Kirt Webster, Country’s Most Prolific Publicist, Accused of Sexual Assault by Former Artist
***UPDATE: Webster Public Relations Closes After Numerous Sexual Assault Claims against CEO Kirt Webster***
Kirt Webster, who is the President and CEO of the prolific Webster Public Relations firm based in Nashville, has been accused of sexual assault and molestation by a former artist. In great detail, Austin Rick, who performed under the name Austin Cody in the late oughts, has enumerated numerous instances where he says Kirt Webster sexually assaulted him, in part with promises that he could help further Rick’s career if he complied, and bribed and intimidated Rick to keep the behavior quiet.
The allegations first surfaced via Facebook on October 27th as part of the “#metoo” movement.
“My name is Austin, and I know that men don’t talk about these things as often, but I have been victimized by a very powerful businessman over the period of a year. I didn’t know what to do and how to say no, because he held such power over my music career and overtly reminded me of it,” the Facebook statement said in part.
“In 2008, Kirt Webster, the CEO of the powerful ‘Webster Public Relations’ did terrible, terrible things to me,” Rick’s statement continues. “He sexually assaulted me repeatedly, he drugged and sexually violated me, he offered me publicity opportunities and magazine columns in exchange for sexual acts. He paid me to keep my mouth shut. And he did everything under threat that he’d make sure nobody in the industry ever heard my name again. It took me a year to escape from him and get away to where he couldn’t find me or reach me any longer — although he still continued to harass me via phone and text messages.”
Austin Rick says he decided to come out publicly to expose the type of behavior he was subject to in hopes it would not happen to others in the future, while finding some sense of relief for himself.
The importance, power, and the magnitude of Webster Public Relations and Kirt Webster in country music and beyond cannot be understated. Above the large stable of artists Webster Public Relations represents in music—including legends like Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Tanya Tucker, more contemporary artists such as Kid Rock, Justin Moore, and William Michael Morgan, and artists outside of country such as Cyndi Lauper and Kenny G—Kirt Webster is seen as a significant power player in Nashville. He was the recipient of the British Country Music Awards “International Services To Industry Award” in 2016, as well as other industry distinctions over the last decade.
Webster Public Relations especially has a heavy presence among older, more traditional country artists. It is not unusual, for example, for Saving Country Music to receive half a dozen press releases from Webster Public Relations daily. It is arguably the biggest, most active public relations firm in all of country music, with the motto “Perception Is Reality.” Just a selected list of artists represented by Webster Public Relations includes:
• Aaron Lewis • Bellamy Brothers • Big & Rich • Bill Anderson • Billy Ray Cyrus • Bradley Walker • Brenda Lee • Charlie Daniels • Charlie Pride • Collin Rate • Confederate Railroad • Craig Wayne Boyd • Conway Twitty (estate) • Crystal Gayle • Cyndi Lauper • Deborah Allen • Denny Strickland • Dolly Parton • Don McLean • Don Williams (estate) • Exile • Frank Foster • Gary Morris • Gene Watson • Hank Williams Jr. • Jake McVey • Janie Fricke • Jared Blake
• Jennie Seely • Jimmy Fortune • John Anderson • John Conlee • John Michael Montgomery • Johnny Lee • Justin Moore • Kenny Rogers • Kentucky Headhunters • Kid Rock • Lee Greenwood • Leroy Van Dyke • LoCash • Lorrie Morgan • Lucas Hoge • Mark Chesnutt • Moe Bandy • Olivia Lane • Ray Scott • Rhonda Vincent • Rodney Carrington • Roy Clark • Sam Moore • T. Graham Brown • Tanya Tucker• TG Sheppard • The Judds • The Oak Ridge Boys • Wanda Jackson • Williams Michael Morgan
A representative of Kirt Webster has released a statement, admitting a consensual relationship between Austin Rick and Webster, but denying all other allegations.
