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Atlanta prosecutors accused chart-topping rapper Young Thug of running a criminal street gang that operated like a âpackâ of wolves during opening statements of the artistâs high-profile racketeering trial on Monday (Nov. 27).
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Kicking off a complex trial that is expected to last as long as a year, Fulton County Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love read a passage from Rudyard Kiplingâs The Jungle Book about wolf packs â and said that Thugâs gang had similarly âoperated as a pack.â
âFor ten years and counting, the group calling itself âYoung Slime Lifeâ dominated the Cleveland Avenue community,â Love told the jury. âThey created a crater ⌠that sucked in the youth and innocence and even the lives of some its youngest members.â
Love repeatedly referred to Thug as âKing Slimeâ and portrayed him as the clear leader of the gang: âThe evidence will show that the members of YSL knew who their leader was, and they knew the repercussions of not obeying him.â
In an indictment unveiled last year, Fulton County prosecutors alleged that Thug (Jeffery Williams) and his âYSLâ were not really a popular music collective called âYoung Stoner Life,â but a violent Atlanta gang called âYoung Slime Lifeâ that committed murders, carjackings, drug dealing and other crimes over the course of a decade.
Along with other charges, Thug is accused of violating Georgiaâs Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law based on the more famous federal RICO statute thatâs been used to target the mafia, drug cartels and other forms of organized crime. If convicted on all eight of his counts, Thug faces decades in prison.
Go read an explainer of the YSL case here, including a full breakdown of the legal charges and a deep-dive into the background of the accusations.
After months of slow-moving jury selection, Monday morning was set to finally mark the start of the trial for Thug and five remaining alleged members of his gang. But the start of the hearing was delayed for an hour over a missing juror; then, just minutes into Loveâs statements, the case was bogged down in objections, forcing Judge Ural Glanville to clear the jury from the courtroom.
Defense attorneys first claimed that Love was âburden shiftingâ in her explanation of the case to jurors â meaning she was wrongly making it appear that the defendants would need to prove that they were innocent. Thugâs lawyer, Brian Steel, then moved for a mistrial after he claimed that Love had shown jurors evidence that had already been explicitly banned from the case. Glanville later denied that request but admonished the state for how it had prepared its opening statements.
Eventually, after a lunch break and extended disputes among counsel for both sides, jurors returned to the courtroom for opening statements to continue throughout the afternoon.
This is a developing story and will be updated later today with more information from Mondayâs hearing.
Most people send files to collaborators without a second thought â open a new email or text, click attach, hit send. Benjamin Thomas is not most people. âWhat I normally do is I encrypt it and send it with a 20 character randomized password via email,â he says. âAnd then I do a verbal confirmation of who the file is going to and deliver them the password through another method.â
Thomas is not employed by the National Security Agency; heâs an engineer who works closely with the rapper Lil Uzi Vert. But since Lil Uzi Vertâs most passionate fans are not fond of waiting for him to release music at his own pace â they want to hear it now, and will happily consume leaked songs in whatever form they can find them â these sort of safeguards are necessary.
