The first and former Recording Academy CEO, Deborah Dugan, publicly claimed that the Grammy Awards voting process are “Rigged”

Deborah Dugan claimed that the Grammy nomination and voting process was “rigged” and “corrupt.”

The former CEO of the Grammys claims that the Recording Academy manipulates results, suggesting that certain artists or their labels sway the outcomes.

Deborah Dugan, who previously served as the CEO and president of the Recording Academy, has gained viral attention after an old statement reemerged. In it, she alleges that the Grammys are manipulated, with either artists or their label executives influencing the results, leading to deserving artists being overlooked. She mentioned that white male executives mainly make these decisions.

On January 16, 2020, Dugan was put on leave, as reported by CNN. Dugan, the first woman to lead the academy, had been working there for five months before being placed on leave.

Deborah Dugan, the first woman to serve as CEO of the Recording Academy, was put on administrative leave and subsequently dismissed in early 2020 after only five months in the position. In retaliation, she submitted a significant discrimination complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), claiming that the Grammy voting process was "rigged" and "corrupt," and part of a "boys' club" environment filled with sexual harassment and financial conflicts of interest. 

Dugan was brought on board in August 2019 as a catalyst for change in response to ongoing criticism that the Grammys neglected women and minority artists. Her predecessor, Neil Portnow, had faced criticism in 2018 for his comment that women needed to "step up" to achieve success in the industry. Dugan's role was to introduce transparency and diversity within the organization.

Dugan's main assertion was that "secret committees" were influencing the process by narrowing down the initial list of 20 nominees, chosen by member votes, to the final five or eight in most categories. Her specific allegations included: 

Dugan claimed that individuals with business ties to certain artists, or even those representing them, were part of these committees.

She alleged that the board could arbitrarily add artists to the final nomination list who were not even in the initial top 20 member-voted list.

In the 2019 Song of the Year category, Dugan stated that an artist who originally ranked 18th out of 20 was promoted to a nomination and that the artist was permitted to sit on the nominating committee for that category.

Dugan claimed the process was manipulated to ensure certain high-profile artists were nominated so they would perform on the Grammy telecast, potentially at the expense of deserving artists like Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran in certain categories.