ArtsEd Announces Further Inquiry into 'Toxic Culture' Allegations

Barrister appointed following press reports about abuse

Arts Educational School on Bath Road

December 19, 2023

The ArtsEd School on Bath Road in Chiswick has announced that it is to launch another review of allegations and wider governance.

The move follows the emergence of new complaints following recent press reports about a ‘toxic culture’ at the school.

The Board of Trustees has instructed Ghazaleh Rezaie, a barrister from 12 Kings Bench Walk Chambers to conduct the investigation.

In a statement the ArtsEd says, “These are serious allegations and do not reflect our values or the organisation we want to be.”

It continues, “While it is up to Ms Rezaie to agree and finalise the Terms of Reference, we are keen that this investigation is as broad and inclusive as possible, and that people have the opportunity to make their voice heard. We are determined to establish a clear account of the events and identify lessons to be learned based on the findings.”

A previous investigation in 2021, also led by a barrister, found that the school had a ‘sexualised environment’ and that favouritism and bullying was rife with incidents reported dating back to 2009.

The report by Rebecca Tuck KC resulted in the resignation of the school’s principal Chris Tucking and the Board of Trustees implemented a range of safe-guarding measures including enhanced intimacy training and the firming up of complaints’ procedures.

An article written by Jake Kanter in the entertainment magazine Deadline this November, alleged that the changes had failed to end what he described as a ‘toxic’ culture within the school. He says he conducted a five-month investigation into the institution and based his article on written testimony of students and former staff as well as internal emails he had been shown.

It was claimed that the new Principal, Julie Spencer, who had been promoted from being the head of the School of Acting to implement the new procedures, could be ‘an erratic and occasionally intimidating leader’ who, according to some students, had created a culture of fear.

The ArtsEd responded to the article by saying, “Many of the complaints raised relate to historic matters that occurred prior to the Rebecca Tuck KC review in 2021. While we have been unequivocal in accepting the cultural and leadership failings that were identified in the Tuck review, we have also made considerable progress to put things right in the last two years.”

With regard to Ms Spencer, the school said that the changes she was required to implement in the school’s processes had brought her into conflict with some long-serving employees. One alleged case of bullying from this year was subject to an independent legal review which the school said found no evident of bullying or a toxic culture. The school attributes the apparently high turnover of senior staff since Ms Spencer’s appointment to the school’s ‘robust response’ to the Tuck review.

Julie Spencer was appointed Principal of the ArtsEd in 2021. Picture: ArtsEd

The Deadline article says that the majority of people they spoke to did not give evidence to the Tuck inquiry so their allegations are new.

According to Deadline most of the previous allegations of sexual misconduct at the school were made against Andrew Wright, an Olivier Award-nominated West End musical choreographer who worked at the Arts Ed on a freelance basis. Wright has been uncontactable since the allegations emerged in 2021 apparently abandoning what had been, up to that point, a successful career in musical theatre.

Ms Spencer, who had been at the ArtsEd only since 2019 and had not been associated with the School of Musical Theatre from which most of the abuse allegations had originated from, was seen as the best candidate to bring the institution into a new era.

However, Steven Kavuma, who led the ArtsEd’s foundation course, which was based off-campus at The Lyric Theatre, said that he raised concerns about student welfare twice before leaving last December.

He told Deadline, “I witnessed first-hand bullying towards students and teachers. I tried to challenge it within the school, but the principal would isolate you.

“I don’t think it is a safe environment to train. If students don’t feel comfortable challenging that within that school, if they feel fearful… I just don’t think that’s healthy at all. Some students felt like they had to be watching their backs constantly, they felt intimidated.”

ArtsEd says it has no record of Mr Kavuma making any complaints to HR.

Leanne Nagle, the front-of-house manager for ArtsEd’s theatre until 2021, claimed that Ms Spencer was forced to apologise to her in the presence of an HR representative after an incident in November 2019 in which two audience members had been admitted late to a production. On her departure from the ArtsEd, Ms Nagle says she wrote a letter to the trustees in which she complained about Ms Spencer’s behaviour, but the school says this was never received.

Deadline says that other concerns were raised about Ms Spencer’s appointment in 2021 which were reviewed by the trustees resulting in her agreeing to a personal action plan.

Issues have reportedly continued at the school this year with students holding lightening strikes over the issue of the use of discriminatory language.

It is not known if the additional complaints outlined in the Deadline article are the reason for the latest inquiry being launched or if new issues have been raised.

An independent email address has been set up for anybody that wants to contribute to Ms Rezaie’s investigation. enquiries@independent-investigation.com and the school is encouraging anybody, including all staff, students, parents and alumni to raise concerns they may have.

The investigation is to begin as soon as possible with interviews and evidence gathering in January 2024.

The schools says that it hopes this “plan demonstrates how serious we are about holding the institution to account and how we should be determined at all times, no matter how difficult, to judge ourselves against the highest standards.”