..Tina Arena!

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

I would like to thank, once again, Sony Music, Denis Handlin...

To my wonderful record company,

Denis Handlin for signing me when I was 15 years old...

I have to thank my team at Sony Music,

led by, of course, Denis Handlin...

ALICIA KEYS: The ARIA goes to...

..Jessica Mauboy!

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

To Denis Handlin, thank you for letting me be me.

TAMARA GEORGOPOULOS: He is known as one of the most powerful men

in the music industry.

Denis Handlin and my incredible crew at Sony,

I wouldn't have a career without you.

I think a lot of people feel fear when they hear that name.

GRACE TOBIN: It's the music industry's worst-kept secret,

a company ruled by fear and intimidation.

This is the inside story of Sony Music Australia

under the reign of its long-time CEO, Denis Handlin.

GREG LOCKHART: The legend of Denis has lived on for a long time

and everybody is aware of it.

This is not a secret.

You seem reluctant to say Denis Handlin's name. Is there...

Can I just have a moment? Sorry.

It's always been a massive story

that has been waiting to come out,

and it could never come out while Denis was still at the helm

because people were so scared.

There was a sense that he was untouchable.

Allegations of systemic bullying.

SHANE EARLE: I felt targeted, I felt manipulated

and I certainly felt abused.

So...

(SIGHS) Yeah...

..there's only so much you can put up with.

A culture where discrimination and sexual misconduct

were allowed to thrive.

TAMARA GEORGOPOULOS: I was sexually harassed when I worked at Sony.

I've had friends sexually assaulted.

It's just the norm.

For the first time, these are the voices Sony Music tried to silence.

ELEANOR MCKAY: I used to say

that the kindest thing I could say about Denis

was that he was sort of an equal-opportunity abuser,

you know, he was as mean to men as he was to women.

GREG LOCKHART: The neglect of corporate governance on this issue

is staggering.

It's disgusting how they've supported one human being,

setting aside everybody else in the company.

ALAN TERREY: I couldn't go to my grave, in all honesty,

without telling the story.

Tonight on Four Corners

we investigate decades of abuse and misconduct at Sony Music Australia,

one of the country's largest record labels.

We expose the toxic regime of its infamous former CEO, Denis Handlin,

and how the company's global head office

failed to protect its Australian staff for almost 40 years.

(PAPARAZZI CLAMOUR)

(SPEAKS INAUDIBLY)

(CHEERING)

At annual award ceremonies around the world,

Sony Music's success is on show.

MAN: (YELLS) Miley! Miley!

Mademoiselle! Mademoiselle! (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)

IRENE SAUNDERS: Lots of high-selling artists, high-profile artists,

basically all the household names.

WOMAN: (YELLS) Congratulations, Tina!

(CHEERING)

In Australia,

the company has launched and fostered some of our biggest acts.

But the man behind these record deals

was even more formidable than the stars themselves.

IRENE SAUNDERS: He was a machine,

a complete phenomenon.

Because I don't think anywhere else in the world you'd have...

..a CEO of a music company with that much power,

but somehow he built it.

As Sony's Chief Executive of 37 years,

Chairman of the ARIA board and an Officer of the Order of Australia,

Denis Handlin dominated the music business

until four months ago.

ARCHIVE REPORTER: One of Australian music's most powerful men

has been unceremoniously ousted today...

ELEANOR MCKAY: I was stunned, actually.

I thought he had operated with such impunity for so long,

I just couldn't believe

that...it had actually happened.

His sacking came as a bombshell,

but the global music juggernaut had known of his behaviour for decades

and failed to stop him.

ALAN TERREY: I think the thing that has upset most of us

was that New York said, "Oh, we've just found out about this problem,

"this has just come to light."

And we know that that's such a load of hogwash.

That myth has to be challenged.

GREG LOCKHART: For them to just say, "Oh, we found out about it

"a month ago or two months ago,"

it's just implausible.

And it's embarrassing and it's insulting

to everyone that's worked there

and copped this abuse for all those years.

The neglect of corporate governance on this issue from New York

is staggering.

Staggering.

(TRAFFIC ZOOMS)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYS)

It was the 1970s, an era of disco and rock'n'roll,

when Denis Handlin began his career with Sony Music in the mailroom.

His ambition was unstoppable

and he quickly worked his way up into management.

CATHIE HANNAN: He was a personality, for sure,

because he was alive and unpredictable.

In fact, his mantra was, "You can sleep when you're dead."

Cathie Hannan worked with Denis Handlin in 1979

when the company was still CBS Records

and he was the National Promotions Manager.

CATHIE HANNAN: When I first met him,

I thought he was just overly enthusiastic.

But, after a while, I realised that he would do anything at any cost

to get his product onto the top-100 charts.

And he was quite erratic and unpredictable

in his commands and his demands of staff.

Cathie loved the music business

but was appalled by the demands of Handlin.

She recalls an occasion where he hired a model for a topless promotion

at a local radio station.

CATHIE HANNAN: And she was to flash her chest

with 'I Want You To Want Me', the Cheap Trick single,

written in lipstick on her chest.

When the model didn't turn up, Handlin told Cathie SHE had to do it.

I was totally shocked. And there's absolutely no way I would do that.

I mean, for goodness' sake.

You're trying to keep your credibility in that industry,

so I refused.

I was later called back and told by Denis to come into the office,

and he banged on the desk and said, "You don't know how to do your job.

"I want your resignation in the morning."

So, I went home crying.

And in 1979 there was no recourse,

so I wrote up my resignation, delivered it the next day

and I left the next day.

ELEANOR MCKAY: Denis was very volatile, you know? I remember that.

And sort of being a bit shocked by how intense he was.

And, in both ways, like...

When he was happy,

you know, it was...the whole office was, you know, fun and games,

and when he was not, it was like, "Whoa, he's on the rampage,"

and everybody wanted to get out of the way.

As a secretary working under Handlin in 1985,

Eleanor McKay says he had an aggressive,

win-at-all-costs mentality.

ELEANOR MCKAY: He was hyper competitive,

he liked to win,

he didn't brook any opposition.

He was definitely of the 'if you weren't for him,

'you were against him',

and that was it, you know?

And, I remember, you know,

I don't know if I can swear, but I remember in the sales meetings

he'd get everyone to chant, you know, "Fuck EMI! Fuck Warners!"

You know, and, like...

So, it wasn't enough to go, "We're great, we're the best."

It's like, "Everybody else is shit."

You know, and that was kind of his approach.

(POP MUSIC PLAYS)

Handlin was a big drinker who liked to be the life of the party,

and he expected his team to follow his lead.

CBS, rock'n'roll heaven!

I'm sick of working till way past 11:00!

He was proud of his ruthless management style.

Budget's flowing! What're you gonna do when the taxman comes...

In a staff video obtained by Four Corners,