Sony dismissed Epic Records’ executive VP of media and strategic development Laura Swanson Thursday (May 18), sources told Billboard, a week after the Epic CEO L.A. 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.
Her departure was the first from Epic since Reid’s. Sony declined to comment. Reid hasn’t issued a statement since he left the company last week, nor has he commented 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. One person in Reid’s camp has disputed the accuracy of the letter; Sony confirmed Reid’s departure Saturday without an explanation.
Reid has been considering starting his own entertainment company, a source tells Billboard, a move that might lure other Epic executives to follow him.