Lady of the House founder to “take time away” from role following bullying and harassment accusations

Laila Mckenzie, co-founder of collective and record label Lady of the House (LOTH), is set to “take time away” from her role following accusations of alleged bullying, gaslighting, and harassment.

The accusations first surfaced last Tuesday (18th October) when DJ duo Black Girl / White Girl shared a statement on Twitter alleging “wildly unacceptable and unethical” behaviour from Mckenzie. The pair in turn cancelled their set at A Lady Of The House party at Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) on 19th October.

“Pulling out of this show was a decision we had to make because of the way we’ve been treated by Laila,” they wrote. They explained that they “refuse to endorse an organization or individual who, while publicly profiles themselves as wanting to advance women and non-binary people in music, behaves in a manner that is 100% at odds with that goal behind closed doors”, adding that they were “cutting all ties with LOTH”.

Lady of the House, which originated as a book celebrating house music’s pioneering women, responded with a post on Instagram in which they accept Mckenzie’s decision to take time out from the day-to-day management duties and “acknowledge the seriousness of the claims and the importance of the correct response”.

“LOTH exists to champion underrepresented communities within club culture and the dance music industry, and is greatly saddened to hear of any negative impact on our larger efforts arising from this situation,” the statement continues. “Our team is passionate about this cause, and is dismayed that this overarching mission is being undermined by unfounded accusations.

“As we explore all sides of this dispute, the LOTH team wholeheartedly condemns the threats of physical violence and other vile suggestions made against Laila or any of our members; we do not condone bullying in any shape or form whether privately in the workplace or in an open forum such as the press or social media,” they wrote. You can read Lady Of The House’s full statement below. 

Following Black Girl / White Girl’s accusations, another associate of LOTH, named Emma, also detailed her alleged experiences with Laila. “I was brought on board at LOTH by Laila as her Marketing Manager,” she told Mixmag. “She was constantly condescending, stressing that she has more experience than I do. She harassed me all hours of the day with endless calls and emails, and quite frankly, it was horrendous.”

She continued: “I resigned after five days because she spoke to me as if I was totally worthless. When I sent my resignation email stating how I disliked the way she spoke to me and treated me, she said that if I was more experienced, she’d have been nicer… I would never speak to my team the way she spoke to me. In fact, I would never speak to anybody the way she spoke to me.”

LOTH launched a new record label earlier this year, with the first four releases handled by BBC Radio 1’s Jaguar and Charlie Tee, Defected’s Sam Divine, and Brit Dance Act 2022 winner Becky Hill.