—pioneering, and not catching up."

There was extensive friction between Dugan and the Academy. "I know a lot of the board members couldn't stand her," said one insider. Some blamed this on Dugan's unfamiliarity with the board's traditions. "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," a source told Hollywood Reporter. "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," they added. "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 was more critical of the board. "She was a huge source of discomfort for everyone there because she believed she was coming to be an agent of change, but they don't really want change at all," they stated. "They had entrenched ways of doing business and anything she tried to change was met with 'That's not how we do it.'"

Allegations of Misconduct: Dugan's Attorney Fires Back at Allegations of Discrimination and Bullying

In light of the changes that Dugan was implementing, it's easy to see how she might've made some powerful enemies. But were the divides deep enough to cause senior members of one of the most influential organizations in the music business to actively stage a coup and fire their first female CEO?

Or is Dugan herself at fault? Though details about the actual allegations of misconduct leveled against her are still unconfirmed, one source told Variety that an anonymous female employee accused Dugan of discrimination, an accusation that shouldn't be taken lightly. While the circumstances are impossible to guess, it's easy to imagine a white male Academy member accusing Dugan of discrimination against white males as she attempted to restructure the organization.

According to a report in The New York Times, which did not mention discrimination, Dugan's removal was sparked by an employee who accused her of having a "bullying management style" and took a leave of absence.

There is a strange cyclicality to the nature of Dugan's exit from the Academy, and the whole thing reeks of corruption, but no doubt Dugan and her lawyers will lash back hard. Previously, Dugan had led the Academy to settle a lawsuit in which a former member of a Grammy-associated charity accused the Recording Academy of being a "toxic boys' club," according to the Times; now she may find herself in the midst of a similar lawsuit, fighting against an established power structure unwilling to crumble and prepared to do anything to preserve itself.

Dugan's appointment to the position happened thanks to an incident wherein an Academy member displayed flagrant sexism. She was hired a mere five months ago after former Grammy chief Neil Portnow stepped down following a comment about how female artists should just "step up" in order to receive more recognition and power in the music industry.

Twelve hours after she was removed from her position, Dugan's attorney released a statement condemning the Academy, challenging the allegations, and referencing Portnow's much-critiqued comments. "What has been reported is not nearly the story that needs to be told. When our ability to speak is not restrained by a 28-page contract and legal threats, we will expose what happens when you 'step up' at the Recording Academy, a public nonprofit," it read.

If Dugan was removed because she was trying to make changes to established ways of thinking, then this alleged "coup" has serious implications both for the Academy and for all major power structures as they undergo shifts to more diverse and forward-thinking models.

A Step Backwards In an Age of Restructuring?

Following Portnow's firing, the Academy underwent a series of trainings and initiatives meant to address its diversity and inclusiveness problem. A Task Force led by Tina Tchen, a founding member of the Time's Up movement and Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, was instituted in 2018 with the intention to appoint 900 new members of the Academy, with a specific focus on women, people of color, and people under 39. This came after a study revealed that only 21% of the Academy's 21,000 members were female, and only 28% were people of color.

In December 2019, Tchen's Task Force released a damning report about the Academy's deeply entrenched hierarchies. "The Chapters essentially have become silos, and it has resulted in a Board that is not diverse, is not independent, and is perceived by some underrepresented members (and non-members in the music industry) as out of touch," it concluded.

Dugan also released a statement following the Task Force's report. "The mission of the Recording Academy is to serve and advocate for music creators from all genres and of all genders and generations," she said in December. "We have recently made tremendous progress and I'm proud to report that our leadership team is currently 50 percent female and that the 2019 Academy membership class is the most diverse in our history. However, there is still work to be done. We are deeply committed to continuing to implement the Task Force's recommendations and building a community that is truly representative of our diverse and dynamic creators."

Though the Academy has made progress, it clearly wasn't sufficient enough to ensure that Dugan kept her job. It's also extraordinary that white female executives are still fighting for power in 2018—and it's indicative of the struggles that people with less power and influence face in the shadows.

But silos are entrenched everywhere in our American power systems, from our charities to our businesses to our government. And as long as old, established, moneyed hierarchies are running the show from behind the scenes, how can we expect to see any real change?

As for the Grammys, the show must go on. In the meantime, board chair Harvey Mason Jr. will be taking over for Dugan, and the Grammys will air as planned on Sunday, January 26th. It will be hosted by Alicia Keys. Previously, Keys had expressed her support for Dugan, telling Billboard, "It's obvious s**t is upside down. There's not enough balance of power. With a woman like Deborah [Dugan] in a leadership position — that is obviously necessary. [Hosting] felt right for me, because I knew that a lot of women were nominated and that it was really about the women for the show."