*Sony has let go of its first Antonio “L.A.” Reid loyalist.
According to Variety and Billboard, Epic Records’ executive vp media and strategic development Laura Swanson, of was dismissed on Thursday (May 18), one week after Epic CEO Reid departed amid allegations of sexual harassment.
Swanson has been a devotee of the 60-year-old Reid for nearly two decades, first working with him as a publicist at Arista Records and then following him to Universal’s Island Def Jam and to Epic in 2014.
Reid has yet to comment on the letter that a lawyer sent to Sony in March alleging that Reid had harassed one of his female assistants on a daily basis over the course of a year. Sony confirmed Reid’s departure Saturday without an explanation.
Variety reports:
It is believed that as result of being a Reid “loyalist,” Sony Music let Swanson go. Reid was being investigated internally after a former female assistant accused him of improper behavior and sexual harassment. In the hours after his departure was revealed, staff at Epic Records posted an image on Instagram declaring their love for their former boss. They were made to remove it, per Sony brass, say insiders.
Meanwhile, a source tells Billboard that Reid has been considering starting his own entertainment company, a move that might lure other Epic executives to follow him.
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