A brand new lawsuit accuses Jared Gutstadt, a Los Angeles music publishing and podcast government who based the businesses Audio Up and Jingle Punks, of raping and assaulting certainly one of his firm’s songwriters.
In the lawsuit, filed Dec. 31 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Mary Koons (identified professionally as Scarlett Burke), alleges that Gutstadt subjected her to “years of psychological manipulation, bodily violence and sexual abuse.” Such claims embrace “repeated sexual assaults, together with rape”; intercourse trafficking; hindering skilled alternatives when she rejected his advances; and “stalking, harassment, intimidation and retaliation when Ms. Koons tried to distance herself from him.”
“I felt so disgusted and ashamed,” Koons stated in an interview, talking about her expertise with Gutstadt. “It was so troublesome to face as much as this particular person. It was as if he felt entitled to personal my total life and physique.
Representatives for Gutstadt declined to touch upon the lawsuit.
“We are pleased with our brave shopper, Scarlett Burke, for stepping ahead to forestall what she skilled by the hands of Mr. Gutstadt from occurring once more to a different younger artist,” stated Gabrielle Rosen Harvey, an lawyer with Filippatos PLLC, which is representing Koons.
Gutstadt rose to prominence within the music and audio trade with corporations promising profitable alternatives to rising songwriters and artists. He based Jingle Punks, a music library and movie and TV licensing firm, in 2008, and bought a majority stake to WME in an eight-figure deal in 2012. He launched Audio Up, a platform for musicians to put in writing and carry out screenplays. musical podcast, in 2020 with a $4.5 million funding from MGM and different traders. Audio Up has launched tasks with Miranda Lambert and Machine Gun Kelly, attracted investment from the Weeknd and collaborated with music publishing firm Anthem Entertainment.
Jared Gutstadt, often called “Jingle Jared”, photographed at his Mandeville Canyon compound in Los Angeles.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
Koons, an actress, singer-songwriter and mannequin, stated in her go well with that she met Gutstadt on the Peppermint Club in West Hollywood in 2017. Her firm inserted a tune she recorded into the Netflix collection “Girls Incarcerated,” and shortly “overwhelmed the Mrs. Koons with lavish items and gestures.” The two would then work on music podcast “Make It Up as We Go”, a collection a few fictional singer-songwriter harking back to “A Star Is Born.”
Koons claims in her lawsuit that, throughout a enterprise journey to Nashville in 2017, Gutstadt took her to his resort room and “forcibly grabbed her hand and positioned it on his penis,” the primary of a number of alleged assaults. “Because Mr. Gutstadt was deeply entrenched in each facet of Ms. Koons’ life, he exerted his management by continually threatening to destroy her profession,” the lawsuit reads.
In 2019, after a gathering during which Koons requested to renegotiate his contract, Koons claims in his lawsuit that “Mr. Gutstadt turned violent, hitting Ms. Koons, her canine and breaking her property.” That identical yr, after an argument in a Santa Barbara resort room, her lawsuit alleged that Gutstadt “violently tackled her to the ground, pinning her wrists to the mattress, leaving seen bruises.” Koons stated he would usually “barricade himself in a visitor room within the Audio Up advanced to flee Mr. Gutstadt,” however “in a drunken rage, Gutstadt would break in … and choose the lock.”
Koons claims in her lawsuit that Gutstadt sexually assaulted her in 2022 in Los Angeles after a recording session, when she claims she wakened with “Mr. Gutstadt on high of her, raping her in her sleep. When Ms. Koons realized what was occurring, she was paralyzed…till Mr. Gutstadt was performed, scared of what extra he may do to her. After confronting him, Koons claims Gustadt instructed her: “Shut up…nobody raped you.” She claims in her lawsuit that she was raped once more in a Pasadena resort room in 2023 earlier than an Audio Up songwriting retreat.
Koons lastly lower ties with Gutstadt and Audio Up this yr, and stated in her lawsuit that her PTSD from her time with him “permeates each facet of her life.”
“I had so many nightmares about it,” Koons stated in an interview. “I can not let you know all of the nervousness. I’m afraid to stroll my canine as a result of I’m nonetheless afraid he’ll harm me. But I’m attempting to determine who I’m with out this particular person ruining my life and my relationships. I began to recollect the particular person and songwriter I used to be earlier than I met him, and I need to be that particular person once more.
