Recording Academy CEO Promises Diversity, but Deborah Dugan Calls It 'Smoke and Mirrors'

Hours away from the Grammys, interim CEO Harvey Mason released a memo to members of the Recording Academy outlining ways that the organization would increase diversity and inclusivity. But the plans were immediately slammed by legal counsel for ousted CEO Deborah Dugan, who says that the initiatives had already been agreed to under her leadership.

Mason’s memo, which was sent out on Friday morning, says that the RIAA plans to hire a diversity and inclusion officer within the next three months, establish an fellowship that will oversee the progress of diversity initiatives, and a fund to assist “women in music” organizations.

Also Read: Recording Academy's Diversity Task Force 'Deeply Disappointed' by Failures to Implement Changes

“Six months ago, when I put my hat in the ring to be your Chair, I did so because I believed that the Academy could do better — could be better,” Mason wrote. “The music we create has always reflected the best of ourselves and our world. But what was true of music has historically not been true of the music business as a whole. Too often, or industry and Academy have alienated some of our own artists — in particular, through a lack of diversity that, in many cases, results in a culture that leans towards exclusion rather than inclusion.”

But these initiatives are not new, as they were recommended by a task force formed two years ago under Dugan and which Dugan said were being implemented before she was suddenly placed on administrative leave 10 days ago over claims of misconduct towards a female staffer.

Dugan’s attorneys, Douglas H. Wigdor and Michael J. Willemin, reiterated this in a statement sent shortly after Mason’s memo was published.

Also Read: Ousted Grammy CEO Deborah Dugan Says General Counsel Propositioned Her in 'Power-Setting Move' (Video)

“Harvey Mason’s public statement on the eve of the Grammys is all smoke and mirrors given that each of his so-called new “initiatives” had already been agreed to under the direction of Ms. Dugan. If the past ten days have shown anything, it is that the current Chair is not the appropriate individual to effectuate meaningful change at the Academy.”

The statement accuses Mason of leaking attacks against Dugan to the media, specifically a statement released last week claiming that Dugan wanted “millions of dollars” in exchange for retracting her claims that the RIAA was a “boys club” that made it difficult to enact the reform she was hired to bring. She also accused the Grammys of having “corrupt” voting procedures beset with “conflicts of interest.”

“In order for there to be real change four things must happen immediately,” reads the statement from Dugan’s lawyers.” First, there must be an independent and qualified professional Chair and Board. Second, the Academy must agree to immediately suspend the conflict-rife nominating review committees (“secret committees”). Third, there must be a truly independent investigation into the Board’s relationships, self-dealings, and use of public non-profit monies. Finally, the Board must immediately reinstate Ms. Dugan as the CEO of the Recording Academy to oversee and effectuate such changes.”

Also Read: Deborah Dugan's Push for Grammy Voting Reform Rattled Recording Academy's 'Boys Club'

The ongoing battle between Dugan and the RIAA was referenced by Sean “Diddy” Combs during his speech at the annual pre-Grammy gala on Saturday, in which he said that “Black music has never been respected by the Grammys.”

“I’m officially starting the clock: you’ve got 365 days to get this sh– together,” Combs said. “We need the artists to take back control, we need transparency, we need diversity. This is the room that has the power to [force] the change that needs to be made. They have to make the changes for us: They’re a non-profit organization that is supposed to protect the welfare of the musical community. That’s what it says on the mission statement: they work for us.”

The Grammys and Black Music: A Timeline of Snubs and Embarrassments (Photos)

The 2018 Grammy nominations were a triumph for diversity, with far more hip-hop and R&B nominees in the top categories than ever before.

In a way, it shouldn't come as a surprise that an organization devoted to supporting and honoring music would recognize the current ascendance of hip-hop as the dominant popular music form. But it is something of a delicious shock, because since they began in the 1950s, the Grammys have not exactly been inclusive.

No hip-hop song, for instance, has ever won Record of the Year or Song of the Year. You could argue that they’ve been shortsighted when it comes to rock music and Latin music and jazz and other genres, too, that there’s an inevitable conservatism that comes from having a huge body of voters considering such a vast musical landscape.

