kevin liles
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Greg Doherty / Getty
Kevin Liles will now have to clear his name in a court of law. A former Def Jam Records employee is suing him for sexual assault.
As per Variety, the former music executive and the famed record label are facing some serious claims from a former female employee. Jane Doe has named Universal Music Group, Def Jam Records and Kevin Liles as defendants and claims she was not only harassed at the workplace but also was sexually assaulted. Doe says she was hired as an executive assistant in 1999 and Kevin frequently made “derogatory and degrading comments based on her gender regarding her body and appearance.”
The plaintiff recalls that the treatment got progressively worse over the years. In 2002 she refused sexual advances made by Kevin Liles to which he allegedly forced himself on her and raped her. Her claim also states that executive leadership at Universal Music Group and Def Jam “not only knew or should have known” of Liles’ “propensity to commit the aforementioned crimes of violence.”
Kevin Liles has responded in an exclusive statement to Variety Magazine and refuted the allegations made against him. I absolutely deny the outrageous claims reported in the press this evening,” he said. “I wish I could share a more detailed response to this slander, but this is the first I’ve heard of this claim and the anonymous accuser’s attorney shared the lawsuit with gossip influencers and media outlets before it was even posted by the court, so my attorneys and I have not seen the actual lawsuit” he added. “My attorneys and I will fully clear my name, and when we are successful, this anonymous accuser and her attorney will face a defamation lawsuit and every other available legal consequence.”
Universal Music Group has yet to publicly comment on the matter. Kevin Liles served as the president of Def Jam and executive vice president at Island Def Jam from 1999 to 2004.
A woman has sued 300 Entertainment CEO Kevin Liles for allegedly harassing and raping her while the two worked together at Def Jam in the early 2000s, according to documents filed in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday (Feb. 26).
Filed by attorneys Lucas Franken and Mallory Allen at New York firm Pfau Cochran Vertetis, the suit claims that Liles began sexually harassing the woman — identified as Jane Doe in the complaint — beginning in 2000, shortly after she started working as the executive assistant to Def Jam’s then-GM. During this time, she alleges that Liles — who was then serving as president of the storied hip-hop label — “pressed his body” against her breasts, grabbed her buttocks and made “sexually inappropriate comments and advances towards her on numerous occasions, “which she rebuffed.”
The woman claims this behavior ultimately culminated in Liles sexually assaulting and raping her.
Also named as defendants are Def Jam and its corporate parent Universal Music Group, which the woman accuses of “permitting, aiding, abetting, conspiring, ratifying and enabling” Liles’ harassment and rape. The suit alleges that the companies “knew or should have known of” Liles’ alleged propensity for sexual abuse “motivated by gender animus” and are liable for “ignoring, dismissing, and failing to take any action” against him, including by reporting him to the police. It also claims that the companies “permitted” Liles “to entrap their employees in locations that enabled his sexual abuse, assault and rape.”
As a result of the alleged harassment and assault, the woman says she suffered “severe emotional and psychological distress and personal physical injury…including severe mental anguish, humiliation, and emotional and physical distress.”
The lawsuit was brought under the Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law in New York, which allows survivors of gender-motivated violence whose claims were previously time-barred to file suit against their alleged abusers.
The woman is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, among other relief.
Liles served as president of Def Jam Recordings in the late 1990s and early 2000s before being named executive vp at Warner Music Group. He went on to found the management firm KWL Enterprises in 2009 and, later, record label 300 Entertainment alongside Lyor Cohen, Roger Gold and Todd Moscowitz in 2012. Following 300’s acquisition by Warner Music Group in 2022, he assumed the role of chairman/CEO at 300 Elektra Entertainment. He stepped down from that role in September.
Representatives for Universal Music Group, Def Jam and Liles did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kevin Liles, the co-founder and CEO of 300 Entertainment, has issued a statement in the wake of news that Atlanta rapper Young Thug is to be released from prison following a guilty plea on Thursday (Oct. 31).
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Liles, who co-founded 300 Entertainment in 2012 and signed Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) to the label in 2014, issued his statement late on Thursday following the completion of Georgia’s longest-running criminal trial.
“Words can’t express the incredible happiness and relief I feel to learn of Jeffery’s freedom,” Liles stated. “There will be a time to discuss the criminalization of hip-hop lyrics and the use of bond denial as a weapon against defendants, but in this moment everyone should feel nothing but joy that this amazing artist and even better man can hug his children, parents, siblings, and other loved ones tonight.
Trending on Billboard
“We must always remember artists aren’t fictional characters,” he concluded. “They’re human beings first. God bless Jeffery and his family.”
Thug, 33, has spent the past two years in custody, following his arrest in May 2022 with 27 others from his YSL Records label as part of a 56-count indictment for violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) law. The trial, which began in November 2023, was built around claims that YSL had committed murders, carjackings, drug dealing and many other crimes.
Following days of closed-door negotiations with Fulton County prosecutors, Thug refused to take a plea deal that would have resulted in his immediate release, ultimately opting for a non-negotiated guilty plea. Late on Thursday, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker sentenced Thug to 15 years probation with no time to be served.
Ahead of his sentencing, Thug noted the power and influence he holds in his community, telling the court he takes “full responsibility for my crimes and for my charges”.
“I know what I bring to the table and I know what I am,” he added. “I know the heights I’ve reached and I know the impact I’ve got on people in the community.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty
Longtime and respected music executive Kevin Liles announced that he is leaving his post at 300 Entertainment. The unexpected news, along with the Twitter-breaking announcement that Sean “Diddy” Combs has been indicted, arrested and charged with racketeering and sex trafficking, has many speculating that the two items are not unrelated.
On Tuesday morning (September 17) Liles announced via social media that he would be stepping down as Chairman and CEO of 300 Entertainment, where has worked for almost 10 years.
300 launched in late 2014 as an independent label and was helmed by Liles, Lyor Cohen, Todd Moscowitz and Roger Gold. The made their rep turbo boosting the careers of young Hip-Hop artists, particularly from the South, that included Megan Thee Stallion, Migos, Gunna, Young Thug in more. In 2021, 300 was acquired by Warner Music Group which in turn melded it with the Alantic Music Group to form the 300 Elektra Entertainment Group one year later.
“The cultural impact we created in 10 years when starting from scratch is simply unmatched in the modern era,” said Liles in the memo to employees that he shared online. “We transformed our value proposition – “mindset of independent, muscle of a major” – into a model for the rest of the industry to chase in this new era of music. But if there’s one consistent in music and culture, it’s that change is inevitable. ”
Liles says he’ll be officially stepping down at the end of the month, but will remain on as a consult to ensure a smooth transition. As for the timing, there have been other executive recently leaving the WMG fold, like another longtime exec whose name may be familiar to Hip-Hop heads, Julie Greenwald of Atlantic. However, the Internet loves a good conspiracy theory, so Diddy, and his troubles with the law, are getting added to the mix.
But actually worth noting is that in February 2023, Trey Songz, Atlantic Records & Kevin Liles were named in $25 million lawsuit that cited “systematic sexual abuse in the music industry.” The cased was settled in Aprll 2024 for an undisclosed amount.
See some of the said reactions in the gallery.
6. He’s not, though.
-
Pages