“As a single adult, Mr. Webster has had multiple relationships over the course of his professional life, all of which have been consensual,” says the statement. “This includes a brief relationship with Mr. Rick. It saddens Mr. Webster that nine years later, after Mr. Rick’s music career has been stagnant, Mr. Rick has taken the opportunistic approach of mischaracterizing that relationship and posting untrue allegations.”
However in detailed statements to The Nashville Scene‘s Steve Cavendish first published Tuesday (10-31) afternoon, Austin Rick goes into more specific detail about a total of three instances when he claims Kirt Webster sexually assaulted him, and insists it is not for publicity and he has no desire to re-enter the country music industry.
“I started working with Kirt, and before I knew it, it didn’t take long before I was trapped in a hellhole that I could not get out of,” Austin Rick tells The Nashville Scene. “I trusted him completely, and he wanted to make me a star just long enough to sexually molest and abuse me. And I remember one time he told me, ‘I want there to be fireworks in your career, but only if there’s fireworks between us.’ And that was like pretty early on in our relationship.”
Austin Rick also accounts an instance where he went to a party at Webster’s house, and while in a hot tub, had his genitals fondled by Webster, later waking up in Webster’s bed with Webster kissing him. “I know I was sexually assaulted, I don’t know if I was raped,” Rick says. “When I woke up in his bed, I knew after that I had to leave.”
There was another incident where Austin Rick says he was forced to strip naked so Webster could judge if Rick was capable of posting in Playgirl Magazine. “I had to strip naked so he could give me a blow job,” he says.
Rick, a native of Maryland, moved to Nashville in 2008 to pursue a career in country music, leaving after about a year. He worked briefly with producer Brett Beavers, opening shows for Big & Rich, Jason Aldean, Gretchen Wilson and Trace Adkins among others, and performed on the Grand Ole Opry. But then Rick “escaped” after his experiences with Kirt Webster, and has never attempted to pursue a musical career again.
Austin Rick worked briefly in law enforcement after leaving Nashville before joining the Army. He was discharged from active service after injuring his knee in a training exercise. Rick then attended the College of Southern Maryland, graduating with a 4.0 GPA, and then attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina, writing his thesis was on the sociology of religion, and graduating this spring.
Austin Rick insists he has no desire to get back into country music now, and this is far from a publicity stunt. He claims that since his experience in Nashville, he has overdosed and attempted suicide numerous times. “I just need people to truly know what actually happened to me down there, during that time.”
October 31, 2017 @ 6:31 pm
NOTE: Comments here will be VERY heavily screened and moderated, with any comments off topic, homophobic in nature, or excessively political being deleted or edited.
Thank you.
October 31, 2017 @ 9:36 pm
Power is a disease when the wrong person has it.
October 31, 2017 @ 6:48 pm
Very, very sad if true.
October 31, 2017 @ 6:59 pm
I won’t be surprised if there are tons more stories like this in country. Best wishes for him.
October 31, 2017 @ 7:04 pm
I hope that if this is true, he is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
October 31, 2017 @ 7:07 pm
Truth is this happens everyday, everywhere, in every industry. Regardless of the veracity of these specific allegations (& I would be true), I am 100% sure that sexual assault has occurred many times, and committed by many people within country music.
Katie Armiger is another who has alleged sexual assault. And Billboard ran an article today featuring this quote from Pete O’Heeren “”I’m sorry…I don’t think any of this it [sic] out of line. We are trying to show you what others are doing in the market. If that makes you uncomfortable, I’m very sorry…but that’s the market you operate in. You can choose to accept our advice or not. Taylor Swift hugged and kissed these guys…so did Kellie Pickler and Kelsea Ballerini…if you choose not to, then that’s up to you and your career will be impacted. Advising you to dress edgy is not out of line either. It’s no different than Luke Bryan wearing tight pants and shaking his ass for the girls…or Chase Rice wearing muscle shirts…or Miranda [Lambert] losing weight and wearing bustiers and plunging neckline shirts…it’s all the same. The audience and the PDs need to find you alluring…it’s my advice. I can’t…and won’t force you to do any of these things…but I spend a lot of time assessing the competition and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t advise you of this. NONE of this is out of line.”
