LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) Not only has a law firm been looking into allegations that Heather Parry, head of Live Nation Productions, verbally abused co-workers but also how an audiotape of a private meeting regarding the situation was leaked to the press, according to Variety.
Parry was placed on leave Dec. 21 after a Variety story detailed her alleged abuse that included allegations by 23 former employees of Live Nation and Happy Madison Productions. The employees said Parry would denigrate assistants and other staffers and spoke in offensive terms about women, homosexuals and African-Americans.
However, the report also included transcription from an internal meeting on the matter spearheaded by Live Nation President Joe Berchtold and CFO Kathy Willard, in which they told employees that Parry was unlikely to change her behavior and asked staffers to forgive her. Apparently that recording is also the focus of an investigation by law firm Paul Hastings LLP and lead investigator Elena Baca, several sources told Variety.
The recording allegedly includes two employees telling the executives they sought therapy because of Parry’s abuse, with one claiming he suffered health problems because of it. The executives apparently respond that, while acknowledging Parry’s abrasiveness, that letting her go would mean shutting down the department and adversely affecting “the other 12 people” at the production division.
Baca has also apparently been looking into who may have hijacked a Live Nation twitter account to complain about Parry, writing an open letter to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino:
“I want a normal working environment,” the anonymous person wrote. “One where I don’t have to fear being called an expletive or have something thrown at me or one where I don’t have to cry at my desk daily. Is that too hard to ask for?”
Rapino had no comment on the article, but Parry said through her attorney that she was committed to maintaining “a safe and respectful workplace.”
“It’s unfortunate, as a woman running a new division at one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, that you can be targeted simply because of how others perceive a woman in power,” she said. “I am deeply saddened by these accusations and gossip that in no way reflect who I am, or what I truly value. If I hurt someone, I am sorry and apologize as that was never my intention,” she said.
California has a “two-party consent” law that makes it a crime to record or eavesdrop on any confidential communication, including a private conversation or telephone call, without the consent of all parties to the conversation.
h/t Variety