Thomasâ precautions have helped drastically reduce the frequency of leaks. âHeâs got a real blueprint for engineers to keep shâ under lock and key,â says Jason Berger, a partner at Lewis Brisbois, where he represents a number of producers who frequently collaborate with Lil Uzi Vert. âUziâs stuff used to leak a lot,â the attorney notes. âFrom about March of 2020 until the Pink Tape dropped [in June, 2023], not one fâing record leaked out.â
But leaks remain a fairly regular occurrence in the music industry, especially in hip-hop, and happen in myriad ways. Despite being digital natives, the younger generation which tends to drive music is susceptible to being swindled: The Federal Trade Commission reported last year that 44% of people ages 20 to 29 said they lost money to online fraud, compared to 20% of people ages 70 to 79. When it comes to music, a lot of leaks boil down to âdoing dumb stuff on the internet,â as Thomas puts it.Â
He puts leak into two different categories: Some stem from carelessness, others from hacking. A lot of the careless leaks are the result of common email phishing techniques.Â
The producer Warren âOakâ Felder recently received an email from his assistant â or so he thought. âHe was asking me for something that made sense: âHey, I need the bounces for some records because management asked,’â Felder says. But one sentence in the email stuck out for its odd construction, so the producer texted his assistant, who confirmed he didnât send the email. âThe amount of fake emails I get is crazy,â Thomas adds. Â
The same thing also happens by text. âFriends of mine in the industry have fallen victim to people phishing, where theyâll get a text from somebody that is acting like somebody else, maybe an artist, saying they had to get a new phone, for example,â says Anthony Cruz, an engineer who works closely with Meek Mill. Maybe they ask for a demo, or maybe âtheyâll send you a link, and that file ends up hacking your entire account,â prying loose any closely guarded tracks.Â
Obtaining leaks via hacks can be more sophisticated, like the technique known as SIM-swapping. âTheyâll first find as much information as they can about the person that they want to hack,â explains the producer Waves, who has an unreleased song with Juice WRLD thatâs floating around online due to a leak. âThen they would call your cell phone provider, say, âHey, I lost my SIM card, I just got another one. Can you transfer my number over to this phone?’âÂ
If the perpetrator has been able to glean enough personal information â ranging from troves of previously hacked passwords that exist online to things like a motherâs maiden name â they can waltz past account protections and take over the account of the target phone. âFrom there, they just look through your email,â Waves says. âSometimes theyâll even find full Pro Tools sessions and theyâll sell those. Honestly, some of them are pretty good hackers.â
Even if engineers, producers and artists are vigilant about protecting their own phones and computers, that may not be enough. Studios can be surprisingly loose with valuable materials. âA year ago, one of my clients was in one of these major recording studios and all of a sudden heâs hearing a collaboration between an A-list artist and somebody else that nobody even knew happened,â says Dylan Bourne, who manages artists and producers. âHe was hearing it by accident in the studio because it was just on the computer.â Thomas âheard a story about somebody sitting outside the studio who logged into the Wi-Fi from a car,â enabling him to make off with files.Â
And yet another moment of vulnerability occurs when artists ask other acts for features and send over a track. âNow youâre relying on that artist and their team to protect the files,â Cruz says. âItâs out of your hands. A couple of leaks that we have been a part of have been because of that.â
Due to the danger of files ending up in the wrong hands, âa lot of artists are starting to use private servers to share music,â according to Felder. âTheyâre saying, âlisten, if you send me the record, donât text it to me, donât email it to me.’âÂ
One of Bourneâs clients, a producer, recently had to determine splits on a song he worked on for an A-list artist. The artist convened a listening session on Zoom âso that they could know what it made sense to argue for, but not have access to the song in any capacity,â Bourne says. âIn the past people would have sent listening links.â
Another tactic Felder has taken up is ânaming things cryptically.â This way, in case someone gets into a Dropbox folder or email and roots around for demos of songs featuring notable artists, at least that person canât easily figure who is recorded on what.Â
Leaks are ânot a situation thatâs going to go away,â Bourne continues. âArtists who care have to get ahead of it and be more protective about the music.â
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. This week: A preview of the massive YSL RICO trial in Atlanta in which rapper Young Thug is accused of being the boss of a violent street gang; a flood of sexual abuse cases against music industry bigwigs just before a Thanksgiving deadline; and a lawsuit pitting Hall against Oates over efforts to sell to Primary Wave.
THE BIG STORY: Young Thug Heads to Trial In Atlanta
At the end of 2021, Young Thug was one of hip-hopâs biggest rising stars: a critically-adored rapper with three chart-topping hits, three-chart topping albums, a Grammy for song of the year and his own record label (YSL, short for Young Stoner Life) under Warner Musicâs 300 Entertainment.
Two years later, Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) is set to face a grueling trial starting today over allegations he ran a violent Atlanta street gang that committed murders, carjackings and many other crimes over the course of a decade â charges that, if proven, could send him to prison for decades.
Reporter Jewel Wicker will be in the Fulton County courthouse today reporting on opening statements for Billboard, so stay tuned for a full breakdown of the start of the trial.
