Judge LA Reid poses at the party for the finalists of the television series “The X Factor” in Los Angeles, California November 5, 2012. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
NEW YORK, Nov 8 (Reuters) – L.A. Reed, a music executive known for helping develop superstars such as Mariah Carey, Pink, TLC and Usher, was sued on Wednesday by a former music executive who accused him of sexual violence against her more than two decades ago.
Drew Dixon said Reed, 67, ruined her once-promising music career after becoming CEO of Arista Records because she rejected his advances, including two assaults she says took place in 2001.
Dixon, of Brooklyn, is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in her suit in federal court in Manhattan.
A representative for Reid did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Attorneys who have represented him in recent legal matters did not immediately respond to such requests.
Dixon is suing under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, which gives adults a one-year window to sue for alleged long-ago sexual abuse, even if the statute of limitations has expired. The window closes this month.
She is one of many women to accuse prominent figures in the entertainment industry of sexual misconduct since the #MeToo movement began in 2017, following allegations against now-imprisoned film producer Harvey Weinstein.
Now a board member of New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music, Dixon was the subject of the 2020 HBO Max documentary On the Record, about allegations of sexual misconduct by women against rap mogul Russell Simmons.
Dixon also publicly accused Reed of misconduct in December 2017, seven months after he left his position as head of Epic Records, where he was also accused of misconduct.
At the time, Reed told The New York Times in response to Dixon’s accusations: “I take pride in promoting, supporting and uplifting women in every company I’ve ever led. Regardless, if I’ve ever said anything that may have been misconstrued, I apologize unreservedly.”
“FEMALE RICK RUBIN”
Dixon said Reid began harassing her shortly after arriving at Arista in 2000.
She said his first assault occurred in January 2001 when, on a private plane carrying executives to a retreat in Puerto Rico, he played with her hair, kissed her and penetrated her without consent.
Dixon said the second assault happened several months later on a ride home from an event in New York, where Reid groped, kissed and penetrated her without consent.
According to the complaint, Dixon’s career had previously been on a “meteoric trajectory,” prompting one insider to describe her as the “female Rick Rubin.”
Dixon said it ended as Reid became “hostile” because she resisted his demands, including meeting him late at night at his hotel and wearing skirts instead of jeans, which led to cuts in her budgets and rejection of her artists.
She left the industry by 2002 to attend Harvard Business School.
“Reed’s persistent campaign of sexual harassment and assault forced me to leave a job I loved when I was at the top of my game in the music business,” Dixon said in a statement provided by her attorneys.
Dixon’s mother Sharon Pratt, formerly known as Sharon Pratt Dixon and Sharon Pratt Kelly, was mayor of Washington from 1991 to 1995.
The case is Dixon v. Reid, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 23-09878.
Reporting by Jonathan Stemple in New York; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman and Mike Scarcella; Editing by Richard Chang
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