Sean 'Diddy' Combs Calls Recording Academy Out for Lack of Diversity, Transparency

The Recording Academy says an investigation of ousted CEO Deborah Dugan’s claims of sexual harassment is underway, among other measures to address the firestorm of controversy that has emerged around the organization in recent weeks, according to a pair of memos from Board of Trustees head Harvey Mason Jr. The memos were distributed Thursday to elected leaders and leaked to members of the media, including Variety.

The Recording Academy says an investigation of ousted CEO Deborah Dugan’s claims of sexual harassment is underway, among other measures to address the firestorm of controversy that has emerged around the organization in recent weeks, according to a pair of memos from Board of Trustees head Harvey Mason Jr. The memos were distributed Thursday to elected leaders and leaked to members of the media, including Variety.

Did you know only 2% of popular music is produced by women? The disconcerting statistic from a 2019 Annenberg Initiative study is the focus of a powerful new video from the Recording Academy and She Is the Music, in conjunction with the Diversity & Inclusion Task Force, and it's premiering exclusively on Billboard above.

In response to ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan’s request last week to be released from the arbitration agreement she signed when she took the job, the Academy has agreed to have the dispute heard publicly — however, that agreement is not as liberating as it at first sounds.

It’s been one week since the Grammy Awards, and for many people it’s taken a week even to begin to process all the things that happened in the deranged ten days leading up to the show, let alone try to figure out where things currently stand.

Fresh off his win at the2020 GRAMMY Awards, DJ Khaled shared his reaction to Sean «Diddy» Combs calling out the Recording Academy’s lack of diversity. 

Rap mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs took aim at the beleaguered Recording Academy bosses for their treatment of hip-hop acts as he accepted one of the organisation’s top prizes on Saturday (25Jan20).

Even before Grammy Salute to Icons Award honoree Sean “Diddy” Combs took the troubled Recording Academy to task at the Pre-Grammy Gala Saturday night (Jan. 25), the evening had made its mark as one of the most memorable in the history of the prestigious Clive Davis and Academy-hosted event.

Diddy was recognized with the 2020 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons Award during the Recording Academy and Clive Davis’ annual Pre-GRAMMY Gala on Saturday. 

The Recording Academy Task Force for Diversity and Inclusion, which issued a blistering statement Friday criticizing the Academy for failing to act on the recommendations put forward in its report last month, on Sunday morning issued a statement saying that it will “continue to work with the leadership at the Academy to urgently enact reforms that will last, including those outlined this morning by Board Chair Harvey Mason, Jr., which are a first step toward this renewed effort.”

When Sean “Diddy” Combs accepted the Salute to Industry Icons Award at the Clive Davis and Recording Academy’s Pre-Grammy Gala last evening (Jan. 25), he brought the elephant in the room—the broiling controversy surrounding the Academy—front and center. Catching everyone in the Beverly Hilton Hotel ballroom by surprise, he threw down his own gauntlet to the Academy on behalf of artists and other music industry creatives: “You’ve got 365 days’ notice to get this sh-t together.”

In the wake of legal disputes surrounding the Recording Academy, Diddy took on the institution while accepting the Salute to Industry Icons Award at a pre-Grammy gala on January 25. Toward the end of his 40-minute speech, he called out the lack of diversity and transparency at the Grammys.

By Bruce Haring

Sean “Diddy” Combs slammed the Recording Academy before a star-studded crowd at the annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala on Saturday night, saying that hip-hop and black music have “never been respected by the Grammys,” ironically as he accepted his award as the 2020 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons honoree at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.

In the wake of the bombshell allegations included in the legal complaint from ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan — which includes allegations of sexual misconduct among many other improper practices — there’s more than a little sense of “Wasn’t all this supposed to be fixed two years ago?” After former Grammy chief Neil Portnow’s ill-spoken 2018 comment to a Variety reporter that female musicians and executives need to “step up” in order to advance in the industry, the Academy launched a

Days before the biggest music night commences, the Grammys 2020 is already surrounded by a set of controversies. For the unversed, the Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan was sacked just a few weeks ago before the annual awards show.

In the wake of former Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow’s ill-spoken 2018 comment that female musicians and executives needed to “step up” in order to advance in the music industry, the organization formed a Task Force for Diversity and Inclusion, headed by Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff Tina Tchen, to identify and execute those objectives. Last month, it released a strongly-worded 47-page report identifying multiple areas for improvement at the Academy. (Read the full report here.)