But the decades worth of snubs and oversights are not pretty. Scroll through TheWrap's timeline:
1959

At the first Grammys, the Best Rhythm & Blues Performance category was won by a white group, the Champs, with “Tequila.” Ella Fitzgerald was the only African American nominated in the Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year categories, which were won by Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare)” (record and song) and Henry Mancini’s “The Music From Peter Gunn” (album).
William P. Gottlieb/Creative Commons
1968

At the 10th Grammy show, one of the top three awards is finally won by black performers: The Fifth Dimension, who win Record of the Year for “Up, Up and Away,” written by white songwriter Jimmy Webb.
CMA-Marc Gordon Productions-management
1976

After 18 years, Natalie Cole becomes the first black performer to win Best New Artist.
Lawren/Flickr
1981

It's the year of Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls,” Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” Prince’s “Dirty Mind,” Smokey Robinson’s “Crusin’” and the debuts of the Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow. But the Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist awards all go to a wimpy white guy named Christopher Cross.
Getty Images
1986

Prince is nominated for Album of the Year for the second and last time for “Sign o’ the Times.” That album, “Purple Rain” and “1999” will eventually enter the Grammy Hall of Fame, but he will never win the award
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1988

Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” the highest ranked hip-hop album in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, is not nominated for any Grammys. But the Record of the Year and Song of the Year awards do go to a black artist: Bobby McFerrin, for “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
Steve Jurvetson/Creative Commons
1989

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith) win the first-ever rap Grammy for "Parents Just Don't Understand." The award was not presented during the televised portion of the ceremony, and in protest Smith led a boycott of the show. (But DJ Jazzy Jeff did show up to accept the Grammy.)
1991

More than a decade after rap music began to revolutionize popular music, MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” becomes the first hip-hop song to receive a Record of the Year nomination. It loses to Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise.”
Philippe Rous from Strasbourg
2006

Kayne West’s “Late Registration” beats Eminem’s “Encore” in the Best Rap Album category. This remains the only one of the seven years in which a white artist was nominated in the category that the white artist did not win.
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2008

Jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock becomes the most recent black artist to win Album of the Year. He does so for an album of Joni Mitchell songs.
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2010

Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” beats Beyonce’s “I Am … Sasha Fierce” for Album of the Year. This comes four months after she beats Beyonce at the MTV Video Music Awards, where her acceptance speech is interrupted by Kanye West’s infamous “imma let you finish” moment.
Christopher Polk/Getty Images
2014

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis win the Best Rap Album award over Drake, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West, the sixth time in the 19-year history of the award that a white performer had won it. Macklemore also beats Lamar for Best New Artist, and sends Lamar an apologetic text.
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2015

This time, it’s Beck’s turn to beat Beyonce in the Album of the Year category, with his “Morning Phase” scoring a surprise victory over her self-titled album.
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2016

Grammy voters’ love for Taylor Swift proves embarrassing once more, as her “1989” album beats Kendrick Lamar’s landmark “To Pimp a Butterfly.” Her floppy-haired bestie Ed Sheeran, meanwhile, beats Kendrick in the Song of the Year category.
Getty Images
2017

And finally, Adele wins Album of the Year for “25,” and immediately uses her speech to say what everybody was thinking: that Beyonce deserved it for “Lemonade,” which she said was “so monumental, and so well thought-out and soul-bearing.”
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
2018

Jay-Z was the most nominated artist, with eight, but didn't win a single Grammy. On his joint album with Beyonce, "Everything Is Love," the song "APESH-T" included the lyric: "Tell the Grammys f--- that zero for eight s---." And while Kendrick Lamar swept the hip-hop awards for "DAMN." he lost Record and Album of the Year to Bruno Mars.
2019

Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Childish Gambino all declined invitations to perform on the show, according to producer Ken Ehrlich. And then Kendrick Lamar's "Black Panther" soundtrack lost in the Album of the Year category to Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour" (one of the two non-hip-hop albums among the eight nominees).

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This year’s diverse nominations are a far cry from the Recording Academy’s history of missing the best in soul, R&B and hip-hop

The 2018 Grammy nominations were a triumph for diversity, with far more hip-hop and R&B nominees in the top categories than ever before.

In a way, it shouldn't come as a surprise that an organization devoted to supporting and honoring music would recognize the current ascendance of hip-hop as the dominant popular music form. But it is something of a delicious shock, because since they began in the 1950s, the Grammys have not exactly been inclusive.

No hip-hop song, for instance, has ever won Record of the Year or Song of the Year. You could argue that they’ve been shortsighted when it comes to rock music and Latin music and jazz and other genres, too, that there’s an inevitable conservatism that comes from having a huge body of voters considering such a vast musical landscape.

But the decades worth of snubs and oversights are not pretty. Scroll through TheWrap's timeline:

View In Gallery

The Grammys and Black Music: A Timeline of Snubs and Embarrassments (Photos)

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