Republic Records President and judge from Fox’s The Four: Battle for Stardom, Charlie Walk, has been placed on administrative leave from his position with the record label after an internal investigation into sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace. Allegations against the music executive were made public in a blog post by a former employee of Sony Music and once aspiring music executive Tristan Coopersmith who titled the blog post “#metoo: An Open Letter to Charlie Walk.”
The post detailed her experiences with Walk during their time together at Sony Music. On her Life Lab Hermosa Beach website, the then 27-year-old Coopersmith writes, “For a year I shuddered at the idea of being called into your office, where you would stealthily close the door and make lewd comments about my body and share your fantasies of having sex with me.” She goes on to detail the physical harassment that ensued sometimes even in the company of the Walk’s wife.
It was also reported that on Wednesday a second accuser who worked at Universal Music Group came forward with her own allegations of sexual misconduct against Walk. Charlie Walk released a statement announcing that he would not be hosting the season finale of The Four as a result of these accusations.
“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,” said Walk in a statement. “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.”
