The founder of Jingle Punks and Audio Up Media, Jared Gutstadt, faces serious allegations of sexual assault in a newly filed lawsuit by singer-songwriter and actor Mary Koons, who is also known professionally as Scarlett Burke. In her claims, Koons describes a distressing pattern in which Gutstadt allegedly manipulated her for years, entrapping her in a cycle of abuse, exploitation, and emotional manipulation, which she argues has had lasting effects on her personal and professional life.

The legal complaint, lodged in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday (Dec. 31), outlines a series of disturbing allegations against Gutstadt. Koons accuses him of coercing her into a sexual relationship by making false promises about advancing her career. The lawsuit details how he allegedly sexually and physically assaulted her, while also isolating her from potential professional opportunities unless she complied with his various demands. The claims further allege that he engaged in a pattern of stalking, harassment, and intimidation when she attempted to escape his control, which resulted in significant financial and professional damage to her life.

Both Audio Up and Anthem Entertainment, the former parent company of Jingle Punks founded by Gutstadt in 2008, are named as defendants in the case. The lawsuit asserts that these entities played a role in facilitating Gutstadt’s control over Koons by maintaining significant financial authority and decision-making power over her professional prospects, particularly concerning her employment and contractual obligations with Jingle Punks. This control allegedly contributed to a toxic environment that hindered her career growth.

The initial report of these allegations came from the Los Angeles Times, shedding light on a deeply troubling situation within the entertainment industry.

Jared Gutstadt is particularly well-known for establishing Jingle Punks and launching Audio Up, a podcast network that debuted in 2020. In 2015, Anthem (then ole Music Publishing) acquired Jingle Punks, leading to Gutstadt’s departure four years later. Notably, in July, a joint venture was announced between Anthem and Gutstadt, allowing Audio Up to develop scripted podcasts utilizing some of the intellectual property assets created during his time at Jingle Punks. October saw Jingle Punks’ acquisition by Slipstream, a music licensing firm, which is not named as a defendant in the ongoing lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, which is filed by Los Angeles-based attorney Samuel Brown at Hennig Kramer, alongside Parisis Filippatos, Tanvir Rahman, and Gabrielle Rosen Harvey from a New York firm, Koons claims her encounter with Gutstadt began in 2017 when she was 27 and he was 39. Over several years, she alleges she experienced a continuous cycle of psychological manipulation, physical violence, and sexual abuse, leading to severe emotional trauma. The complaint states that this cycle established an atmosphere where she felt compelled to comply with his sexual demands to avoid dire consequences.

Koons recounts that she first met Gutstadt in May 2017 at the Peppermint Club in West Hollywood, where his band, The Jingle Punks Hipster Orchestra, had a residency. She alleges that he immediately became fixated on her and later had his assistant reach out to her manager to set up a meeting. In the following weeks, Gutstadt reportedly began a calculated grooming process, inundating her with messages about exciting career prospects and inviting her to dinners with influential music and television executives. He also brought her on trips to Nashville and Lake Tahoe, framing them as collaborative opportunities under the pretext of working on music projects for Jingle Punks’ then-parent company, ole Music.

Within just a week of their first meeting, Koons alleges that Gutstadt asked her to record “Let the Dice Roll,” a song intended for the Netflix series Girls Incarcerated. This request marked the beginning of her employment with Jingle Punks, which she claims led to her being entrapped in his manipulative control. After Netflix acquired the song, she alleges that Gutstadt paid her only $500, a sum she describes as a blatant underpayment that failed to reflect her significant contributions to the project. This incident is indicative of the broader issues of exploitation she faced during her time working with him.

The lawsuit describes the first instance of alleged abuse occurring around June 2017, following an invitation from Gutstadt to a dinner featuring several prominent music executives. After he drove her home, Koons recounts that he began to pressure her for a kiss. When she consented to a peck on the cheek, he deceived her by turning his head at the last moment to kiss her on the lips, a manipulation that set a troubling tone for their interactions.

The following month, Koons was invited by Gutstadt to Nashville for a week of writing sessions with him and his team. During this trip, she alleges that she was accommodated in a dilapidated motel located along the interstate, a significant distance from the upscale hotel where Gutstadt was staying. Feeling unsafe, she requested a room change, but instead of being offered her own space, she claims he coerced her into sharing his room. That night, she alleges that Gutstadt sexually assaulted her by forcibly placing her hand on his genitals and ignoring her pleas for him to stop, marking a horrific turning point in her experience.

