A summons for Jimmy Iovine, who co-founded Interscope Records in 1990, was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York County on Wednesday, November 22. Pitchfork broke the news, relaying that Iovine is “being sued over sexual misconduct and abuse.” So far, only a summons has been filed, but a lawsuit will presumably follow. Iovine is being sued by a woman identified publicly as Jane Doe.
“Doe claims that she was ‘sexually abused, forcibly touched, and subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation’ in August 2007,” Pitchfork wrote. “The lawsuit against Iovine is for assault and battery, as well as violations of the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act and the New York City Human Right Law.”
Billboard additionally reported that Jane Doe’s filing attorneys were Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog of Wigdor Law. While sexual misconduct in August 2007 is specifically noted, Billboard clarified that Iovine is alleged to have engaged in “multiple instances” of abuse, and Jane Doe is “seeking economic and compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs.”
Iovine headed up Interscope until leaving his post as chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M in August 2014 to join Apple later that year (as per Billboard at the time). In May 2014, Apple had announced its acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music “for a total of $3 billion” from Iovine and Dr. Dre. Iovine departed Apple in 2018.
Last November, Bruce Springsteen inducted Iovine into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as the recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun Award.