Business News Management & Funding Marketing & PR Top Stories

Life Or Death CEO Heathcliff Berru resigns over sexual harassment

By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 20 January 2016

The founder and CEO of US music PR and management firm Life Or Death, Heathcliff Berru, has resigned from the company following accusations of sexual harassment. He has since said that he is checking into rehab for alcohol and drug addiction.

The development actually relates to past rather than very recent incidents. The story began yesterday with a series of tweets from Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman, who wrote: “Was just re-telling/re-remembering a story about how a very popular music publicist RUBBED my ass and BIT my hair at a bar a couple years ago”.

She went on: “This was someone I barely knew and had just met. He did it in front of four of my male friends. Still makes me so damn mad thinking about it. Still mad at myself as well for not punching him in the nose, but I totally froze up. Weird survival instinct I guess”.

Several hours later she named Berru as the man in her story, adding: “I told [Dirty Projectors’ label] Domino Records, who were working on projects with him and they stopped working with him. They told me they’ve held their commitment of not working with him ever since, and I really appreciate that gesture”.

Following these statements, numerous other women, both artists and industry execs, came forward with stories of harassment by Berru – among them Tearist vocalist Yasmine Kittles who said that the PR man had held her down and forced her to touch his penis in 2009. When she told her then manager, she was informed that she would just “have to get over that” if she wanted her band to have a career.

As further allegations came to light, Life Or Death announced that Berru had resigned. “Life Or Death has a zero tolerance policy for the type of conduct alleged in today’s online postings”, the company said.

“We take these allegations very seriously. The men and women who make up this company do not, and will not, condone or tolerate any conduct described in the online postings. Life Or Death is three men and three women who are committed to promoting art and serving the clients that we’re so privileged to represent. We are taking measures to ensure that the alleged behavior did not, and will not, make its way into company operations or impact our commitment to promoting art and assisting our clients”.

Despite this, a number of the agency’s clients, including Wavves, DIIV and record label Mixpak, said yesterday that they would no longer be working with the company.

In his own statement, Berru blamed drug and alcohol addiction for his alleged actions, saying: “I am deeply sorry for those who I have offended by my actions and how I have made certain women feel. If I crossed the line of decency or respectfulness in situations when I was drunk and under the influence, there is no excuse of course”.

He continues: “To be clear, while my conduct may have been inappropriate, I have never drugged anyone or engaged in that type of behavior. Nevertheless, I do not want to be the type of person who would let drugs or alcohol take command of his life and compromise how he treats people. Yet I have been this person and it’s time to put a stop to all of this. Create a world with one less inappropriate man”.

He went on: “I have been fighting a losing battle against drugs and alcohol for many years and will be checking into a rehabilitation facility in the hope that I can improve my chances of winning that fight. A year ago, I was confronted by a peer and began to try to clean up and make things right with therapy and with an eye towards quitting the addiction. The shame and sadness feels as strong now as it did then and I am making an immediate change”.

“In no way do these allegations reflect on Life or Death PR, its staff, or anyone associated with the company”, he added, saying that the running of the company had been turned over to its president, Nick Dierl.

Although there has been a positive reaction to Coffman and others coming forward with stories about Berru, and him subsequently losing his job, it has been pointed out that this is not an isolated case. Indeed, last year Vice’s Broadly published an article on the sexual harassment women in the music industry often face.