But before then: To get you up to speed on one of the music industryâs most closely-watched criminal trials in years, I dove deep and broke down every aspect of the case, including the complex RICO charges at the heart of the case; the controversial use of lyrics as evidence; the strange connections to former President Trump; and what exactly to watch for at this weekâs trial.
Go read the full story here.
THE OTHER BIG STORY: A Final Flood of Abuse Cases
With New Yorkâs Adult Survivors Act expiring on Thanksgiving, last week saw a flurry of high-profile abuse cases filed just before the deadline â including many against top names in the music industry.
The ASA created a limited window for alleged abuse victims to take legal action over years-old accusations that would typically be barred under the statute of limitations. Over the past year, it was cited in cases against former Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow, label exec Antonio âL.A.â Reid, the estate of late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun and, earlier this month, an explosive (and quickly settled) rape lawsuit against Sean âDiddyâ Combs.
But as the deadline approached, a wave of cases hit the courts. Many targeted defendants outside the industry, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and actor Russell Brand. But many of the biggest names came from the music business. They included:
âGuns Nâ Roses frontman Axl Rose, who was accused of sexually assaulting a Penthouse model named Sheila Kennedy in a New York City hotel room in early 1989.
âInterscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine, who was sued by an unnamed woman for sexual abuse, forcible touching, sexual harassment and retaliation over an incident that allegedly occurred in New York in 2007.
âActor/singer Jamie Foxx, who was accused of sexual assault and battery by a young woman who claims the singer and actor groped her at a New York restaurant in 2015 after she asked if he would take a photo with her.
âSean âDiddyâ Combs, who was sued again by two more women over allegations of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging allegedly committed in the early 1990s.
SAY IT AINâT SO: Hall v. Oates
News broke last week that Daryl Hall was suing John Oates for breach of contract, arguing that his longtime music partnerâs plan to sell off his share of their joint venture to Primary Wave would violate the terms of a business agreement the duo had forged.
The lawsuit, which was initially shrouded in mystery because it was filed under seal, is aimed at preventing the sale from closing while the two sides battle in ongoing private arbitration proceedings over the terms of agreement.
Two more women have come forward to accuse Sean âDiddyâ Combs of sexual abuse, one week after the music mogul settled a separate lawsuit with the singer Cassie that contained allegations of rape and physical abuse.
Both of the new suits were filed Thursday (Nov. 23) on the eve of the expiration of the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law permitting victims of sexual abuse a one-year window to file civil action regardless of the statute of limitations.
The filings detail acts of sexual assault, beatings and forced drugging allegedly committed in the early 1990s by Combs, then a talent director, party promoter and rising figure in New York Cityâs hip-hop community.
One of the accusers, Joi Dickerson, said she was a 19-year-old student at Syracuse University when she agreed to meet Combs at a restaurant in Harlem in 1991. After their date, Combs âintentionally druggedâ her, then brought her home and sexually assaulted her, according to the filing.
Without her knowledge, Combs videotaped the assault and later shared it with several friends in the music industry, the suit alleges. The public exposure sent Dickerson into a âtailspin,â contributing to severe depression that landed her in the hospital and forced her to drop out of college.
In a separate lawsuit filed Thursday, an unnamed woman accused Combs and an R&B singer, Aaron Hall, of sexually assaulting her and a friend, then beating her several days later.
The woman â identified only as Jane Doe â said that she and her roommate returned to Hallâs home with him and Combs after a music industry event in 1990 or 1991. The accuser said she was coerced into having sex with Combs. Afterward, as she was getting dressed, âHall barged into the room, pinned her down and forced Jane Doe to have sex with him,â the suit states.
When the victim later spoke to her friend, who is also not named, she learned that her friend âhad been forced to have sex with Combs and Hall in another room,â according to the suit. âUpon information and belief, when Combs finished with Jane Doe, he and Hall switched, and they commenced assaulting Jane Doeâs friend,â the suit states.
A few days later, an âirateâ Combs allegedly showed up at the home of the two women in an attempt to stop them from speaking out about the abuse. He then choked the woman identified as Jane Doe until she passed out, the suit states.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Combs denied the allegations, accusing the two women of seeking to exploit the New York law that temporarily extended the statute of limitations.
