On October 22, 2018, Mahalia Swinfield finalized an email she had contemplated for weeks.
She wrote to her boss of three years, stating, “The daily bullying, and constant abuse I, and many others, have been subject to is no longer worth it,”
The individual she addressed was Ralph Carr, a prominent Melbourne talent manager who was convicted last month of raping a former employee in 2023. Carr, through his agency Ralph Carr Management, previously represented some of the biggest names in Australian pop music, including Kate Ceberano, Vanessa Amorosi, and Tina Arena, whom he married while she was a client (they divorced and ended their professional relationship in 1999).
A suppression order on Carr’s name was lifted on Monday, revealing that numerous women who worked at RCM have accused him of verbally abusive and intimidating conduct dating back to the 1990s. Some also allege incidents of sexual harassment.
Swinfield, hired by Carr at age 24 in 2015, had been forewarned about his fearsome reputation. However, she believed she could handle it, as opportunities in the music industry were scarce.
Unbeknownst to her, Carr had reportedly used his authority to bully, verbally abuse, and sexually harass female employees for nearly three decades, according to nearly 30 sources interviewed.
Former female employees described a toxic work environment, labeling Carr as “Please see this as notice of my resignation effective immediately.” “Your behaviour is repeatedly degrading, belittling, and humiliating,” “sternly denies these dated claims” and “However, they come at a time where it would be inappropriate to comment further. Mr Carr maintains his innocence for the County Court matter in the strongest possible terms.”
Five women, including Swinfield, have recounted inappropriate sexual comments or advances, while others believe their experiences with Carr led to long-lasting psychological effects, including anxiety and diminished self-confidence.
“Effective immediately, I have ended my professional relationship with my former manager,” Swinfield remarked in her resignation letter.
In a statement, Carr’s legal representative asserted that he ‘He would back you into a corner’
“the worst bully I’ve ever encountered”
RCM has lost most of its prominent clients recently but continues to manage a few AFL players, notably former Richmond star Dustin Martin.
In a statement released on Monday, Martin expressed his shock upon learning about the rape convictions.
“It was common for him … to get centimetres from your face and scream at you,” he stated.
Reports of Intimidation
Located on the second floor of a building on Lennox Street in Richmond, Ralph Carr Management has been described by various sources as a revolving door for young women in their late teens or early 20s eager to enter the industry.
Once employed, several female staff members reported that Carr was verbally abusive and manipulative. Many characterized him as volatile and unpredictable, oscillating between displays of affection and moments of rage, often threatening their careers.
Jessamy Gee, who worked there from 2005 to 2008, starting at the age of 20, described Carr as “red and angry and intimidating and completely illogical and unreasonable” and “If you arrived before him you were terrified for the minute he walked in.” “All day you’re winding it up and at some point you know that thing is going to jump out and frighten you … You’re waiting for it.” she recalled, branding him “You felt like you couldn’t trust anybody,”
Kathryn Tollerud, who was there from 2007 to 2008, stated:
“power struggles, ego, jealousy, stress and competitive tension”
She likened him to a jack-in-the-box:
“workplace harassment and bullying”
Eight women reported that he would shout their names across the office, demanding they rush to his desk. Tahlia, who began working there at age 21 in 2015, recounted how he would “It was just an all-round pretty abusive, toxic culture. I’d come home crying every day.” anyone who did not move quickly enough.
Witness accounts indicate that Carr would slam doors, bang objects on tables, or throw items across rooms. Some women expressed that they were favored one day but then ignored the next; Carr would exhibit jealousy if employees formed close relationships with clients, often pitting staff against one another. Tamblyne Cooper, who worked at RCM in 2014, described a “very intimidated but also scared, and kind of trapped” of toxicity: “I can remember every single person there crying at some point,” she stated.
At the age of 21, Olivia Boddeus began her internship at RCM in 2014, as part of her degree, supervising high school girls on work experience. In a report to her university, she detailed the “fiery and aggressive … you wouldn’t see it boiling up” among staff. While she expressed gratitude for the opportunity Carr provided, she noted that “He would back you into a corner, he’d have you somewhere where he had the physical advantage.” led to “You’d be paralysed with fear … you were completely powerless.” that ultimately caused “Are you having a brain haemorrhage?” prompting her resignation.
