How did things between this agent of change and the Grammy brass that selected and elected her unravel so quickly and so bitterly? Variety sources and her formal complaint provide a rough timeline of events.

The Recording Academy hired Deborah Dugan as an agent of change, and with her scorched-earth EEOC complaint, that is what she brought.

Deborah Dugan, a former Wall Street lawyer who has worked with Bono, will take over an organization whose representation of women in music is under scrutiny.

When news leaked late Friday (Apr. 12) that outgoing Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow will be replaced by (RED) CEO Deborah Dugan, the reaction for many may have been, "Who?" -- largely because her name was not among the couple dozen more-predictable potential candidates speculated by insiders.

She inherits a Recording Academy that grew under Neil Portnow, both in membership and financially, but also has been accused of being a "boys club" sorely lacking in gender and racial diversity.

The National Recording Academy's President and CEO discusses his leadership style, legacy, and the ins and outs of the Grammys.

A task force on diversity and inclusivity led by Time's Up executive Tina Tchen made sweeping recommendations that could transform the Recording Academy.

Part I of the Report sets forth specific proposed reforms and recommendations for the Academy. Part II of the Report addresses our observations for the broader music industry.

Taking over for longtime Chief Executive Neil Portnow, all eyes are on new Recording Academy president Deborah Dugan as she approaches her first Grammy Awards.

“In light of concerns raised to the Recording Academy Board of Trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team, the Board has placed Recording Academy President and CEO Deborah Dugan on administrative leave, effective immediately,” the Academy said.

The Recording Academy places President and CEO Deborah Dugan on administrative leave with the Grammy Awards fast approaching. Insiders trade accusations.

As the music industry reeled in the wake of Deborah Dugan's sudden removal from her post as president/CEO of the Recording Academy on Thursday - a mere five months after she'd taken charge, and just ten days before the Grammy Awards - industry sources were stunned by the abruptness of the move and perplexed by the purported reasons for it.

"Change is afoot," Deborah Dugan said more than once during interviews with Variety in the weeks before her shocking removal from her post as president/CEO of the Recording Academy after just five months on the job. During those conversations, Dugan spoke of changes she planned to make in the Academy's staffing organization, its Board of Trustees and its reporting structure.

Former Grammys CEO Neil Portnow's remark that female artists needed to "step up" triggered actions leading to the hiring and ultimate ouster of successor Deb Dugan.

My first reaction was laughter. You spent all that time searching and vetting and then this happened? But today I've flipped. I do not know Ms. Dugan's personality. There are people with rough edges, who do not get along. But after the aforementioned vetting, what are the odds that Dugan has sharp elbows, especially after dealing with Bono, et al?

Problems began right after she was hired. Dugan refused to get on a plane and come west for the taping of the Grammy Special Merit/Lifetime Achievement concert at the Dolby Theater.

Among the concerns listed in a memo sent to the Recording Academy's head of HR by president/CEO Deborah Dugan before she was placed on administrative leave Thursday was an item about the organization's "exorbitant and unnecessary" legal fees to outside law firms, according to sources familiar with the document.

In an additional twist, Grammy Awards sponsor Champagne Billecart-Salmon has pulled out of the Jan. 26 show in solidarity with Deborah Dugan, who was placed on administrative leave amid a claim of misconduct.

In the latest twist in the increasingly bitter exit of Deborah Dugan from the Recording Academy after just five months, the ousted president/CEO is about to face a lawsuit from her former assistant, Claudine Little.

As the war of words between the Recording Academy and ousted president/CEO Deborah Dugan continues to escalate, interim boss Harvey Mason Jr. today issued a statement to the Academy's membership about Dugan's alleged misconduct and "leaks and misinformation."

In a letter sent to members, Recording Academy board Chairman Harvey Mason Jr. alleges Deborah Dugan demanded payment in exchange for her resignation.

This is how you pour gasoline on a fire.

Recently ousted Recording Academy President and CEO Deborah Dugan accused top entertainment lawyer Joel Katz of sexual harassment in a complaint against the academy her lawyers filed Tuesday with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

"An in-depth independent investigation by experienced and highly regarded lawyers was conducted and I was completely exonerated," Portnow said. "There was no basis for the allegations and once again I deny them unequivocally."

It appears they’ve got to shut NARAS down and start all over. Truly. Get all new people. Have the voting process be transparent. Wake up and walk into the new age.

"It is deeply disturbing to us – and quite frankly, heartbreaking – to witness the firestorm against our organization that has been unleashed. The Academy is keenly sensitive to any and all allegations of harassment or abuse, and we support the independent investigations that have been launched."

Dugan, joined by her lawyer Doug Wigdor, claimed that "committees" within the Academy that are responsible for deciding nominees are rife with corruption.

Deborah Dugan spoke out for the first time since filing a lawsuit against the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which does the Grammys.

"The Academy’s Board of Trustees and leadership must immediately commit themselves to real reform, take concrete steps to implement all of the Task Force reforms, and transparently and regularly report on their progress — including transparently reporting on the pending investigations they have announced are underway."

Among the many allegations in ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan's blockbuster legal complaint, the one that possibly cuts most to the heart of the institution - and is of most concern to artists and the public - is the allegation that the nominating process is "rigged.

This year’s Grammy Awards were supposed to be a celebration of the next generation of pop stars: a genre-busting female singer, a gay black rapper and an 18-year-old sensation. After years of nominating too many men and not enough people of color, the Recording Academy could claim it was starting to change.

In a Grammy week unlike any other, the war between the Recording Academy and its ousted CEO, Deborah Dugan, dominated conversations at parties and in c-suites.

The volleying of accusations and denials of misconduct within the Recording Academy distracts, in a dispiriting way, from the artists being honored.

The Grammy Awards telecast is airing Sunday evening. The Recording Academy says that nothing should overshadow the night, but allegations from its ousted female president and CEO suggest otherwise.

Powerbroker and entertainment lawyer Joel Katz is at the center of an explosive set of allegations made by ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan.

Sean "Diddy" Combs slammed the Recording Academy before a star-studded crowd at the annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala on Saturday night, saying that hip-hop and black music have "never been respected by the Grammys," ironically as he accepted his award as the 2020 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons honoree at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.

Board chairman Harvey Mason Jr., who also is serving as the academy’s interim president and chief executive since the board placed Deborah Dugan on administrative leave on Jan. 16, outlined a series of changes he said the academy will implement to address shortcomings highlighted by the work of a diversity and inclusion task force appointed in 2018.

A timeline of the recent meltdown at the Recording Academy.

“If this is an indication of the industry dying, I’m with it.”

What scandal?

It's been one week since the Grammy Awards, and for many people it's taken a week even to begin to process all the things that happened in the deranged ten days leading up to the show, let alone try to figure out where things currently stand.

An investigation of ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan’s claims of sexual harassment is underway, among other measures to address the firestorm of controversy that has emerged around the organization in recent weeks, according to a pair of memos from Board of Trustees head Harvey Mason Jr.

Deborah Dugan, who was placed on administrative leave from her post as chairman/CEO of the Recording Academy in January after accusations of "misconduct" toward a female employee sources say was her former assistant, has been terminated, the organization announced today in a letter to members.

After officially terminating ousted CEO Deborah Dugan, the Recording Academy's Harvey Mason Jr. speaks with The Times about the Grammy organization's next steps.