Pianist João Pedro Coelho was the target of 50 complaints from minors and women, who reported that he harassed, persecuted and/or raped them.
Almost 80 reports in just a few days mention sexual harassment of minors, rape, stalking and non-use of condoms without consent. The majority occurred in educational institutions and on social networks.
The recent of rape against the pianist João Pedro Coelhoby DJ Liliana Cunha, better known as Tágide, opened an authentic “Pandora’s box” within music in Portugal, more specifically in jazz.
After the DJ said that João Pedro Coelho took off the condom without consent, the musician and former teacher claims “complete innocence” and says he did not commit “sexual acts”, in a statement on his Instagram — which was however — but later DJ’s complaint, were attributed to the pianist another 50 complaints involving minors and women, who report that he harassed, stalked and/or raped them, according to the list that the newspaper consulted.
“João, his name, decided to lure me into a night of pleasure that ended up making me run away from Ajuda at 6 am completely stripped of disgust, dirt and sadness,” the DJ began writing on Instagram.
“His name cannot go unnoticed because I know he continues to apply the same tactics to other women” she further accused: “he has been reported and I suggest to all the women out there who have been victims of abuse to speak up and speak out”.
But the pianist, who until recently taught at several musical education institutions, including the prestigious Hot Clube — where he worked until the 2022/2023 academic year — is not the only one involved in the scandal: the pattern of abuse appears to be very present in the context of Portuguese jazz.
Liliana Cunha’s case seems to have been a catalyst: a total of 80 complaints of harassment, abuse and rape have emerged in recent days against 18 peoplemost of them musicians, after opening a reporting channel via email [email protected].
In addition to João Pedro Coelho, a second Hot Clube teacher, also removed from the school, was the target of five accusations of harassment and sexual assault.
The complaints include harassment of minors and crimes such as stalking (insistent stalking, usually online) and stealthing (act of not using a condom without the partner’s consent), in addition to sexual assault e violation.
Three of the 80 complaints have already been formalized with the Public Ministry and the Judiciary Police. These 80 still need to be added to the complaints made to the informal network via social media.
Many of the complaints originate, specifically, from educational institutions linked to this musical area. Many also mention a pattern of abuse of power by the most influential professionals. Occurrences are reported in educational institutions, but also through social networks, taking place in the last five years.
Reinforced reporting channels
After the wave of complaints, some educational institutions tried to strengthen their reporting channels.
The Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, linked to the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, created a management system for complaints in accordance with the General Regime for the Protection of Whistleblowers, established only in September 2023.
Hot Clube, where João Pedro Coelho previously taught, also implemented an anonymous reporting channel in September 2022, managed by an independent entity, a model considered a good practice to combat harassment.
However, both the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa and Hot Clube stated that they had not received any formal complaints through these channels.
At the National Conservatory, the procedure is different: complaints can be made to the ombudsman’s office or directly to the director, who has the obligation to forward the complaint to the competent authorities, in accordance with the rules applicable to public educational institutions.
