Charlie Walk On Leave From UMG, Won’t Appear On ‘Four’ Finale, As New Accuser Steps Forward
Republic Records boss Charlie Walk will be missing next week’s finale of Fox’s talent competition show “The Four.” In a statement, his attorney Patricia Glaser, Walk said:
“Out of respect for the contestants, my fellow judges and everyone involved with the show, I have made the decision not to attend the finale of The Four. I do not want my presence to be a distraction. Needless to say this is very upsetting. Although I continue to support the ‘Me Too’ movement, there has been an extreme rush to judgment against me in this particular case which is unfair and inconsistent with anything that even actually happened. I welcome any investigation so that in short order these unfounded and hurtful accusations can be put to rest.”
Walk, along with Sean Combs, DJ Khaled, and Meghan Trainor, was one of four judges on the show, which allows contestants to compete for a grand prize of being named iHeartRadio’s “On the Verge” artist and be awarded a recording contract with Republic Records, through Universal Music Group.
As previously reported in Encore, Walk was accused of sexual misconduct Tristan Coopersmith, who claimed in a blog post that he had engaged in a variety of inappropriate behavior with her over the course of a year when they worked together more than a decade ago.
UMG FORCES LEAVE OF ABSENCE plus A NEW ACCUSER
Late Wednesday, Walk was placed on leave by Universal Music on Wednesday after another woman came forward to make similar allegations against Walk.
“Mr. Walk has been placed on leave, and will remain in leave for the duration of the investigation,” UMG said in a statement to Deadline.
Deadline, which broke the news of the second alleged victim, a Republic Records marketing exec, who asked to be left anonymous as she still works in the recording industry and does not want her name associated with Walk’s conduct.
I cannot believe Charlie’s claims that this story is false when I worked for him at Republic … to many of the same patterns,” wrote the female executive. “I was not planning to share mine, but if it helps clear Tristan’s name (who I’ve never met) then I’m in,” the unnamed exec told Deadline.
Walk has denied engaging in the alleged misconduct and has described the women’s claims as “very upsetting” and “false.” Walk noted that he has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement and stated that he’s never had an HR claim against him and that he feels there’s been an “extreme rush to judgment against me in this particular case.”
