Former Grammys chief Mike Greene accused of sexual assault

Mike Greene in front of a wall of Grammy award statuettes

By August BrownStaff Writer

Dec. 6, 2023 9:59 AM PT

Mike Greene, the former president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, has been accused of sexual assault and battery in a new lawsuit from a former Academy employee.

On Wednesday, Terri McIntyre, a former executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy, sued Greene, who oversaw the Grammy Awards ceremony for 14 years, and the Recording Academy in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Her suit alleges sexual assault and battery, negligence and harassment, and that “Defendant Greene and/or Defendant Academy have engaged in a cover-up and/or an attempted cover-up.”

The suit, filed under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act, comes weeks after another former Recording Academy chief, Neil Portnow, faced a similar suit in New York under its Adult Survivors Act.

In that suit, an unnamed musician accused Portnow of drugging and raping her in a New York hotel room in June 2018. The claims first surfaced in 2020, when former Recording Academy chief Deborah Dugan filed a discrimination complaint against the Academy after it fired her less than a year into her term.

Through a spokesperson, Portnow has denied the allegations.

Greene resigned from the Academy in 2002 following an investigation into separate assault and harassment claims from an Academy employee, and claims of mismanaged funds at MusiCares, the Academy’s charitable arm, which he founded in 1989. His LinkedIn account lists his current job as president of Artist Tribe, a “creative production, technology, education, database and philanthropic enterprise.”

Greene did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement, the Recording Academy told The Times: “In light of pending litigation, the Academy declines to comment on these allegations, which occurred nearly 30 years ago. Today’s Recording Academy has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual misconduct and we will remain steadfast in that commitment.”

In the suit, McIntyre claims that she took the Recording Academy job in 1994, only to learn that “Defendant Greene himself informed Plaintiff that he expected Plaintiff to perform sex acts for Defendant Greene in order to remain employed and progress at Defendant Academy. ... Defendant Greene repeatedly told Plaintiff that she needed to ‘give some head to get ahead’ with Defendant Greene and Defendant Academy.”

The suit describes a 1994 incident at an academy trustees meeting at a Hawaii hotel in which Greene allegedy drugged McIntyre. “After Plaintiff sipped the champagne provided by Defendant Greene, Plaintiff quickly began to feel unwell and began to lose control of her physical movements. As Plaintiff continued to lose control of her body, she noticed others exiting Defendant Greene’s hotel room, leaving Plaintiff isolated with Defendant Greene. Plaintiff’s last memory prior to waking up was being alone with Defendant Greene in Greene’s hotel room. The next thing Plaintiff recalls is waking up nude in Defendant Greene’s bed. When Plaintiff awoke, Defendant Greene was still asleep, lying nude next to Plaintiff.”

In another alleged incident, at Greene’s under-construction Malibu beach house, the suit claims, “Defendant Greene appeared in front of Plaintiff with Defendant Greene’s erect penis exposed to Plaintiff as Defendant Greene stood over her. Before Plaintiff could react, Defendant Greene grabbed the back of Plaintiff’s head with Defendant Greene’s hands and shoved his erect penis into Plaintiff’s mouth. Plaintiff tried to get away from Defendant Greene, but Defendant Greene maintained his firm hold on Plaintiff’s head as Plaintiff gagged.”

McIntyre claims in the suit that while “Defendant Academy had a pattern and practice of engaging Defendant Greene’s victims in Non-Disclosure Agreements,” she did not sign one upon her exit from the Recording Academy in 1996. In the suit, McIntyre revealed she was a source for former Times reporter Chuck Phillips in articles about the academy and Greene’s conduct in 2002, which revealed the previous sexual harassment suit against Greene, which the academy settled for an alleged $650,000.

Greene earned a reported $2-million annual compensation package at the Academy, and left with a reported $8-million buyout.

McIntyre’s suit against Greene goes on to claim, “Defendant Academy’s publication of the existence and/or completion of an internal investigation into Defendant Greene’s sexual harassment, sexual assault, sex discrimination, and/or maintenance of a hostile work environment was part of a concerted, and/or continuing, effort to incentivize individuals to remain silent about Defendant Greene’s previous instance(s) and/or allegation(s) of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sex discrimination, and/or maintenance of a hostile work environment by dissuading others, including civil authorities, from conducting further investigation into Defendant Greene and/or Defendant Academy.”

Jeff Anderson, McIntyre’s attorney, told The Times in an interview, “Charles Michael Greene is a very powerful, perverse predator. This suit exposes the culture that permitted him and the Academy to profit for years. It also spotlights the perilous practice of NDAs and hush money employed by the Academy and deployed by the entire music industry that exploits and silences victims.”

The suit against Greene and the Recording Academy follows a wave of complaints filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which named as alleged abusers powerful music executives and artists including Sean “Diddy” Combs, former Epic Records chief Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler.

The 66th Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 4 at Crypto.com Arena.