In which sexual harassment/assault is just what you have to endure if you want to make it in the business, no biggy
October 31, 2017 @ 7:48 pm
The fact that women have to hug up and kiss PDs is absolutely nauseating. I can give some leeway when it comes to advising on fashion/Look but having to get physical with these men to get ahead is criminal.
October 31, 2017 @ 7:17 pm
Looks like the flood gates are open now. If it’s true, let’s hope it shines a brighter light on the seedy side of the entertainment industry.
October 31, 2017 @ 7:17 pm
I heard a high profile publicist was going to be revealed today for this. I don’t know him and have no idea if these charges are true. As with everyone who’s being accused, I’m willing to hear both sides of the story in every case. This seems big from some of the people I know who have talked about it today.
October 31, 2017 @ 9:24 pm
The public is often not privy to the work of publicists. Like managers and booking agents, their work is mostly behind-the-scenes. But as someone who deals with scores of publicists on a daily basis, I cannot emphasize to you how significant Kirt Webster and Webster Public Relations is from the expanse of their roster, and the amount of publicist copy they release. They are a huge, huge entity in the country music space.
October 31, 2017 @ 9:35 pm
I know, I am a publicist, I just don’t know him personally but I know people who do.
October 31, 2017 @ 9:47 pm
I just want to emphasize, not necessarily to you, but to everyone, how serious this matter is for country music. Most fans have no clue who Kirt Webster is, and it may be easy to say, “Eh, some behind-the-scene exec was a perv, so what?” This firm is massive, and represents many of the artists, especially traditional country artists, that are covered on Saving Country Music and dozens of other sites and periodicals on a daily basis.
October 31, 2017 @ 9:56 pm
If he is guilty. It is still not a certainty yet and that was my point. I don’t think anyone is saying oh who cares.
November 1, 2017 @ 6:10 am
Actually, just by saying, “If he is guilty…” or “If it turns out to be true…” creates a tone that you really just don’t care about the seriousness of the situation. As most people know, commenters will think antagonizing the seriousness of situation is a fun thing to do. They don’t get enough attention…etc. The victim has to prove it and the accused waits and see if it can be proved and/or they are seen as credible. If you’re going to take the innocent until proven guilty stance here…. well, what you must be thinking about victims…. is well just kinda…
November 5, 2017 @ 7:12 pm
Hugh, it is not fair to either of them until proof is brought forth. Innocent until proven guilty is a pain to some victims, but we have all seen enough victims of lies and depict to know that we can not judge the accused until there is ample evidence.
We have all seen multiple instances of people lying about rape, and injustice just to get back at someone, or for the fame. I am not saying that this situation is that, I am just pointing out that until there is evidence of either fact that we should not be judging anyone, but instead hoping for truth/evidence to come forth to prove which party is lying.
October 31, 2017 @ 7:17 pm
Who was not been accused of sexual assault?
October 31, 2017 @ 7:51 pm
I agree. Seems like a lot of bandwagon jumping going on. The whole Kevin Spacey thing just seems ridiculous. Why go public now with something that supposedly happened 31 years ago? What is the point of that?
October 31, 2017 @ 8:11 pm
It is ridiculous. I have a real problem with internet kangaroo courts.
October 31, 2017 @ 9:20 pm
The nightmares that haunt a victim of sexual assault know no statute of limitations. In fact they are a burden that victims must carry to their graves, often with very real consequences throughout their lives from feelings of shame, fear, and personal guilt that affect them sometimes every single day. Often these are the same reasons they’re compelled to stay quiet for so long. But there is safety in numbers, and perhaps with so many other people coming out publicly, it is giving people the confidence to share their stories in hopes to unburden their souls, and perhaps prevent it from happening to someone else.
For all we know at this point, the accusers are making these accusations up. However to assume that someone would make up a sexual assault story to “bandwagon” when such accusations also often come with heavy judgement from the public, I think is quite, quite presumptuous.
