the law May 8, 2024

Neil Portnow’s Accuser Asks Judge to Dismiss Rape Lawsuit

Portrait of Bethy Squires

By Bethy Squires, a Vulture news blogger who covers comedy

Clive Davis 90th Birthday Celebration - Arrivals

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

The musician who filed a sexual-battery lawsuit in November against ex-Grammys CEO Neil Portnow is now asking that her case be dismissed citing privacy concerns. In a letter to Judge Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan obtained by the New York Times, the plaintiff said she was concerned that her identity would be revealed should the case continue. Days before, her lawyers had opposed a statement from Portnow’s lawyers asking for her name to be revealed.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Jeffrey R. Anderson, has filed a motion to withdraw as her counsel. He wrote that she had sent the letter without his knowledge and that “the attorney-client relationship has deteriorated beyond repair.” The plaintiff’s letter referred to disputes with her lawyers; it included what she said are quotes from emails with her representation, arguing that Portnow would “prevail” in having her name on record and that “your name will be made public which will cause harm to you and your reputation.”

The allegation against Portnow was first made public in 2020 in a complaint that Deborah Dugan, Portnow’s successor as Grammys CEO, made after being placed on leave. His accuser says that in June 2018, she went back to his hotel room, drank a glass of wine, and “began to feel woozy.” She asked to leave, but Portnow would not let her. She says she lost consciousness and woke up to him assaulting her. His representative denied the allegations in 2023, calling them “completely false” and “the product of the plaintiff’s imagination.”

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Neil Portnow’s Accuser Asks Judge to Dismiss Rape Lawsuit

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