Charlie Walk is leaving Republic Records after five women accused him of sexual harassment. A statement from the label, first obtained by Variety, said Walk and the company “have mutually agreed to part ways.”
The label’s former president was put on leave at Republic after the first accusations surfaced in January, and did not appear in the season finale of Fox’s “The Four,” on which he was a judge. In a report by Rolling Stone in February, four other women came forward against the executive.
Representatives for Republic Records and Walk did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
The music exec was first accused by a woman who said Walk behaved inappropriately while the two worked together at Columbia Records approximately eight years ago.
Tristan Coopersmith, who has since founded the women’s wellness studio Life Lab, wrote in an open letter that in the year she worked for him, Walk made “lewd comments about my body and [shared] fantasies of having sex with me.”
In the letter, titled “#MeToo: An Open Letter to Charlie Walk,” Coopersmith went on to say that the music mogul would send her sexual text messages and touch her inappropriately during business dinners.
“Then there was that event at your swank pad when you actually cornered me and pushed me into your bedroom and onto your bed,” said Coopersmith, who was 27 at the time. “The bed you shared with your wife … your wife who was in the room next door. You being drunk and me being 6 inches taller was my saving grace.”
Walk did not appear in the season finale of “The Four,” he said, because he did not want his presence to be “distracting.”
“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,’” Walk said at the time. “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.”
At the time of the accusation, Fox said it was reviewing the matter and remained “committed to fostering a safe environment on all of our shows.”
Republic is home to stars such as Ariana Grande, Hailee Steinfeld, The Weeknd and Drake.