Neil Portnow, the former head of the Grammys, is accused of rape in a newly filed lawsuit. As the New York Times reports, in the lawsuit, an anonymous musician alleges that Portnow, who stepped down as Recording Academy CEO in 2019, drugged and raped her in a New York hotel room in 2018. The musician is not named in the suit but is identified as an instrumentalist from outside the United States who once performed at Carnegie Hall. She contacted the Academy about Portnow’s alleged crime in 2018, as seen in redacted correspondence included with the lawsuit.

In a statement to the Times, the plaintiff’s lawyer Jeffrey R. Anderson said, “Neil Portnow gives lip service to women as standing up. But he does a disservice to every woman and every musician who is being oppressed by him and others. This is not just about Neil Portnow and not just about the Recording Academy, but about the culture in the music and entertainment industry and its doublespeak about rape and abuse.”

A rep for Portnow denied the allegations, describing them as “the product of the plaintiff’s imagination and undoubtedly motivated by Mr. Portnow’s refusal to comply with the plaintiff’s outrageous demands for money and assistance in obtaining a residence visa for her.” Per Portnow’s rep, “the latest incarnation” of her accusations “offers a ‘new and improved’ story, padding it with even more outrageous and untrue allegations.”

Portnow sparked a controversy the day after the 2018 Grammys when he said women need to “step up” to win more Grammys in response to complaints that women were disproportionately recognized in that year’s ceremony. He apologized for the remark a day later. His successor Deborah Dugan, the first woman to be Recording Academy CEO, was ousted 10 days ahead of the 2020 Grammys on the basis of “a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team.” Before her dismissal, Dugan had internally expressed concerns about financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest, and voting irregularities within the Academy. In a discrimination complaint filed days later, Dugan alleged that Portnow had been accused of rape by a recording artist.