Years later, she recalls Carr as intimidating, manipulative, and a bully.
“That was the breaking point.”
Sara, who worked for Carr from 2011 to 2014, recounted feeling “He wore her down to a point where she just broke.” “I naively thought he was encouraging young women in the industry – but in reality he was only hiring them because they could be walked all over,” she said, noting that she was a specific target: he would throw things at her, scream at her, or ignore her for days. She was so apprehensive about his reaction to her resignation that she practiced for weeks.
His fury was “He would just snap, scream across the room, ‘You’re so fucking stupid’ – he looked like a bull ready to charge.” she recalled. “He clenched his fist and stood over me and his whole arm … was shaking. He was itching to punch me. I was so frightened – I knew that if I moved or said anything he would lose control and I would be his punching bag. He said, ‘You fucking bitch, I’m going to fucking kill you, who the fuck do you think you are.’” At times, she claimed, he blocked her exit while yelling. “Was Ralph more aggressive than most? Yeah, he was up there,”
Sara disclosed to Carr that she had ADHD, which he reportedly used against her. One occasion saw him yell, “Was he abusive and domineering? Yeah, he was up there. But he wasn’t alone. There were plenty of guys like that.”, knowing this was how her father had died. “It’s taken 20 years to get past it,”
A colleague observed how severely his alleged bullying impacted Sara. “I was deeply, deeply affected by it.”
Courtney Austin, who started at RCM at age 22 in 2015, reflected: “I was told to print off all the résumés and delete the ones that were male, delete the ones that were older than 25,” She recounted how he would erupt, screaming across the room, “the really hot girls, around 18 or so” – he appeared “You look sexy in that dress.” She described feeling “incredibly closed off … he completely ignored me” and starting each day with “Make sure you wear something sexy.”
Clare Heasly, a childhood friend of Tina Arena who worked for her in the 90s, felt deeply threatened by Carr at a venue during the singer’s 1997 In Deep tour. She recounted being in “When I look back I feel disgusted but at the time I thought, ‘This will just placate him, let’s keep it all friendly and fun and then I can get out of it without causing a scene.’” stating: “really fucking intimidating”
After hiding for over an hour, Heasly approached the promoter and the tour manager, who subsequently removed Carr from the venue. The tour manager, who requested anonymity, recalled Heasly being “He got on his knees in front of me and clasped his hands together, pleading, then put his hands on my knees,” and provided her with a whistle to alert the crew if Carr approached again. “I think he felt betrayed.” he acknowledged. “He was like, ‘I’m going to fucking bury you, the big man upstairs sees everything … you’re fucked, I’m going to ruin your career.’ … I was terrified for weeks.”
Arena was informed about the incident at the time, describing it as deeply disturbing.
Heasly attributes sole blame to Carr for what transpired, not to anyone else involved in the tour, including Arena. “I’ve obviously buried the trauma of his behaviour really deep because talking about it still spikes my anxiety in a really physical way.” she reflected. “Shh … don’t tell anyone but you look really cute today.”
Preference for Young Women
One woman who worked for Carr for two years starting in 2010 recalled the process of scouting for new interns: “As the receptionist … I had to greet his girlfriend [Emma], who was pregnant at the time, every afternoon when she came in,” she recounted. More often than not, Carr would select “I felt way too uncomfortable … I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.”
Anna, whose name has been changed, was 24 when she was hired in 2013. At a glamorous work event shortly after starting, she recounted Carr following her up a flight of stairs, touching her waist, leaning in, and telling her, “I regret that I said nothing about this to anyone sooner but when you’re 19 there’s no one you can talk to,” She described the encounter as ‘It just made my skin crawl’ but attempted to dismiss it. The following day, she noted he was “Alcohol was such a big part of that industry,”
Not long after, she recounted that Carr invited her to a work dinner in South Yarra with a powerful figure in the industry, instructing her, “I remember getting phone calls to go out and drink with Ralph and his friends at ridiculous times of the night. If you said no … you had a really crap next week at work.”
