Sony Music Australia CEO Dismissed Amid Allegations of Toxic Workplace

Denis Handlin has been removed as CEO of Sony Music Australia, the country’s most successful label, amid allegations of a toxic work environment, The Guardian reports. Former employees alleged that Handlin oversaw a “boys’ club” workplace where sexual harassment, intimidation, excessive drinking, and sexism went unchecked. (Handlin himself is not accused of sexual harassment.) Reached by The Guardian, the chairman of Sony Music Entertainment, Rob Stringer, said in a statement that Handlin would leave the company immediately.

Until his dismissal, Handlin’s 50-year tenure at Sony Music Australia made him Sony’s longest-serving employee worldwide. He became chief executive in 1984 and was instated as chairman in 1996. As well as receiving various industry accolades, he was recognized within the Australian honors system in 2017 as an officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the industry. The allegations, levelled by more than 20 former employees, span 20 years, according to The Guardian.

In a letter to staff on Monday morning (June 21) viewed by The Guardian, Stringer wrote:

I am writing to let you know that Denis Handlin will be leaving Sony Music Entertainment after more than 50 years with the Company, effective immediately.

It is time for a change in leadership and I will be making further announcements in terms of the new direction of our business in Australia and New Zealand in due course.

My team and I will be speaking further to your team leaders about this process throughout the week, but at this point I wanted to let everyone know this news at the same time.

We thank Denis for his extraordinary contribution to the Company and its artists over his long career in the Australian and New Zealand music industry.

Read the full report, titled “Revealed: multiple allegations of toxic culture at Sony Music Australia as CEO Denis Handlin leaves,” at The Guardian.