An email inquiry to Hall was not returned.
Tyrone Blackburn, an attorney for the unnamed accuser, said his client was in the process of securing medical documents and witness statements to support her suit, which was filed late Thursday âin an effort to preserve the statute of limitations.â
The suit brought by Dickerson notes that the victim filed police reports in New York and New Jersey after the abuse. Inquiries to the New York City Police Department were not immediately returned. It was not clear which other jurisdictions the reports may have been filed.
After the filmed assault, Dickerson said she approached friends in the music industry asking them to confirm the existence of the ârevenge pornâ tape, but was rebuffed by those who were âterrified that Combs would retaliate against them and that they would lose future business and music opportunities.â
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Dickerson has done.
In years after the alleged assaults, Combs, now 54, would found his own label, Bad Boys Records, helping to produce Mary J. Blige and Biggie Smalls on his way to becoming one of the most influential hip-hop producers and executives in the genreâs history.
The pair of lawsuits follow a separate set of explosive allegations made last week by Cassie Ventura, who said that Combs subjected her to a pattern of abuse during their yearslong relationship, which began in 2005, when she was 19 and he was 37.
Among the allegations, Ventura said Combs plied her with drugs, subjected her to âsavageâ beatings, and forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he masturbated and filmed them. When she tried to end the relationship in 2018, Combs raped her, she alleged.
The lawsuit was settled one day after it was filed for an undisclosed sum.
In a statement shared by her lawyers, Ventura said she wanted to resolve this matter âon terms that I have some level of control.â
Combs said: âWe have decided to resolve this matter amicably. I wish Cassie and her family all the best. Love.â
Have some more turkey, have some more pie â itâs time for another Executive Turntable, Billboardâs comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings (and all things in between) across the music industry.
Sony Music Publishing UK promoted a trio of executives in its A&R department: Felix Canetty-Clarke to vp of UK A&R strategy & international research; Sarah Gabrielli to senior director of A&R, UK & Europe; and Saul Fitton to senior director of A&R, UK, effective immediately. Cannety-Clarke joined SMP in 2018 with a focus on research and analytics, and in his new job will continue those data-driven A&R initiatives and extend his focus across operations and strategy, the company said. Gabrielli and Fitton, whose start dates at the company were 2016 and 2020, respectively, will keep on keeping on in terms of driving opportunities for the companyâs writers and artists. Since joining, Gabrielliâs portfolio has included beabadoobee, Baby Queen and Jim Legacy, while Fittonâs signees include Pablo Bowman and Bastille, among others. âSarah, Saul and Felix are the very best talents in the UK,â said David Ventura, president and co-managing director of SMP UK. âTheir passion for music, their drive and their unique daily dedication for our songwriters are exemplary. Together they bring the future of our company and with Tim we have been inspired to see everyone recognising their successes and achievements.â
Joshton âPeasâ Harris joined Spotify as the head of hip-hop and R&B, artist partnerships, overseeing a team handling artist and manager relationships in those key genres. Harris previously held a similar marketing role at Amazon Music, which he joined in April 2020 following several years in talent management, marketing and other creative work during stops at Cinematic Music Group, Cashmere Agency and EQT Recordings. Over in playlists land at the music streaming giant, Cecilia Winter is the new global hits editorial lead, overseeing programming, editorial strategy and content brand extensions across Spotifyâs family of âGlobal Hitsâ playlists, including âTodayâs Top Hits,â âPop Risingâ and the all-powerful New Music Friday. Previously at YouTube Music, where she rose to music programming manager in her five years there, Winter now reports to J.J. Italiano, the head of global music curation and discovery.