November 1, 2017 @ 6:42 am
“Presumptuous. That’s a good thing, right? Is it a bad thing? Lucas? Son of a bitch, is it a bad thing?”
November 1, 2017 @ 3:02 pm
Ha! Just finished season 2 last night.
October 31, 2017 @ 10:16 pm
People who haven’t sexually assaulted anyone. And probably the vast majority of people who have.
October 31, 2017 @ 10:47 pm
Take a look at the comment thread on this NashvilleScene article from 2012. You’ll find that Mr. Rick is far from alone.
http://www.nashvillescene.com/music/article/13041745/grascals-file-suit-against-head-of-music-row-pr-firm
November 1, 2017 @ 8:39 am
Holy Cow.
October 31, 2017 @ 10:47 pm
No comment.
November 1, 2017 @ 12:34 am
Nashville’s WSMV reports that four people have came forward alleging sexual assault from Webster, and three others allege that Webster asked them to watch porn with him in a work environment.
http://www.wsmv.com/story/36730213/man-accuses-nashville-publicist-of-sexual-assault-publicist-denies-allegations
November 1, 2017 @ 1:48 am
Bunch of Canadians.
November 1, 2017 @ 3:39 am
“Bunch of Canadians”? I’m not sure what you’re referring to Kevin Wortman. I didn’t see any mention of Canadians anywhere in this story. Not that it would matter. Sexual assault is wrong no matter what a persons nationality is.
November 1, 2017 @ 5:33 am
Its sad that people can say things like “why wait so long to say something?” Nobody knows what a person of sexual assault has gonna through mentally trying to come to grasp with what has happened to them. Its even harder for a male victim. Even if the monster is found guilty, The victims will live with this for the rest of their lives. They live their lives now in fear, not trusting anyone, and hiding. Praying for justice! No man or woman should be above the law and Mr. Webster should pay for his actions of ruining not one but multiple peoples lives!
November 1, 2017 @ 6:46 am
This makes me sick to my stomach so much that I hope it’s not true. No wonder he left the industry completed and pursued a different career path if this is true.
November 1, 2017 @ 7:01 am
Hopefully with all this going public recently, more and more people will come out and there will be a sort of cultural shift where victims can speak out right away, be taken serious, and not have to worry about repercussions (financial, career, reputation, etc.). They’re is obviously something wrong when powerful people can get away with this multiple times with multiple people and even multiple occasions with the same person. You would think in a normal world, somebody would cross the line once and be held accountable. Unfortunately, when a lot of these large companies have someone that’s profitable or important to the company (like Fox News with Bill O’Reily), the company actually works against the victims to protect the assaulter. I don’t know if that happened in this case but it definitely happened at Fox News. In that type of culture, it makes it nearly impossible for one unknown victim to get any kind of justice and that needs to change. Hopefully we’re making improvements with all this staying in the forefront and people who have been taking advantage of others because of their higher status continue to fall. “And when you’re a star…you can do anything, grab them by the…” 🙁
November 1, 2017 @ 7:40 am
Sticking to what is presumably verifiable, Austin C. Rick was an adult when Brett Beavers introduced Austin to Kirt Webster.
As a mutual acquaintance, Beavers would be the likely person for Austin Rick to seek out at the first sign that Rick’s “complete trust” in Webster was misplaced.
If readers are to believe Austin’s allegations, as a member of country music’s privileged class (i.e., Rick is a white- I would guess Protestant- male) what was Rick’s responsibility to himself and other potential “victims” at the time? (Austin says he is only now “speaking out in hopes of preventing someone else from having the same experience.”)
If the first of the three incidents Rick alleges occurred the way he describes them, then why didn’t Austin sever all ties to Kirt at that point? Why would a feature in Playgirl (a magazine that, by the time it first folded in print form, had long since lost its luster as brown paper-wrapped “adult entertainment for women,” finding its subscriber base was overwhelmingly gay men in an era prior to the advent specialty publications Out & About) be seen as a ticket to the big time in 2009 on homophobic Music Row? (Remember the Record Row backlash when Chely Wright came out in 2010?)
