Former Grammy head flatly denies rape allegation

The former CEO of the embattled Recording Academy, the institution behind the Grammys, on Wednesday rejected as "ludicrous and untrue" his ousted successor's allegations that he raped an unnamed foreign female musician.

Neil Portnow's denial comes one day after Deborah Dugan filed an explosive discrimination complaint against the Academy, which included the rape allegation, days after she was put on leave -- and just before Sunday's Grammy awards.

Dugan's bombshell 44-page filing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Los Angeles claims she was suspended after raising concerns of sexual harassment, voting irregularities and other misconduct within one of music's most powerful organizations.

Portnow -- who stepped down as CEO after 17 years at the helm, amid outrage over his controversial comments that women artists should "step up" to gain more recognition for their work -- said Dugan's filing "is filled with inaccurate, false and outrageous and terribly hurtful claims against me."
She told the EEOC she sent an email on December 22 to the institution's human resources department detailing that accusation as well as "egregious conflicts of interest, improper self-dealing by Board members and voting irregularities with respect to nominations for Grammy Awards, all made possible by the 'boys club' mentality and approach to governance at the Academy."