This week we reported on Patrick Crowley, an editor at Billboard magazine who was in charge of its ‘LGBTQ Pride' vertical, who was fired after Nik Thakkar, a recording artist, revealed Instagram DMs he received from Crowley in a Buzzfeed story.
The Instagram messages revealed that Crowley had engaged in sexual conversation with Thakkar, eventually requesting nudes. When Thakkar refused to provide them, he found himself removed from a Billboard playlist, a move he claimed was retaliation.
Since Thakkar's story was revealed, five other artists — Kisos, Michael Medrano, Alextbh, Graveyardguy, and Mosayac (read their statements by following the links on their names)— have come out with their own stories of problematic interactions with Crowley.
The artists released a joint statement:
Billboard has so far released no statement.
Now, Crowley says he will be suing suing the publication and the artists. The Advocate reports that it received a statement from Crowley's lawyers, saying, “Billboard will shortly be served with a lawsuit for, among other things, discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
Crowley's statement paints him as the victim of “fame seekers” according to the publication and says he was a victim of workplace discrimination by Billboard because there have been sexual harassment complaints made against “senior male straight employees” and the publication did nothing.
The Advocate adds: ‘Crowley intends to sue both Billboard and the mostly queer men of color musicians who have come forward stating the editor sexually harassed them for defamation, according to the statement. … According to Crowley, the musicians who have come forward are leading “a defamatory campaign to destroy Mr. Crowley and his career” that they believe is for self-promotion. The statement goes on to sex-shame the accusers due to their physical appearances, while also seemingly blaming the #MeToo movement for his firing. “When does #metoo go too far?” asked the statement. “These artists have attractive, edgy, extremely aggressive and overtly sexual presences in social media.”‘
