AUGUST 4, 2018 WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 47HAIR AND MAKEUP BY KIRSTY STRATE AT ENNIS. CARVELLO (3): COURTES
Y OF DOROTHY CARVELLO. TURNER: RON GALELLA/WIREIMAGE. JAGGER: S
ONIA MOSKOWITZ/IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES. TRUMP: TOM GATES/PICTORIA
L PARADE/ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES.
a man who gave Eric Clapton advice
and wrote Henry Kissinger letters. He
had everything I wanted, but unlike my
childhood, I wasn’t on the outside looking
in. I was in.
Then again, every day gave me
compelling reasons to get out. Ahmet ran
Atlantic like a dysfunctional family. He
created a world of extreme contradiction
that could go from fun and exciting one
moment to upsetting and abusive the
next. When you’re new at a job, especially
as a woman, you don’t know if you can
speak up. If you let the irst ofense go, it
becomes much harder to stop the secondone from happening. I didn’t know where
to draw the line, and I didn’t even know
that a line should or could be drawn. It
just seemed normal.
For instance: I’d been on the job a few
weeks when I stepped into the elevator
with two executives. Somehow, between
loors two and one, they pulled my skirt
down to the loor. When the elevator
doors opened, I faced the crowded lobby
in my panties. This was normal.
For instance: every day, senior vice
presidents under Doug Morris came into
my oice and bragged about how big theirdicks were, and how great it was going
to be for me if I fucked them. They’d
brag about each other’s dicks too. This
was normal.
For instance: many mornings I would
open Ahmet’s mail to ind Polaroid
pictures of him naked, performing various
sex acts with various women, along with
a letter threatening blackmail. This was
a rough way to start my day—Ahmet’s
body looked like a shriveled egg—but
for Ahmet, blackmail was as normal as
breakfast. It was part of his everyday life.
He had protocol for these packages—I’d
turn them over to a senior executive. Hewould call the girl and get her to sign a
nondisclosure agreement, then he’d pay
her of from a safe full of cash he kept
in his oice for just that purpose. This
was normal.
I didn’t question it. I wasn’t even
shocked—that’s the scary part. Right from
the start, I enabled this behavior. The men
called me “cunt,” “cunty-poo,” “blow
job.” It was against the rules, but again,
no one enforced the rules. That was just
how the world worked. I once went to a
lawyer, who advised me that if I sued for
harassment, I’d lose my job. Worse thanthat, I knew I’d be blackballed from the
entire business. Ahmet and his fellow
industry heads often disliked or even
hated each other, but they’d close ranks to
protect their dominion when necessary. I
saw male executives get erased that way;
who knows what they would have done to
a female secretary.
Ahmet made it all seem so natural. He
was like the snake in the Garden of Eden
charming me with that red, delicious
apple. He told me that men couldn’t
biologically control their sexual urges.
He told me that I couldn’t expect a man
to remain faithful. He told me that mygreatest bargaining chip as a woman was
my pussy. I believed it because I revered
him. I bit the apple.I
N THE SUMMER OF 198, AHMET
called me into his oice.
“Take a letter,” he said. “Dear Jew
motherfucker...”
“That’s what you want to say?” I looked
at him.
He thought for a moment.
“Okay, delete ‘Jew.’ ”1 Ertegun (second from right)
with Rolling Stone founder
Jann Wenner, Tina Turner and
producer Phil Spector (second,
third and fourth from left) at
t h e 1 9 8 9 Ro c k & Ro l l H a l l o f
Fame induction ceremony in
New York. 2 From left: Jon Bon
Jovi, Carvello and Sebastian
B a c h i n D a l l a s i n 1 9 8 9. 3 Fr o m
left: Ertegun, Mick Jagger, Pete
Townshend, Mick Taylor, Keith
Richards and Ronnie Wood at
t h e 1 9 8 9 Ro c k H a l l c e r e m o ny.
4 C a r ve l l o w i t h f o r m e r At l a n t i c
Records colleague Jason Flom
a t a 1 9 9 8 G r a m my Awa r d s p a r t y.
5 From left: Ertegun, Donald
Trump and Clive Davis circa- 6 From left: White Lion’s
Vito Bratta, Carvello and Steven
Ty l e r i n H o n o l u l u i n 1 9 8 8.
Every day, senior vice presidents under Doug Morris came into my office
and bragged about how big their dicks were, and how great it was going
to be for me if I fucked them. They’d brag about each other’s dicks too.
This was normal.
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