Fired Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan has presented new evidence in an attempt to prove that the Grammy nomination process has been "rigged."
Dugan, who was fired on Monday after a suspension that started before this year’s broadcast, filed new documents in her case against the Recording Academy on Tuesday and included an email between herself, acting CEO Harvey Mason Jr. and long-time Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich, according to The Wrap.
Dugan claimed that the correspondence was Ehrlich's attempt to "press the Academy into nominating a song by a particular superstar in order to increase his ability to convince the superstar to perform at the Grammys."
The email reads:
“(L)ooking at the AMA nominations this morning, it’s more about who’s NOT there than who is…..and [superstar] is definitely not gonna be happy," the email says, per The Wrap. "I think there’s a case to be made to [superstar] that a performance of [song] from [album] on our show, should it be nominated . . . and that a blowout performance of that song, which IS a Grammy song, might . . . So, should there be some discussion in a certain room at your meetings next week for Record, Album and Song, and if it involves making a choice between [one album] vs. [a second album], my thought from knowing [superstar] since [superstar] was a child, is that [superstar] might see the wisdom of a [ ] performance [of a song from the second album] . . . I’m jus sayin."
Mason responded: "Gotcha. Thanks Ken," according to Dugan.
Days before the Grammys, Dugan was placed on administrative leave. She filed a complaint with the EEOC, accusing the Academy of "misogyny, sexual harassment, discrimination and corruption, including voting irregularities," according to a statement released by her attorneys.
Recording Academy’s Executive Committee sent a letter to its members on Wednesday calling her claims an "unwarranted and damaging media campaign" launched "in an attempt, without justification, to derail the Grammy Awards show."
The letter further accuses Dugan of making "false allegations" that the system was "rigged" and the Academy was "corrupt."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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