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Yasmine Kittles reports former music PR Heathcliff Berru to the LAPD
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 4 April 2016
Former music PR Heathcliff Berru – who was forced to shut down his agency Life Or Death PR after a number of women came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and assault earlier this year – is now facing a criminal investigation over his past conduct, after Yasmine Kittles of electronic duo Tearist reported the publicist to the LA police.
Kittles confirmed on Facebook last week that she had now made a formal complaint to police in relation to an incident that occurred at her LA home in 2011, during which Berru allegedly assaulted the musician, who is also a member of the band Former Ghosts. She says the PR man then assaulted her again in a New York bar later the same year.
Kittles writes: “As some of you may know, yesterday I filed criminal charges against Heathcliff Berru for sexual battery. After seeing how many women came forward after us, I knew I had to do something more than just comment about it. He has to be stopped and others like him have to know that women will report them. We have to stop the cycle. It will not be easy, and it’s scary as hell. But we have the power to change things… if we want to”.
As previously reported, back in January, Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman tweeted about a “very popular music publicist” who had “RUBBED my ass and BIT my hair at a bar a couple years ago”. Hours later, she named Berru as the man in her story, which prompted many others to come forward with reports of the PR man’s past actions. Berru subsequently resigned as CEO of his company and said he was seeking help for his addictions, while his staff all quit and formed a new PR firm with no ties to their former employer.
A spokesperson for the LAPD confirmed to Billboard that it will now investigate Kittles’ complaint and decide whether to pass the case on to the local District or City Attorneys, who could then respectively press felony or misdemeanour charges against Berru.
