His statement continues, “Seven years ago, at a birthday party where guests were asked to come dressed as their favourite musical icon, I came as a member of Run DMC. Late last year rumours began to circulate about my appearance at that event, many of which are simply untrue.
“As a consequence of this, I readily agreed to disciplinary actions by my employer last year. Since then however, allegations surrounding the party have continued to be made against me. I have therefore come to the conclusion that I should make this statement and step down, with immediate effect.”
Warner, Atlantic Records’ parent company, issued the following statement: “Ben Cook is leaving Atlantic UK and this will be his last week in the office.” It has been revealed that Mark Mitchell, co-president of Parlophone, will replace Cook, on an interim basis.
Cook has served as Atlantic Records’ UK President for 12 years and was appointed president, in 2014. Cook has discussed how devastated he is: “that this mistake has caused upset and has called into question my commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion, values which I have championed throughout my career. I have learned a great deal from this event and will resolutely continue to champion these values moving forward.”
Cook started his career at Ministry of Sound, where he was behind some chart-topping hits such as Eric Prydz’s multi-platinum ‘Call On Me’ and Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’.
After joining, Asylum, an Atlantic subsidiary, in 2007, he worked with Wiley, which saw him take hits like ‘Wearing My Rolex’ to number two. Cook also helped build the careers for some of today’s biggest stars, including Rudimental, Charli XCX and Anne-Marie. Along with Ed Howard, Cook also signed Ed Sheeran to an album deal, in January 2011, after noting how the star’s No. 5 Collaborations Project EP had reached number two in the iTunes charts as an independent release.
Cook’s seven-year tenure as president of Atlantic Records saw the label’s share of the UK album market increase to 7.9%, which is in no small part due to Sheeran’s success. The label was also home to big-sellers by Bruno Mars, Clean Bandit and Migos.