All In the Family: Billboard parent Penske Media Corporation promoted Brooke Jaffe to senior Vice President of public affairs and strategy, effective immediately. Over the span of four years, Jaffe has held a number of roles at PMC, including contributing editor, head of public affairs and communications, and, most recently, vp of public affairs and strategy. In her elevated position, sheâll keep driving impactful communications strategies on behalf of the PMC portfolio, which also includes Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, and sheâll continue to focus on public policy and external relationships. In recent years, Jaffe added oversight of the PR team for Dick Clark Productions and is a core leader for the LA3C festival. Prior to joining PMC, Jaffe held senior roles at fashion tech startup Eight and Bloomingdaleâs. Jaffe continues to be based out of LA, where she reports to PMC CEO, chairman and founder Jay Penske.
ICYMI: While the week leading up to Thanksgiving is typically a slow week for HR departments, that was not the case at ChatGPT creator OpenAI, which fired its co-founder and leader Sam Altman under undefined circumstances, then hired him back a few days later after hundreds of employees threatened to quit ⌠In less dramatic news, former CD Baby CEO Tracy Maddux announced he has stepped down from his role as chief commercial officer at Downtown Music Holdings.
Neon Records co-founder Patrick âSmileyâ Cleary stepped down as CEO of the UMG-owned dance music label in order to focus on his Peppermint Blue Publishing company. The announcement, first plucked by The Music Network, was made in a memo to staff from Universal Music Australia and New Zealand chief Sean Warner, who noted that UMAâs âlong standing partnership with Smiley has been significant and fruitful.â Founded by Smiley and Carl West as a label under Warner Music, the Australian imprint later went to Universal and over the years has worked Milky Chance, Skrillex, Rudimantal and Timmy Trumpet. Neonâs current roster includes Young Franco, Chloe Wilson and Nia Archives, among others. In his memo, Warner said Neon âhas become an iconic label in ANZ thanks to [Smileyâs] vision, creativity, and passion, and we will take great pride in continuing to expand and enhance the Neon legacy, that we have all built together.â
Warner Records promoted Atticus George Carroll to vp of business and legal affairs, reporting to head of b&la Julian Petty out of Los Angeles. The Austin native joined WMG in June 2019 as director of business & legal affairs, and got her start in music as an artist before pivoting to practicing law on the business side of things. The move was first reported by Hits.
Nashville-based TV production company C.A.M.P. 615 added Shanna Strassberg as vp of development and strategy. Strassberg arrives from CMT, where she was vp of music and talent. Formed by producer/director Robert Deaton alongside Red Light Managementâs Mary Hilliard Harrington and Coran Capshaw, C.A.M.P. recently scored a multi-year deal with CBS to produce its New Yearâs Eve Live: Nashvilleâs Big Bash, which this year will feature Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thomas Rhett and Lainey Wilson. C.A.M.P. partner Mary Hilliard Harrington said Strassbergâs ârelationships run deep and her instincts are always dead on. We just have an incredible level of trust with her, and Iâm so happy she wasnât scared to jump into the unknown with us as we build out C.A.M.P.â She can be reached at shannastrassberg@camp615.com.
Last Weekâs Turntable: There Was a Minor Adjustment at the Emmys
BMG has extended its global publishing deal with Pitbull. He first signed to the company nearly a decade ago, and under this renewed partnership, his back catalog of hits and future songs will be administered by the BMG team. Warner Chappell Music has signed singer-songwriter Dido to a new publishing deal, including her back catalog […]
SYDNEY, Australia â After posting another year of growth, and record revenue and distributions, APRA AMCOS is doubling-down on its call for a tax-offset to kick-start live music.
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The PRO last month posted âvery strongâ financials for the full-year 2023, with record gross revenue of A$690.5 million ($453 million), up 12% from the 2022 result, and net distributable revenue paid to songwriter and publisher members, affiliates and rightsholders up 11.4% year-on-year to A$595.2 million ($390 million), also a new benchmark â gains that are âindicative of a post-pandemic recovery.â
Those healthy results came with a gut-punch.
Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the organization found that 1,300-plus live music venues and stages across Australia were lost, or roughly one-third fewer licensed premises where artists can perform medium to smaller gigs.
At the presentation of those annual results at the APRA AMCOS HQ in Sydney, the organizationâs CEO Dean Ormston urged the federal government to commit to a live music venue tax offset to act âas a catalyst in jump-starting live music nationally.â
This week, Ormston and APRA AMCOS reiterated those calls.