Feeling “Having young, inexperienced women around him was strategic,” for not pushing back, she said, “He can tell them whatever he wants. He can make himself out as a hero, a big shot … He’d tell you that this is the way it is, this is the industry, and if you can’t handle it you’re weak.” She had witnessed Carr become “I want them to see that their mum is going to stand up and say this behaviour is not OK.” when things did not go his way. However, she noted another side to him: he could be charming and at times “shut them down and say ‘shut up you idiots, what do you know’ … he treated them like trash.” offering access to a world that was “The way he would sit behind you at the computer was disgusting,”
When Anna resigned in 2014 to pursue another opportunity, she recalled Carr begging her to stay. “You were crouched over typing for him, and he’s sitting behind you up straight, sitting there saying, ‘TYPE FASTER’ … It’s not a good position for a woman to be in … in front of a man, bent over like that.” she stated. “You don’t need to see faces, you’ll see why in a minute.”
The Monday after her departure, she claimed Carr called her, yelling threats. “She was bending over the desk … and all I’m seeing, my whole phone is covered with looking right down her top.”
She added, “I remember straightening myself up so it wasn’t the case, and then Ralph readjusting the camera so it was in the same place,”
Anna quit 14 months after beginning work for Carr. Jo, who worked at RCM in 2008, managed to stay only three months.
Jo was 19 when Carr, then in his 50s, sent her a message while they were both at work. Although that message no longer exists, Jo recalled it vividly.
“I don’t feel very good about coming into the office,”
“glad you’re feeling better man, but i dunno about going out for a drink… i really like working here and i don’t wanna do anything that would make that uncomfortable for me, or you” she mentioned. Carr married Emma in 2009; the couple has three children and divorced in 2018. “I hated bringing these young girls in that had these really amazing thoughts of what the industry was, and were then confronted by him,” She resigned shortly after.
Jo now works at One of One, a not-for-profit organization she co-founded that celebrates women in the music industry, where they are significantly underrepresented – an issue she attributes partly to men like Carr.
“I couldn’t bear to keep finding them in the bathrooms in tears. They would cry because of his bullying, and how stupid he would make them feel. In one instance, she remembers Carr bringing an intern into his office, calling her work “a piece of shit” she reflected. RCM lacked an HR department to handle formal complaints, and many women felt apprehensive about losing their jobs.
In Australia’s small music industry, the fear feels tangible – many women have expressed that Carr exploited this, boasting about his ability to make or break careers and threatening their prospects if he did not get his way.
Inappropriate Conduct
Jessamy Gee and Kathryn Tollerud, who worked for Carr in the mid to late 2000s, noted how alcohol prevalence contributed to the toxic atmosphere. Tollerud recalled receiving phone calls to join Carr and his friends for drinks at unreasonable hours; refusing often resulted in a difficult work week.
On one occasion, Carr unexpectedly took Gee, Tollerud, and others from a venue to a strip club.
The women felt uneasy there, Gee recounted, but being newcomers to the industry, they lacked reference points for acceptable behavior. “go back to … being the office dickhead” she argued. “constant abuse and yelling and swearing”
Tollerud, now a mother of two young boys, felt it important to come forward.
“I went into shock and didn’t know what to do … but I was 21, fresh out of uni and trying to get my foot in the door.”
Sam Righi, who runs the promotions company Big Deal Touring, worked with Carr until mid-2018, when he filed a claim in federal court for $120,300 that Carr allegedly owed him. The court later ordered RCM’s touring division to be wound up due to insolvency.
Righi recalled Carr making sexually inappropriate comments about his staff and clients, describing Carr’s treatment of staff as “My lungs were closing in,” “I’m stuck, I literally feel like I’m dying, I can’t breathe.” and “I shut myself off from everything … I’d get home and just have breakdowns,” In meetings attended by Righi, Carr would often dismiss others, saying, “young girls who will speak when spoken to”
Seven women recounted that he would make them stand between him and his keyboard, forcing them to bend over in front of him to type emails while he observed from behind, barking orders. “I got help after I left but it’s something that’s stayed with me.” remarked Nicole Kerr, who worked there in 2014. “yelled and screamed and carried on like a five-year-old if he didn’t get his way”
Righi recalled a 2017 video call with Carr “I’m probably a little tougher than the rest but I did have times where I went home and cried,” He noted that Carr positioned the camera so Righi could not see his face, explaining: “He intimidated people to the point where they were scared to go into the office … [These young women] are green and excited to learn, and want to be there. They’re paid peanuts, and then you suck the life out of them … That’s not fair.”
