Cathy Pellow, the proprietor of LA hard-rock label and administration firm Sargent House, is “stepping away from” her firm and shutting its administration facet after Henry Kohen of Mylets made a sequence of detailed allegations across the venue’s tradition. He additionally accuses Pellow herself of misogyny and verbal, emotional, and monetary abuse, amongst different issues.
In his video, Kohen accuses “venue owner and Sargent House regular” Graeme Flegenheimer of molesting him in 2015 when he was 19 and “still living at Sargent House.” Upon telling Pellow in regards to the incident, Kohen says “I was not taken seriously, met with essentially a shrug and an awkward laugh, and a few nights later I arrived to the house to find him back over as a dinner guest. Their professional and personal relationship remained intact for long after I had told Cathy.”
He provides: “In October 2013, when I was just 17, at a show in Chicago on my very first North American tour, Cathy took me aside and told me with the utmost gravity to never ever forget that the only reason anyone would ever pay attention or value my music was because of her.”
Kohen’s full assertion is under:
First I’d prefer to say thanks to the buddies, former/present SH artists and staff, and followers who’ve reached out to point out help and share their very own experiences. I want to be clear right here and acknowledge that Cathy has reached out to me privately, expressing curiosity round my earlier video. It is necessary to me that there’s an understanding that this challenge transcends any of my very own private experiences and that, even within the occasion that any of the next could also be misplaced reminiscences for Cathy, there may be an plain tradition and sample of habits that’s ingrained within the basis of Sargent House that must be addressed. I want to talk about two occurrences that I personally went by after which contact on the larger image.
In September 2015 after I was 19 and nonetheless residing in Sargent House I used to be molested by venue proprietor and Sargent House-regular Graeme Flegenheimer whereas attempting to kick him out of the home. I informed Cathy about this, about how he had lingered round after a celebration till everybody left and started asking me extraordinarily inappropriate questions, how he groped me and made passes at me after I refused to get right into a mattress with him, how he had climbed the entrance wall of the home to get again inside and looked for me after I locked him out, how he had then proceeded to ship me insulting and specific textual content messages all through that evening.
I used to be not taken significantly, met with basically a shrug and a clumsy snicker, and some nights later I arrived to the home to seek out him again over as a dinner visitor. Their skilled and private relationship remained intact for lengthy after I had informed Cathy. This was the impetus for me deciding to maneuver out of Sargent House, a transfer that might additionally lead away from my aspirations of getting a life centered round music. I had heard Cathy strongly and publicly condemn perpetrators and advocate for victims utilizing the Sargent House platform and the shortage of acknowledgement or motion totally contributed to my suppression and denial of what had occurred to me.
In October 2013, after I was simply 17, at a present in Chicago on my very first North American tour, Cathy took me apart and informed me with the utmost gravity to by no means ever overlook that the one motive anybody would ever concentrate or worth my music was due to her. I actually have by no means forgotten this! Later this identical evening, she would stroll throughout and harm my information and shirts with muddy sneakers and finally go on to name my Mom a cunt in entrance of the whole tour line-up, my dad and mom, and followers who had caught round.
I’m embarrassed to speak about both of those occasions they usually definitely should not the extent of my experiences, however I should exorcise them from my head and they’re additionally necessary in understanding the tradition surrounding Sargent House. I witnessed routine excessive degradation and verbal abuse of staff and artists, intentional belittling and manipulation resulting in rivalries and insecurities throughout the artist-base, blatant and even proudly misogynistic language surrounding the ‘acquisition’ of emotionally-vulnerable feminine artists, purposeful withholding of monetary data besides when making imprecise allusions to how indebted the artists had been to her, open disdain for the fan bases of bands, forceful and focused breaking of artists and worker’s private boundaries, and an all-encompassing technique of ‘othering’ that instilled a continuing feeling of paranoia.
I’ve no ambitions to ‘cancel’ Cathy, to close down Sargent House, no emotions of vindictiveness. What I’m asking for is for there to be an acknowledgement of previous behaviors to be able to guarantee any artists, staff, or followers that any such systematic therapy is not tolerable and that those that have been damage can get accountability with out the concern of getting to place themselves on the road legally or financially and with out having to revisit existentially embarrassing or hurtful occasions of their lives. Through the label’s constructed outward messaging and aesthetic, many individuals are drawn to hitch Sargent House whether or not as artists, staff, or devoted followers and I imagine these folks all deserve an impression constructed on good religion when contemplating pouring themselves right into a model.
In her assertion, Pellow apologizes to Kohen and “any past employees or artists who have been negatively impacted by my actions.” She provides: “I’ve been too oblivious and unaware of the harm that my behavior has caused, I know that doesn’t excuse the facts and I take responsibility for any pain I brought to those around me. I feel ashamed and am truly remorseful.”
Artists like Lingua Ignota, Chelsea Wolfe, and King Woman have all publicly lower ties with Pellow, noting through Instagram story that their severing ties occurred previous to Kohen’s video, which was posted about 5 days in the past.
Meanwhile, Brian Cook, who performs bass within the bands Russian Circles and Sumac, defended Pellow on Twitter, writing, “Cathy can be blunt and uncouth, but I’ve never witnessed anything warranting public outrage. Maybe I’m just lucky. Conversely, I’ve seen her routinely bail people out of bad situations. She’s housed people, paid medical bills, co-signed mortgages, talked people off of ledges.” He added in a prolonged thread, “I applaud people for being angry given the information they have at hand. But if I don’t know what’s actually going on, then consider that maybe you don’t have the full picture either. And I’m not casting stones until I know who I can actually trust in this mess.”