Country star Jimmie Allen’s label, BBR Music Group, has suspended him, following a lawsuit from an ex-manager alleging that he sexually assaulted her over a period of a year and a half working with him, and an investigative story in Variety expanding on the woman’s allegations.
“In light of today’s allegations against Jimmie Allen, BBR Music Group has decided to suspend all activity with him, effective immediately,” said a statement from the label.
Other action has been swift. Allen has been dropped as the commencement speaker for tomorrow’s Delaware State University’s 2023 graduation.
The country music industry was largely caught off-guard by the scandal, as many stars and top execs are in the Dallas, Texas area for the Academy of Country Music Awards, which begin at 7 pm. ET/4 ET. Allen was not booked as a performer for the show and was not up for any awards, although he won the best new male artist award in the past.
“Suspension” from a label can be a nebulous thing, as it turned out to be when Morgan Wallen was characterized as having been suspended from his label at the height of his racial epithet scandal, without there ever having been a public statement that he was back in good standing with the company, as radio raced to start playing him again after three months.
In Allen’s case, though, it’s clear that BBR is immediately dropping promotion of his new single, “Be Alright.” And there may be no hurry to restart that promotion, if Allen does remain on the label, since the song was off to a slow start at radio, mostly getting a handful of plays at stations in the overnight hours in its first few weeks of radio promotion.
With many from Allen’s label in Texas for the awards show, Variety was not able to immediately reach anyone from BBR for comment beyond the statement.