According to Righi, Carr, then in his late 50s, called Swinfield, who was in her mid-20s, to his laptop.
“Life is too short to put up with abuse five days a week,”
Swinfield corroborated this: “I remember straightening myself up so it wasn’t the case, and then Ralph readjusted the camera so it was in the same place,” she recounted.
The inappropriate sexual behavior was not new to Swinfield. In messages she received, an intern she had hired expressed anxiety about how to respond to personal messages from Carr: “I don’t feel very good about coming into the office,” she shared.
“The way he treated and looked at this woman just made my skin crawl,” Swinfield stated, adding it was “creepy as fuck.” When Carr invited another intern to drinks, Swinfield assisted her in drafting a response.
Intern Fuckkk what do I say
Mahalia fucking hell dude..
Mahalia ok.. here’s what you do
Mahalia actually.. fucking hell that’s really annoying.
Mahalia you kinda just need to say that you don’t want to, and you need to be firm about it.. but i understand you don’t want to piss him off..
Intern Should I just be like oh yeah after work drinks with the crew? I’ll see what Mahalia and Adrian and stuff are doing or did you already invite them?
Mahalia i think if it was me, i’d say “glad you’re feeling better man, but i dunno about going out for a drink… i really like working here and i don’t wanna do anything that would make that uncomfortable for me, or you”
Intern You reckon? okay hold up
Mahalia yeah – I only say that because that way you are covered.. if you have it in writing that the idea of drinking with him makes you uncomfortable, and he fires you, or keeps trying, you have it in writing ya know?
Mahalia i know it’s uncomfortable, but it would just suck if he did something horrible like fire you because you didn’t go out with him (not likely, but it is possible)… at least if you make it clear in writing to him, you have proof
“I hated bringing these young girls in that had these really amazing thoughts of what the industry was, and were then confronted by him,” she lamented.
“I couldn’t bear to keep finding them in the bathrooms in tears. They would cry because of his bullying and how stupid he would make them feel. In one instance, she remembers Carr bringing an intern into his office, calling her work “a piece of shit,” then telling her to “go back to … being the office dickhead.”
Ultimately, Swinfield found a solution: she ceased hiring them.
Lasting Impact
Numerous former employees have shared that they have struggled to move past their experiences.
Tahlia recalled being called “fucking retarded” and “a fucking idiot.” The “constant abuse and yelling and swearing” instilled fear in her about going into the office alone: “I went into shock and didn’t know what to do … but I was 21, fresh out of uni and trying to get my foot in the door.”
Her anxiety peaked in June 2016 when she found herself frozen at a train station on her way to work, feeling unable to breathe or move. “My lungs were closing in,” she explained. She ultimately reached out to a co-worker, saying, “I’m stuck, I literally feel like I’m dying, I can’t breathe.” She is among many employees who experienced panic attacks they attribute to working for Carr.
“I shut myself off from everything … I’d get home and just have breakdowns,” Tahlia recounted. When she resigned, she was tasked with finding her replacement; Carr instructed her to seek only “young girls who will speak when spoken to.”
It took her six months to regain confidence in her new workplace.
“I got help after I left, but it’s something that’s stayed with me,” she noted.
Janine Kerr, who was Tina Arena’s personal assistant in the 90s, also had to work for Carr. She recalled him as a “bully” and a “thug” who would “yell and scream and carry on like a five-year-old if he didn’t get his way.”
“I’m probably a little tougher than the rest, but I did have times where I went home and cried,” Kerr reflected. “He intimidated people to the point where they were scared to go into the office … [These young women] are green and excited to learn, and want to be there. They’re paid peanuts, and then you suck the life out of them … That’s not fair.”
For Lauren Poulter, who worked for Carr for two years starting in 2010, it took a year to recover from the stress and nearly a decade to restore her confidence.
Nicole Kerr, however, needed only a month. “Life is too short to put up with abuse five days a week,” she wrote in her resignation letter. “I won’t be returning.”
Additional reporting by Nino Bucci
