Live Nation has fired the executive point-blank. But, WTF? Welcome to the latest method for destroying a successful career in the music industry.
Just last week, London police confirmed the arrest of a London-based Live Nation executive. Live Nation also confirmed his firing. Other than that, everything is going great for this guy.
The charge? Using a pen camera to film up women’s skirts, among other voyeuristic offenses.
According to details released by Shropshire Star and subsequently the Evening Standard, 43 year-old Andrew Macrae used a pen camera to get shots of women’s private parts. The VP of finance & strategic initiatives was first spotted by an off-duty London police officer while riding the train.
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That led to a search of the executive’s home, which revealed further evidence of criminal activity.
Prosecutor Angela Mehadio offered this statement on the voyeuristic activity that started the investigation. This is what happened on a station platform and on a moving train in late July:
“He had a black laptop bag on the floor, which was zipped up, and a black pen with gold trim poking out of it. The defendant seemed to be changing the angle of the bag, which he had placed between the legs of a blonde female wearing a red summer dress.”
That was just the tip of the iceberg.
Macrae was also filming a neighbor and a houseguest, among other unsuspecting victims. In total, cops found a stash of approximately 49,000 images.
Macrae ultimately pled guilty seven total counts of ‘voyeurism for the purpose of sexual gratification’. In total, the voyeuristic activity spanned three years (though it likely stretched further).
Shitty, self-destructive stuff. All of which cost Macrae his job:
“We can confirm that these charges have been made against the individual personally and that he was terminated by Live Nation Entertainment in July 2017 following his arrest.
“Live Nation strongly condemns Macrae’s acts and is outraged by his offensive and criminal behavior which has no place at our company, city or the world at large.”
The incident comes at a difficult moment for gender relations in the entertainment industry. The Harvey Weinstein mega-scandal has already ripped apart a company, if not an entire Hollywood culture. That is causing ripples into the music industry as well, with predators like Macrae worsening the fallout.