The former head of the Grammy Awards has been accused in a new lawsuit of drugging and raping a female musician at a New York hotel.
Neil Portnow, 75, is accused of attacking the woman at the Kitano Hotel on Park Avenue, where she met to interview him for a publication she had launched.
The unnamed woman is described as an instrumentalist from outside the United States who once performed at Carnegie Hall.
Portnow has denied her claims, saying it was in retaliation for his refusal to help her obtain U.S. residency and his refusal to pay her off.
The woman sued Portnow and the Recording Academy – the nonprofit organization behind the Grammys – in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
Neil Portnow, 75, is pictured at the 2018 Grammy Awards in New York City. According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in the New York State Supreme Court, Portnow invited a musician to the 2018 event and arranged to meet her later that year when he attacked her.
Portnow is seen with Bill Clinton at a Radio City Music Hall event in January 2018
The court documents were obtained by The New York Times.
She accuses Portnow of sexual battery, and the academy of negligence, claiming they ignored her complaint against Portnow.
Portnow resigned in 2019 after managers refused to renew his contract.
He had sparked controversy at the height of the #MeToo movement by saying that female artists needed to “go the extra mile” to gain more recognition.
Portnow’s successor, Deborah Dugan, was fired by the organization in March 2020 after less than a year on the job.
She had accused the Academy of covering up the woman’s allegations.
The woman sent an email to Grammy officials in 2018, several months after the alleged attack, saying she had been sexually harassed by Portnow.
Portnow’s attorney said the Recording Academy conducted a thorough investigation and spoke to witnesses, but the accuser said she was never interviewed by anyone in connection with her complaint.
She later filed a police report using Portnow’s name, according to the complaint.
The Public Prosecution Service refused to prosecute.
The woman said she first met Portnow in January 2018, when the Grammys were held in New York City at Madison Square Garden.
He invited her to the ceremony, she said, and he told her he would return to town later that year.
Former Recording Academy President and CEO Deborah Dugan is seen at the 62nd Grammy Awards press conference in New York in November 2019. She was fired in March 2020.
Portnow is pictured with Cardi B in January 2018
Portnow returned to New York City in June 2018, staying at the Kitano Hotel (pictured), on Park Avenue
The Kitano Hotel is known for its Japanese-inspired design
She then asked to interview him for a publication she had started.
Portnow returned to New York in June and told her to come to the Kitano Hotel, where he was staying.
Portnow, who became head of the Recording Academy in 2002, met the woman in the lobby and brought her to his room where he gave her some Grammy memorabilia and offered her a glass of wine.
He didn’t drink.
She said she “started to feel foggy,” couldn’t concentrate and lost control of her body.
She asked about the wine, she claims, and Portnow ignored her question: When she asked to leave, he said there were no taxis available.
According to the complaint, Portnow told the woman, “I’ve been thinking about you for a long time.”
Portnow will be seen at the Grammys in January 2018, held at Madison Square Garden
She says she then lost consciousness but woke up several times to find him assaulting her, including penetrating her “forcibly,” according to the complaint.
The woman said she still felt dizzy the next morning and left the hotel when Portnow left to attend a meeting.
She said she was “confused and conflicted given his fame and status in the music industry and the Recording Academy.”
Jeffrey R. Anderson, an attorney for the woman, told The New York Times that Portnow’s case was indicative of a broader problem in the recording industry.
“Neil Portnow is paying lip service to women by standing up,” he said.
“But he is doing a disservice to every woman and every musician who is 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 industries and the ambiguity around rape and abuse.”
Portnow’s representative called the allegations false, saying they were “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.’
The spokesperson said that “the latest incarnation” of her allegations “offers a ‘new and improved’ story, padded with even more outrageous and untrue accusations.”
The Recording Academy said in its own statement: “We continue to believe the claims are without merit and intend to vigorously defend the Academy in this lawsuit.”