In the months that followed, Koons claims that Gutstadt inundated her with extravagant gifts and opportunities while simultaneously isolating her from those who could provide support, including her manager. Her manager, along with others, recognized the troubling dynamics at play and attempted to help her distance herself from Gutstadt, but their efforts were met with resistance.

Over a period of seven and a half years, Koons alleges that Gutstadt employed a range of manipulative tactics that facilitated an abusive sexual relationship. In August 2017, she joined him for a Jingle Punks retreat in Lake Tahoe, where he again tricked her into sharing accommodations with him and excluded her from team-building activities. During this retreat, she became aware of a prevalent misogynistic culture within Jingle Punks and Anthem, highlighted by an incident where a male music supervisor allegedly attempted to assault a female composer. Despite the company’s awareness of this event, she claims that no corrective actions were taken.

Koons further alleges that she became ensnared in an intermittent extramarital affair with Gutstadt, during which he reportedly used coercive tactics to convince her that maintaining the relationship was essential for her career advancement. Simultaneously, she was deprived of opportunities to benefit from her songwriting efforts and blocked from pursuing outside work. At one point, when she received a work offer from the Deutsch advertising agency, Gutstadt allegedly reacted with rage, verbally abusing her and insisting that any future job offers be filtered through him and Jingle Punks.

The lawsuit delineates how Gutstadt’s actions aimed to ensure Koons remained financially reliant on him. She alleges that once she was completely dependent, the abuse intensified. Whenever she attempted to break free from his control, he would purportedly entice her back with lucrative opportunities, including paid writing sessions for the film Trolls and a chance to write for acclaimed country artist Chris Stapleton.

In the fall of 2018, after taking Koons to an Emmy Awards party, Gutstadt allegedly coerced her into sexual relations at his office, making her feel indebted for the invitation. The lawsuit states that this encounter was far from consensual. In October of the same year, he reportedly pressured her into signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that was not linked to any specific project, implying that it was a blanket agreement that would restrict her ability to speak out about her experiences. After signing, she alleges that he issued threats, warning her that if she disclosed any information, no one would believe her, and that violating the NDA would not only jeopardize her career but could lead to complete ruin.

Following the NDA, Koons asserts that the abuse escalated further, forcing her into employment relationships with Gutstadt, Jingle Punks, ole Music, and Audio Up, under multiple agreements that stripped her of her creative ownership and fair compensation. One such agreement involved a development deal for the podcast Make It Up As We Go, which she claims required her to sign away her rights to the project in exchange for a mere $10,000 — an amount she describes as woefully inadequate and indicative of the exploitative nature of the arrangement.

Multiple incidents of physical abuse are cited in the lawsuit. One alleged event in April 2019 involved Gutstadt becoming violent after Koons protested that he had taken the majority of her earnings from a two-day songwriting session. In another instance in October 2019, she claims he forcefully tackled her to the ground when she attempted to look at text messages between him and his wife, showcasing a pattern of escalating aggression.

In a particularly harrowing account from January 2022, while recording songs with Gutstadt and another songwriter at Audio Up’s Audio Chateau in Los Angeles, Koons alleges that she awoke to find Gutstadt raping her while she slept. This is not an isolated incident; she claims that he raped her again in September 2023 during a writing retreat at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, California, following her refusal of his sexual advances, highlighting a deeply disturbing trajectory of abuse.

Throughout her tumultuous relationship with Gutstadt, Koons emphasizes that Anthem/ole Music fostered a culture rife with harassment and coercion, thereby implicating the company in the ongoing mistreatment of her and other female employees who were subjected to similar behavior by Jingle Punks staff.

The lawsuit articulates how Gutstadt’s calculated and vindictive tactics have severely undermined Koons’ professional trajectory and visibility in the music industry. The complaint further details that she has been left with profound emotional distress, including symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from her experiences during their association.

In her lawsuit, Koons is seeking compensatory damages for lost wages and earnings, along with a financial judgment aimed at addressing the mental anguish and severe emotional distress she has endured, as well as punitive and exemplary damages, among other forms of relief.

At the time of this report, representatives for Gutstadt, Anthem, and Audio Up had not responded to inquiries from Billboard regarding the allegations presented in the lawsuit.