From the LA Times.
“Her appointment, announced in May, was considered a concrete step toward addressing long-standing issues of gender bias in the music industry in general, and in particular at the Recording Academy.
One immediate result was the formation of a 15-woman, three-man task force, headed by Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama, to explore “conscious and unconscious” discrimination against women, people of color and those in the LGBTQ community.
A source familiar with the task force’s operations said recently that under Dugan’s leadership, some of the 18 recommendations contained in the final report have been approved for implementation.”
Correct me if I’m wrong but this all sounds like a direct (albeit cognitively dissonant) rebuke of the paper tiger that is #TimesUp, a ‘sit down’ and ‘shut up’ to Tina Tchen, and a cold reality check for anyone thinking an actual power or attitudes shift at the top in Hollywood is possible.
What does @TIMESUPNOW have to say about any of it? Crickets. Not a thing. Because TimesUp was only ever meant to be a diversion from #MeToo. Hollywood needed a viral social justice hashtag of its own but one that it finances and controls and they came up with this group of well funded lawyers whose efforts are focused far far away from Hollywood.
This is reality in 2020.
7
Ok....note to left behind employees...when the longtime boss leaves...you should stay for a week or two but then YOU should go too...see what happens when the new sheriff comes to town?
4
Follow the money....
4
Something seems still rottenly misogynistic in the state of this industry. Ms. Dugan should give Lizzie Warren a call.
9
Interesting. I suppose if she were a fake-tanned, dumpy old white guy who purports to be wealthy, despite a lifetime of epic business failures, her ‘bullying management style’ — coupled with a history of abusive, fraudulent and quite likely criminal conduct — could land her in the Oval Office. No, not as a visitor.
25
So seems like Dugan committed the truth and got the axe for her troubles. This is typical whistleblower backlash. She is an attorney and smart enough to retain one on her behalf. We truly hope her bold actions lead to true reform and end what sounds like a cesspool of corruption. A Grammy award can and does produce money, lots of money, which is the only reason these awards exist. If there ever was a time when any award wasn’t directly tied to money, we certainly have never known of it. The Grammy Award system robs the public from hearing great new music by artists who aren’t backed up the machine.
26
It sure sounds like people did not like a strong woman.
26
The Recording Academy President was always right in former years. Whatever the President said and whatever ideas the President proposed were lauded and yes men enacted them. One could discuss the ideas but soon one was silenced. When a new woman President finds dirt, she is dismissed. And for sure she found the genuine dirt. The integrity of the Recording Academy is fake.
17
Seriously tho, re: her predecessor, what's the problem with saying women in the industry have to step up?
4
@Billy H.
The meaning of "step up" is that the person has to start doing better in order to succeed. In other words, if women (or anybody, for that matter) isn't getting ahead, it's because they aren't trying hard enough or don't have the ability. I think you thought it meant they just have to put themselves "out there"?
9
"When our ability to speak is not restrained..."
A silencing under threat. Again. This time, to someone serving at the highest level. In concert this week with the unrelenting refusal at Country Radio to play women artists -- another kind of silencing.
Striking, also, in a week where the dominant headline is that witnesses in another matter will not be called.
Silencing. It's all that male-dominated corporatocracy has left.
Music journalists, please continue the work to let both the music and the people behind the music be heard!
16
I had a friend dismissed from an org because one person was upset that she chastised her for failing to incorporate the boss' edits in copy. The staff person failed at her job and the competent one was in trouble. Some folks don't understand criticism is not bullying if it is done correctly.
12
There has been misconduct but not on the part of Dugan. The Recording Academy should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. She noticed some alarming, long standing issues in the industry and tried to make the necessary changes. The Recording Academy didn't like it because it went against the biases that been been engrained in the industry for years. I am hoping the she gets justice for this very unfair portrayal of her by the Recording Academy.
32
Why again is there a Recording Academy? Is this just another administrative overlay dedicated to throwing a cheesy awards ceremony that has never been relevant or credible when it comes to popular music? Does the average consumer/listener even care?
16
@Bill While I completely agree that the awards are cheesy, irrelevant, etc, the National Academy of Recorded Arts and Sciences is actually a much-needed trade organization for the armies of people working behind the celebrities within the music business: musicians, engineers, producers, songwriters, etc. Like so many other industries, ours has been decimated by unfettered tech platforms (like Spotify and YouTube) and the only recourse we have comes from the trade orgs fighting for fairness on our behalf. It's nothing you'll ever hear about in the context of the cheesy award show, but to answer your question why - that's why.
19
At least half of this story is missing. The entertainment industry has been fraught with scandals & mismanagement from the beginning. Seems someone targeted Ms Dugan who was looking to bring much needed sweeping changes to the Recording Academy. Time will certainly reveal more; preferably the truth.
39
This ought to be interesting. The recording industry has long be tied to a whole laundry list of dubious business practices, including radio station payola, exploiting artists with unconscionable contracts and other shady behavior. That Ms. Dugan might have been forced out on dubious terms to keep her quiet seems entirely plausible.
It also seems kind of shaky to fire an executive over some kind of conflict with an administrative holdover from a previous executive. It's all too easy to see someone simply not meshing with a new senior executive and why its so common for executives to bring in their own teams with mutual familiarity.
56
O, Boy! This should be good for a week of accusation, counter accusation, and eventually a nice settlement to somebody.
7
The weaponizing of employee relations is a nasty trend.
I've seen incompetence proliferate since weak people have learned they can blow up someone's career by making a claim of "bullying" supported by a friend or an email taken out of context. It throws a chill over the entire organization.
I'm guessing Deborah Dugan should get together with former Planned Parenthood chief Leana Wen to talk about how to cleanse toxic bureaucracies. (Ironically, yesterday's article about MBZ reported he culled the UAE bureaucracy down from 30+K to 7K, but he's hardly the measure of moderation.)
Nonprofits are second only to the government in the development of toxic workforces; in both cases the strength of the mission and the weakness of performance measures makes politics more significant than results.
33
@we Tp How very true. Workplace behavior is now a minefield. The best strategy is to not say anything, as anything you say will be used against you.
If you say something, you either talk too much, or "display anger," or are "inappropriate." If you say too little, you are usually "wise," "get along with others," or "have a balanced view."
Whatever you do, NEVER ask a personal question.
23
Sorry no. Your imaginary world does not get to replace reality.
Whether or not you believe someone whatever happens in the courts of law is real. The fact people settle instead of going to trial indicates to me knowledge of guilt if not direct consciousness of it.
3
@we Tp I will never forget, maybe 15 years ago, when I was a contractor ( construction) at a local non profit with all male execs and leadership and lots of female interns. The innuendo, unwanted flirting and hugging, and appalling lack of sensitivity amazed me. I was thinking, usually, that I would have fired any of my management that acted in such a fashion.
9