Sexual Harassment Claims Prompt Stephen Blackwell Resignation At Billboard

Blackwell Exits

BILLBOARD Chief Strategy Officer STEPHEN BLACKWELL has abruptly left the company on the heels of a sexual harassment claim made against him by a former employee at his previous job, the NY POST reports. Two days ago, TALKHOUSE MUSIC Editor Amy ROSE SPIEGEL went on TWITTER to accuse BLACKWELL of sexual harassment when she was a 19-year-old intern at DEATH & TAXES, a pop culture magazine that BLACKWELL ran.

SPIEGEL, who wrote “Action: A Book About Sex,” also claimed that BLACKWELL harassed "other women, particularly the youngest ones, who reported directly to him.”

In an internal e-mail, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER-BILLBOARD MEDIA GROUP Pres. john AMATO wrote, "This e-mail serves to inform you that STEPHEN BLACKWELL and the company have agreed to part ways ... We would like to clarify that [WEDNESDAY’s] post references conduct which allegedly took place at another company six years prior to Mr. BLACKWELL joining us. That said, we take these matters very seriously and we are committed to maintaining a work environment free of all forms of harassment and discrimination.”

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