Last week, Amber Coffman (from Dirty Projectors) took to Twitter to retell a story of a run-in with a sexual predator she later named as Heathcliff Beru. Beru was the founder of prominent music publicity and management firm Life Or Death, which boasted a roster of acts like D’Angelo, DIIV, Kelela, Odd Future, Killer Mike and more.

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689241020769280000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689287711878860800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

What happened afterwards was a case of swift justice served to Beru, as seven women had come forward about being sexually abused in one way or another by Beru. By the end of the next day, Beru had resigned by his firm, and by the end of the week, the firm ceased to exist as acts continued to drop them and his now ex-employees continued to leave. However, as promising as this all seems, Coffman has detailed a different reality in an interview with triple J‘s Hack.

“I know there’s a whole gang of men in the music industry who have totally turned their backs on a lot of these women,” Coffman said this afternoon when asked what the aftermath of the aftermath was. “Total shutdown, total blackout. Not a single word. No responses to emails,” she went onto say before revealing that even more are too scared to speak out still for fear of losing “their job, scared to be ostracised and shut out.”

Even Beru’s statement that was issued quickly after the initial tweets was not good enough, just as Coffman pointed out. Addressed to “those who I have offended by my actions”, he went onto play the victim by saying he has “already lost my wife, abandoned my family, and destroyed those I love as a result of my shameful, embarrassing unacceptable behaviour.” Coffman labelled the apology a “complete cop out.”

“He victimised himself. he didn’t take any real responsibility for any of his actions, and he downplayed them,” she said before going onto say the simple yet profound line, “Addiction doesn’t create an abuser.”

It is a harsh reality that these women are now facing, and a cruel turn of events for doing something so very brave. As Hack also pointed out, it now raises the question about whether this series of events will have any change in the industry at all, given that this is the initial response. Although some artists have spoken out in solidarity with the women who have come forward, like Killer Mike for example, it seems there is also a majority who would prefer to block them out than help them – and it is those people that can help these women in their careers.

Sure, men like Killer Mike voicing their disdain for such behaviour is obviously really important, his solidarity won’t exactly get these artists’ gigs or tours booked, nor will it get them interviews and media coverage when they release their new single. The people who can help them with this are the ones who have blocked them out and it’s this that is scaring others from coming forward about what happened to them too. What does it say to the women who are being abused and mistreated in the industry? That they should just get over it because if they call it out, they’ll potentially ruin THEIR careers, not that of their perpetrator? That their voices don’t matter, and what happens to them doesn’t matter? That we should continue to disregard and excuse this behaviour because it will help us get ahead if we ignore it?

It’s deplorable that these questions are even being raised, let alone the veracity they hold. Sexual abuse in any way shouldn’t even be happening, let alone excused, and it is up to us to make those who fall victims to such acts feel safe enough to speak up. It hasn’t been confirmed whether or not these artists have actually been “blocked out”, but it will be interesting to see the futures of their careers following this. I would hope that this wouldn’t have an effect on their careers, and that they would in fact be applauded for coming to terms with what happened to them and being brave enough to call it out – but it now does not seem that is the case. Here’s hoping that some good really does come from this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMPF6lpM0XM

Update 5:10 p.m.:
Life or Death PR has issued the following statement:
Life or Death has a zero tolerance policy for the type of conduct alleged in today’s on-line postings. We take these allegations very seriously.
 
The men and women who make up this company do not, and will not, condone or tolerate any conduct described in the on-line postings. Life Or Death is 3 men and 3 women who are committed to promoting art and serving the clients that we’re so privileged to represent. We are taking measures to ensure that the alleged behavior did not, and will not, make its way into company operations or impact our commitment to promoting art and assisting our clients.
 
We are grateful to Heathcliff Berru for all the work he’s done to date and his creative vision at the company. We appreciate and support his decision to step down as CEO of Life Or Death.
—

Last night, Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors (also the vocalist on Major Lazer‘s Get Free) had had enough. She took to Twitter to vent her frustration after retelling a story about how a certain publicist rubbed her ass in front of four men, and bit her hair; in other words, he sexually assaulted her.

In a series of tweets, she went onto say how not only is she mad at him for doing such a depraved act, but also mad at herself for “not punching him in the nose,” before calling out the publicist as Heathcliff Berru, founder of Life Or Death PR & Management. Life Or Death’s roster include acts like Odd Future, DIIV and D’Angelo, so it’s obvious Berru is quite a powerful figure in the music industry. It also makes it all the more shocking to see how many more women came out and shared their awful stories of Berru and his penchant for sexually assaulting women.

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689241020769280000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689241386038607872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689243235986702337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689287391081660416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689287711878860800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689289076319490049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/Amber_Coffman/status/689292700076486656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Young Turks, Flying Lotus, Arca, Best Coast‘s Bethany Cosentino and many more have already thanked Coffman for sharing this and calling him out, with many now boycotting Berru and his firm as well as giving support to Berru’s other victims.

The decision to come forward about this incident is not one that Coffman would have made lightly. It happened a few years ago, and as she said above, she had been told that other women shared in this awful experience. The fact that it’s common knowledge enough for countless women to have experienced Berru’s unwanted advances/harassment/assault yet it’s swept under the rug immediately diminishes the feelings of his victims. How do they feel, having had this man do whatever he wants to them, then having it “forgotten” about or ignored? How do they feel when people keep hiring him, even though they know his history? What does that do to his victims’ voices? It silences them, and allows this behaviour to continue.

The women who shared their accounts last night on Twitter are very brave, and should be applauded for doing so. Sexual assault and harassment in any form is never okay, and the higher up it goes, the more important it is to call it out. Stop hiring sexual predators and listen to what your peers and colleagues are saying. Stand by them, because coming forward is not an easy thing to do, and believe them.

Let’s hope Berru sees some swift justice for his actions.

Read more:

“The Only Place For Women Is Backstage On Their Knees” – A Discussion About Misogyny In Music
Watch Pitchfork Senior Editor Jessica Hopper’s Incredible Speech About Women In Music

Image via Stereogum