âFor the current wave and the next generation of music creators to develop their skills and become export-ready, we need to provide them with the resources at home and build a sustainable live music ecosystem,â says Ormston.
A live music venue tax offset, he continued, would revitalize the countryâs network of small live music venues.
Meanwhile, the music rights management body has confirmed the make-up of its board, following held two annual general meetings held Tuesday (No. 21) in Sydney.On the APRA board, writers Mark Callaghan and Jonathan Zwartz and publishers Jaime Gough (Concord Music Publishing ANZ) and Matthew Capper (Warner Chappell Music Australia) retained their positions. Jenny Morris and Damian Trotter (Sony Music Publishing) were named as chair and deputy chair of the APRA board, respectively.On the AMCOS board, directors Trotter and Heath Johns (BMG) retained their positions. Karen Hamilton (120 Publishing) is a new director appointment to the AMCOS board, while Philip Burn, chairman and CEO of Hal Leonard Australia, stepped down following ten years as a director, and was thanked for his service and expertise.
APRA and AMCOS board directors are elected by their respective memberships through a secure ballot. The process and results of the elections are audited and verified by APRA AMCOSâ independent auditors, KPMG.
Those elections were held in light of the societyâs âYear In Review,â which reported a âdramaticâ 400% year-on-year gain in license fees for concerts and festivals to A$31.9 million ($20.9 million), an all-time high, while international income from affiliate societies spiked 17.7% to A$70 million ($45 million), a new record.
Despite inflation and the rising cost of living, Aussie and Kiwi music fans flocked to shows. Notable tours included internationals Ed Sheeran, Elton John and Harry Styles, notes APRA AMCOS, plus Grammy-winning Sydney-EDM act RĂFĂS DU SOL, Crowded House, award-winning NZ acts L.A.B., SIX60 and more.
APRA AMCOS represents over 119,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. Click here for its âYear In Review.â
Jamie Foxx has been accused of sexual assault and battery by a young woman who claims the singer and actor groped her at a New York restaurant in 2015.
The complaint was filed in New York court on Wednesday (Nov. 22) by attorney Craig Phemister. In it, the Jane Doe plaintiff claims she met an allegedly intoxicated Foxx at the Catch NYC restaurant rooftop in August 2015 and, along with a friend, asked if he would take photos with them.
The woman claims that after taking photos with Foxx, he made several flirtatious comments before subsequently pulling her to a âsecluded area.â There, she claims he rubbed her breasts before sliding his hands into her pants and placing âhis fingers on and inâ her vagina and anus despite her attempts to step away from him. She says he only stopped after her friend came looking for her, at which point she claims he walked away.
The woman, who says she was 18 at the time, claims that in the aftermath of the alleged assault, she âwas injured; was rendered sick, sore, lame and disabled; was caused to undergo medical treatment and advice; was unable to pursue her usual and regular activities; was caused to undergo great conscious pain and suffering, continues to undergo such, and will permanently be affected by the injuries and emotional distress she incurred as a result of the sexual assault, abuse, assault and battery.â
Also named in the lawsuit are Catch Hospitality Group, which owns the New York restaurant, as well as its co-founder, Mark Birnbaum, whom the woman claims was drinking with Foxx at his table that night. She alleges that Birnbaum, the hospitality group and associated companies âwere negligent in the hiring, training, lack of supervision, management, control and retention of their employees,â including several (listed as John/Jane Does 1-10) whom she says were working at the restaurant that night.
The lawsuit additionally claims that Foxxâs co-defendants âhad knowledge of [his] propensities for aggressive behavior towards females, the potential for unwanted sexual touching and his bad disposition when consuming excessive alcohol.â The suit adds that restaurant staff were not properly trained âhow to observe when a patron such as Foxx has consumed an excessive amount of alcohol and should not be served any more, and in otherwise ensuring the safety of their patrons from unwanted and abusive sexual touching.â It also claims the restaurant did not provide adequate security to protect its guests, thereby making the alleged assault possible.
All defendants are additionally accused of violating New York Cityâs Gender-Motivated Violence Act â Foxx for the alleged assault and Birnbaum and the companies for allegedly enabling it.
