Charlie Walk scandal: Music executive dropped from ‘The Four’ after sexual harassment allegations

January 31, 2018

by Colleen McGregor

Veteran music executive Charlie Walk has been dropped from Fox’s singing competition “The Four: Battle for Stardom” after two women who used to work with him have come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment, according to a Deadline report published on January 31, 2018. In addition, Walk has also been placed on leave by the Republic Group, where he served as president. He joined the company in 2013 as executive vice president of Republic Records. Universal Music Group, the owner and distributor of Republic, issued a statement that it is investigating the allegations and will make a decision about Walk’s employment status when the investigation is completed. Walk, who is married with children, has denied all the allegations.

Walk was one of four judges on “The Four,” a  talent contest in which the winner gets a record deal with Republic. Sean “Diddy” Combs, Meghan Trainor and DJ Khaled are the show’s other judges. Former Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie is the show’s host.

“The Four” (which is produced  by ITV Entertainment and Armoza Formats) premiered on January 4,  2018. Walk already taped the episode that airs on February 1, 2018, but sources told Deadline that Walk will not be on the show’s season finale  that airs on February 8, 2018. “The Four” has had bad reviews and mediocre ratings, averaging a little more than 3 million U.S. viewers per episode.

One of Walk’s accusers is Life Lab founder Tristan Coopersmith, who went on the Internet on January 29, 2018, to describe Walk as a “scumbag” boss who repeatedly harassed her with lewd comments, unwanted groping and sexually inappropriate text messages. In a lengthy open letter to Walk, she also described an incident in which a drunken Walk allegedly forced her onto a bed at his home with his unknowing wife in the next room. Coopersmith said she rejected Walk’s sexual advances but his alleged harassment left her traumatized. In her letter, Coopersmith did not give specific dates on when these incidents allegedly occurred, but she said that she worked for Walk for a year in the early 2000s, starting when she was 27, while he was an executive at Sony Music’s Columbia Records. She also said that she reported the harassment at the time to a senior executive at the company, who allegedly told her that there was nothing she could do about it. She later accepted a payment to leave the company. Coopersmith has not worked in the music industry since 2010, and she says that Walk was one of the main reasons why she left the industry.

The second woman accusing Walk of harassment has chosen to remain anonymous, but she has been described in reports as a former Republic employee who is currently working in the music industry as a marketing executive. She also told similar stories of Walk making lewd comments to her, sending her sexually inappropriate texts and videos, and trying to lure her into having a sexual tryst with him. After she was laid off from the company, she tried to keep in touch with Walk because she considered him to be an powerful person who could still help her career, but she cut off contact with him after he continued to make sexual advances toward her. The anonymous accuser says she rejected Walk’s advances.

At Republic, Walk had been instrumental in shaping the music careers of DNCE, Hailee Steinfeld, Julia Michaels, The Weeknd, Lorde and Ariana Grande. He also led promotion partnerships for Big Machine Label Group (Taylor Swift), Cash Money Records (Drake, Nicki Minaj) and Island Records (Shawn Mendes, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas).