Remember Charlie Walk, UMG executive and judge on the FOX singing competition The Four? In 2018, he lost all of his jobs after allegations of sexual harassment came to light.
Now, three years later after the scandal broke, Walk is filing a malpractice suit against his former attorney, Trump pitbull, Mark Kasowitz. This, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The legal malpractice suit, filed Thursday in New York state court, says Kasowitz “botched” Walk’s representation and undermined his ability to clear his name, setting in motion his subsequent ousters from Republic and The Four.
“Perceiving Mr. Walk as too big to control, too expensive to keep, and not wanting to lose him to a rival such as Warner, UMG kneecapped him, so that it could both fire him, and make him unhireable by anyone else,” the suit says.
Three years after his career was derailed, Walk is seeking $60 million in damages. Though UMG is not a defendant, the suit — portions of which are redacted — says the music giant “willfully engaged in [Walk’s] public character assassination” and Kasowitz “passively cooperated with UMG, leaving Mr. Walk defenseless” and pressured the executive into signing a one-sided settlement agreement with UMG.
“Charlie Walk was the target of a carefully orchestrated campaign,” his attorney Bryan Freedman told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. “This led to a reckless and damaging rush to judgment without due process, which should have been remedied by this former lawyer. The evidence in Charlie’s favor is overwhelming and he deserved the right to clear his name. This lawsuit will do just that.”
Kasowitz is known for spending decades defending Trump on a number of issues, including the investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election.
Charlie Walk and L. A. Reid are the most prominent music execs felled by sexual harassment allegations
THR notes that Walk “remains the most prominent music industry executive felled by sexual harassment allegations in the post-#MeToo era.” L.A. Reid, a former judge on X Factor USA is the other notable example they cite.
At the time of his ouster, Walk had been in final negotiations with UMG on a 5-year contract extension worth $20 million, according to the suit. Complicating the situation: Walk had a strained relationship with his UMG boss, Republic co-founder Monte Lipman, who hated being upstaged by him.
As far as The Four is concerned, according to Walk’s lawsuit, FOX fired him despite an investigation that found no complaints or wrongdoing.
Additionally, Walk’s suit claims that his earnings took a hit. He went from pulling down a multi-million dollar a year base salary to earning just $19,000 in 2019.
Walk’s suit insists that during his 20 years at Sony, “he had never been the subject of any complaints of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior towards a single woman — let alone Coopersmith.”
Perhaps more relevant, Walk did not receive an HR official complaint during his five-year tenure at Republic, according to the suit. “Since joining UMG in 2013, Mr. Walk had not once been the subject of a Human Resources complaint of any sort — especially sexual harassment.” The suit goes on to say UMG failed to make any effort to substantiate the claims. And, once he signed their settlement agreement at Kasowitz’s urging, he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement that left him unable to defend himself against the charges.
Walk complains about the lack of confidentiality regarding the charges: “Mr. Walk is aware of prior instances in which other UMG employees had been accused of and fired for sexual harassment, but the allegations and disciplinary actions taken against such employees were kept quiet.”
Did Times Up engage in corrupt practices?
Also, on a weird note, In 2020 THR reported on instances of Times Up offering to work with accused men in exchange for high fees and donations.
In October 2018, Walk was approached by self-described Time’s Up ambassador Wade Davis, who presented the unemployed executive with a proposed contract for “transitional coaching” services and developing a “re-entry strategy” for $12,500 a month.
In November of that year, former Time’s Up president and CEO Lisa Borders emailed a rep for Walk and detailed the steps that would need to be taken to “rehabilitate” him. “There are many of these same men who now see the light and wish to stand in solidarity with women, seeking a path back into the fold. To reiterate, we applaud this effort, in full support of redemption,” she wrote. “We would welcome a conversation about contributions to The Time’s Up Foundation.”
In a clear conflict of interest, Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund?was supporting Coopersmith, Kaye and Harold and was paying a PR firm to assist them. According to the suit, that same firm also represented Coopersmith’s business interests and UMG.
A source close to Davis told THR that the relationship with Walk was never finalized.
Regardless, the allegations against Walk are numerous and credible. But even sexual harassers deserve fair legal representation.