The woman is seeking damages for pain and suffering and economic loss as well as punitive damages.
Representatives for Foxx, Birnbaum and Catch Hospitality Group did not immediately respond to Billboardâs requests for comment.
The case against Foxx is just the latest in a string of sexual misconduct lawsuits filed over the last month against men in the music industry, including industry executives like L.A. Reid and Jimmy Iovine and superstar artists including Axl Rose and Sean âDiddyâ Combs (who settled the lawsuit brought by his accuser, former girlfriend and R&B singer Cassie, one day after it was filed). The spike in cases is due to the looming expiration at midnight Thursday (Nov. 23) of New Yorkâs Adult Survivors Act, which created a one-year window for alleged survivors to take legal action over years-old accusations that would typically be barred under the statute of limitations.
Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine is being sued by an unnamed woman for sexual abuse, forcible touching, sexual harassment and retaliation, according to a document filed in New York court Wednesday (Nov. 22). Though the full complaint is not yet available, a summons with notice was filed by the womanâs attorneys, Douglas Wigdor and Meredith […]
Phil Quartararo, the former EMI, Virgin and Warner Bros. record mogul who helped break Paula Abdul, the Spice Girls, Linkin Park and numerous other pop megastars, died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles of cancer. He was 67.
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âI loved helping an artistâs dream come true,â Quartararo told an interviewer in 2021. âI cannot press upon you the satisfaction of doing that.â
Known as âPhil Q,â the gregarious, Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Quartararo was a ubiquitous figure in the record industry, helping to break U2 on pop radio in the mid-â80s as senior vp of promotion at Island Records, engineering the Spice Girlsâ marketing plan in the â90s as CEO/president of Virgin Records America, and working over the years with Madonna, Coldplay, The Smashing Pumpkins, Faith Hill and Green Day. âPhil believed in me like no other,â Paula Abdul said in a statement. âHis ceaseless support for me during my time at Virgin was unparalleled. I will miss him.â
In the early 2000s, when Napster, MP3s and digital piracy threatened to destroy the business, Quartararo was one of the executives in Steve Jobsâ office when the late Apple CEO promised to shift the business from $10 CDs to 99-cent downloads. âAt the end of the day, 99 cents for a track is better than nothing for a track,â Quartararo would say.
Virgin Recordsâ founder, Richard Branson, recruited Quartararo to help launch his American label in 1986, and over the years Quartararo rose to president and CEO. In 1997, according to The New York Times, Quartararo helped âturn Virgin into EMIâs crown jewel,â generating most of the parent labelâs $5.9 billion in yearly sales.
Quartararo left Virgin that year to become president of Warner Bros. Records, where he worked with Madonna, Linkin Park, Josh Groban, Cher and Wilco, among others. In 2005, he made his way back to EMI, Virginâs owner, as an executive, helping to shift the labelâs focus from physical sales and distribution to marketing and launching Coldplay, Norah Jones, Keith Urban and others.
After leaving EMI in 2005, Quartararo became an entrepreneur and consultant, working with music-distribution startups, streaming services and talent managers and managed acts such as Japanese composer Yoshiki and metal band X Japan. He also ran Janet Jacksonâs Rhythm Nation Records from 2016-2019. âPhil approached everything with a kind heart and a light spirit and sense of humor,â says Taylor Jones, a co-owner of music-focused multimedia company The Hello Group, where Quartararo was president and chairman. âHe was incredibly stress-resistant. His values have been instilled in the very core and ethos of our company.â
Adds Evan Lamberg, president of Universal Music Publishing North America: âPhil Q was arguably the ââMayor of Goodwillâ in our industry for decades. There is no one that he touched that was not better for having known him.â
In 2013, Quartararo told Billboard he didnât miss major labels, but âI miss dealing with the artists. I miss sharing with young people, teaching them the music business. Thatâs the part I loved the most. I donât miss the big company, per se. Because the big company is cumbersome and unfortunately canât move as quickly as the consumer or artists need to move. Itâs not as nimble as it used to be.â