Austin says “I know I was sexually assaulted, I don’t know if I was raped” by Kirt, yet Rick writes his Facebook “friends” that Webster “sexually assaulted me repeatedly, he drugged and sexually violated me. He offered me publicity opportunities… in exchange for sexual acts. He paid me to keep my mouth shut.”
If true, Rick has obviously not kept his part of the bargain.
In any event, Austin should not cede to Kirt, nor anyone else, the power to make Rick feel like “less than a whole human being,” nor depend upon his Facebook “friends” for “validation that I am still a worthwhile person.”
Disclaimer: I have known Kirt Webster professionally since the inception of Webster PR. I had never heard Austin Rick’s name before reading Steve Cavendish’s article. I have been telling my #MeToo truths for years (most recently at http://stacyharris.com/musicrowreport.html) as well as writing the stories of others (http://stacyharris.com/adultery.html), so I am not about blaming victims.
Even with all of that there is no comparison between the limited options I had when I was a young Jewish woman, of Austin’s age when he arrived on Music Row, trying to make my way (when my formal education was, in and of itself, a handicap costing me a potential job at WSM Radio) and the ones he has always had by virtue of the factors I’ve previously cited.
The best ways to help others who have been bullied are to remember that an accusation is simply that, if no further action on the part of an accuser is taken, that if you see something, say something and learn and spread the word about statutes of limitation.
Stacy Harris Publisher/Executive Editor Stacy’s Music Row Report http://stacyharris.com
November 1, 2017 @ 7:59 am
So what you’re saying is, it was ok because he was an adult?
You’re sick.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:19 am
No, it was okay because siding against Kirt Webster would be bad for her career.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:49 am
“If readers are to believe Austin’s allegations, as a member of country music’s privileged class (i.e., Rick is a white- I would guess Protestant- male) what was Rick’s responsibility to himself and other potential “victims” at the time?”
You’ve got to be kidding. Questioning his motives, doubting his statements, playing the victim yourself (“the limited options I had when I was a young Jewish woman”), and the jaw-dropping statement that “Rick has obviously not kept his part of the bargain” by remaining silent after receiving intimidation money after getting raped…you’re blaming the victim, despite your last-paragraph attempt to deny it. It’s enablers like you that allow this (and other) industries to perpetuate these kinds of acts by these kinds of scumbags, and if you can’t see that, it’s better off without you.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:12 am
The best way to help others is to stop flaunting your business in stories about other people’s sexual assault. You are shameless.
November 7, 2017 @ 3:07 am
Congratulations, Stacy Harris. Your comment just took the top spot as the most self-important, condescending, victim-shaming, bass-ackwards, egotistical post of 2017… which is no small feat, considering the absolute shit show this year has been. I am now dumber for having read your attempt to vilify how and when a victim of sexual assault chooses to tell their story.
Bless your heart.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:37 am
I’m just going to speak in general with all the accusations flying around.
If someone drugs you, physically forces you, and rapes you then that’s fucked up. Now, If you’re sucking dick or bending over and taking it in hopes in advancing your career (assuming you’re adult) well then isn’t that a choice? It’s hard to say which is which in these stories because we weren’t there. Yea and the other issue would be a culture of sex favors going on. These are tough to weigh in on. All we can do is form conjectures.
November 1, 2017 @ 12:38 pm
Good points. I’ve known people who would be willing to exchange sexual favors for promotions in industries as mundane as retail home improvement, so the idea that there are aspiring entertainers who would be perfectly willing to hop on the “casting couch” to improve their chances of hitting it big. I don’t condone this behavior, but as long as all parties involved are consenting adults I’m willing to file it away in the “none of my business” category.
I think the problems tend to arise – cases of overt sexual assault aside, and I know they take place – when the prospective star is willing to go only so far but is coerced to go farther with threats that their previous indiscretions will be exposed if they don’t, or when a “suit” is perfectly happy to take advantage of someone’s willingness to do “whatever it takes” despite the fact that the person simply doesn’t have the talent to make it with all the help in the world.
