Hipgnosis has confirmed that the CEO of its Songs Group business, Kenny MacPherson, has been placed on a leave of absence following the filing of a lawsuit by a former colleague from the 2000s who accuses him of sexual harassment and assault.
According to Billboard, MacPherson has also voluntarily stepped down from the board of the US National Music Publishers Association, which he joined in 2018 before Hipgnosis bought his music publishing company Big Deal Music in 2020.
The new lawsuit has been filed by Sara Lewis, who worked with MacPherson at the Chrysalis publishing firm in the mid-2000s. She claims MacPherson began sexually harassing her shortly after she started her dream job in the Chrysalis US A&R department, with things subsequently escalating and a sexual assault occurring during a work trip.
She says that she formally complained about MacPherson's conduct to her direct supervisor at Chrysalis, Jamie Cerreta, who subsequently co-founded Big Deal Music. She claims Cerreta “did nothing and never mentioned the topic again", but after she made her complaint MacPherson stonewalled her, making it impossible to do her job. She ultimately quit the music business.
A legal rep for MacPherson has denied all the allegations in the lawsuit, stating earlier this week: “On behalf of my client Mr MacPherson, we vehemently deny all allegations made against Mr MacPherson in Ms Lewis’ unverified complaint filed earlier today".
Confirming MacPherson was now on a leave of absence, Hipgnosis said in a statement that it "has a policy of zero-tolerance to harassment or abuse. While the company is not a defendant to these historic allegations which relate to a period fifteen years before Hipgnosis was founded, Kenny MacPherson was placed on leave of absence from Hipgnosis Songs Group as soon as it became aware of the allegations. Our rigorous procedures for dealing with such matters have commenced".
It's BMG that is named as a corporate defendant alongside MacPherson, because it bought the Chrysalis publishing company at the end of 2010. Though it too did not exist as a business when the alleged harassment and assault took place.
It said earlier this week: “BMG stands solidly against all forms of discrimination and abuse and we are shocked and dismayed by the allegations made by Sara Lewis. As a point of fact, BMG did not exist until 1 Oct 2008, years after the alleged events had taken place, and did not acquire Chrysalis until years later in 2011".
Bill Donahue