Nashville PR Giant Steps Back After Sexual Assault Claim Emerges

UPDATED (5 PM): A spokesman for Kirt Webster said his eponymous firm will now bear the name of his long-time associate Jeremy Westby. Westby Public Relations will continue the work of Webster PR as Kirt Webster takes time "to focus on combating the egregious and untrue allegations made against him."

A message on Webster's web site that said the firm was out of business has been removed.

As previously reported:

NASHVILLE, TN — Powerful Nashville public relations firm Webster PR shut down Wednesday days after sexual assault allegations were levied against CEO and president Kirt Webster, a man with a reputation as a star-marker in the country music industry.

In an one-sentence statement posted on the company's website, the firm said it is "no longer in business." Friday, Austin Rick, a former country-music hopeful, wrote a Facebook post alleging that Kirt Webster sexually assaulted "repeatedly" in 2008.

"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," Rick wrote.

Metro Police sex crimes detectives have reached out Rick, according to MNPD spokesperson Kris Mumford.

Webster represented a number of high-profile clients, including Dolly Parton, Kid Rock, Charlie Daniels, Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams Jr., Cyndi Lauper and Brenda Lee. Webster worked in PR for more than three decades and opened his Nashville firm in 1996.

Through a spokesman, Webster denied the allegations, saying “As a single adult, Mr. Webster has had multiple relationships over the course of his professional life, all of which have been consensual. 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."

In an interview with the Nashville Scene, Rick, who also performed under the name Austin Cody, gave further details of the alleged assault (some of the language is graphic) and said in the time since he left Nashville, he has attempted suicide and overdosed. He also shared what he said were text messages from Webster sent as recently as this year. The Tennessean spoke to 10 former Webster PR employees who detailed a "culture of harassment."

Webster was a director-at-large for the Academy of Country Music, a board member of the T.J. Martell Foundation and a member of the Country Music Association and the International Entertainment Buyer's Association.

CEO/President of Webster PR Kirt Webster speaks onstage during the NATD Honors Gala on November 9, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for NATD)