The president of Life or Death PR, Nick Dierl, had quite the wake-up call last week when he was asked for commentary about the Heathcliff Berru sexual assault allegations. The controversy started with a string of tweets from Dirty Projector's Amber Coffman that accused the CEO of Life or Death, Berru, with inappropriate sexual behavior. In a new interview, the executives of Life or Death PR weigh in on the controversy and the future of the company.
Dieri said in an interview with Billboard, “I then asked Heathcliff about the validity of the Amber story, and he told me that he was ‘blackout drunk’ that night,” Life or Death PR president Nick Dierl said. “I couldn’t judge Heathcliff’s level of sincerity either.”
Immediately following Berru’s lackluster explanation for the allegations, the rest of the PR staff collectively agreed that that Berru needed to be eliminated as CEO. Berru did not fight the decision and agreed to leave the company permanently in a phone call with Dierl. Shortly after Life or Death drafted a statement with an attorney and released it to tell others in the music industry that Berru had resigned.
We are saddened by the circumstances under which we are departing but are grateful for the opportunity we had together.
— Nick X Dierl (@nickdierl) January 20, 2016
There will be a new venture imminently that bears no ties to Heathcliff Berru or the Life or Death name. — Nick X Dierl (@nickdierl) January 20, 2016
Berru also released a statement calling himself an addict and saying that he will no longer be a part of the music industry as he seeks treatment for drug and alcohol dependence.
The company believed the allegations against Berru and agreed to leave the company together, effectively disbanding it, so that Berru could not profit from any monetary benefits made. Shortly after, they released a statement to inform the industry that the company was dissolved and would be reforming as Liberal Arts.
“We are saddened by the circumstances under which we are departing, but grateful for the opportunity we had together,” Dierl said in a statement. “There will be a new venture imminently that bears no ties to Heathcliff Berru or the Life or Death name.”
Liberal Arts will include Dierl, Duncan Will, Bradley Bledsoe, Emily Mullen and Linda Valenziano.
Life or Death decided to dissolve the company when clients Wavves, DIIV, Beach Fossils, Kelela, Speedy Ortiz and Wet asserted that they would cease working with the company due to the sexual assault allegations. The original allegations against Berru were made by Coffman as well as Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast accused Berru of either drugging or sexually assaulting them.