Again, situations where someone is forced to perform acts against their will, with or without the use of drugs or alcohol, are always wrong, but in many cases there’s a lot of gray area between knowing what they’re getting into and being taken advantage of. And without being their, it’s hard to tell where the particular situation lies.
November 1, 2017 @ 2:45 pm
um no, since sucking dick isn’t on the job description for country musician (now yes if you wanted to be a porn star, then it is part of the job description). You shouldn’t need to worry about getting fired because you won’t pleasure them sexually. In fact, it’s illegal.
November 1, 2017 @ 3:38 pm
It falls under quid quo pro harassment and is illegal.
November 2, 2017 @ 11:56 am
True, but not really relevant. These people aren’t moving to Nashville (or New York or LA or wherever) to uphold the principles of truth, justice, and the American way; they want to be stars.
So while they should, when faced with these situations, immediately leave the building and go to the police, most of them aren’t going to.
November 2, 2017 @ 1:02 pm
The police isn’t the place to go. They need a civil rights attorney. They need evidence and witnesses, or it’s his word against his word. Unchecked anger and vengeful motives are immediately projected onto the victim by citizens. Southern states have the worst record for caring about sexual harassment btw, this would be a breakthrough.
November 3, 2017 @ 10:15 am
Correction: they don’t need evidence. They just need witnesses. Witnesses present or witnesses of the behavior in general. But again, it’s the South. You can have an airtight case, but the judge doesn’t even have to agree with the jury. If it wasn’t homo eroto-violent it wouldn’t even see the light of day. Interesting… the cats dragged home a turkey this time! So many delicious ways to cook it up. It’s a real Thanksgiving feast.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:01 am
As of November 1st, Webster Public Relations is no longer in business.
http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/11/01/kirt-webster-powerful-nashville-music-exec-shutters-firm/821453001/
November 1, 2017 @ 2:15 pm
None of this surprises me. The little I know of Kirt Webster, (because from first meeting him I thought he was an ass) I would be surprised if there isn’t a lot more that is going to come out. Couldn’t happen to a “nicer” guy. Karma my friend, karma.
November 1, 2017 @ 6:53 pm
Update:
Webster as a name is gone – the company is rebranded into Westby PR, Kirk Webster’s business partner Jeremy Westby taking over. Kirk Webster is out of the company (for now).
Scott Adkins, a publicist with Webster left the company as of today and founded his own PR firm, I’m sure he will be able to welcome some defecting clients.
I also was asked by some people what the PR company does – basically, they are middlemen in between the journalist/writer, radio (not for airplay but for interviews), TV show on one side and the artist, his/her management as well as the record company on the other side, trying to make sure that the brand’s message is constant. It used to be handled by the managements of the different artists and their record companies, but with the surge of new media, PR outlets for artists started to pop up in the 90s. Some of these PR companies are also pro-active in organizing shows with high publicity, Webster, for instance, had a benefit concert at Billy Bob’s in DFW for a police foundation after the slaying of several police officers in Dallas. Even though money is raised for a good cause it also benefits artists to appear in the media, who else may not have any major radio airplay anymore.
November 3, 2017 @ 10:00 pm
Trigger, do you think this tidal wave of Hollywood execs, Nashville execs, DC bigwigs, etc might Shepherd in the kind of music that people like us on this site have been waiting for? I’m hopeful that these perverted gatekeepers of these industries being exposed leads to true talent getting their due. I’d be interested to get your take.
December 21, 2021 @ 11:36 pm
Here’s an open opportunity for the anonymous keyboard cowards to concede that this update might provide some knowledge of where the truth lies.
December 21, 2021 @ 11:45 pm
Correction (an additional links to the update referenced above):
https://issuu.com/musicrowreport/docs/kirt_webster.docx
Sourced, factual corrections to the update itself are welcome,