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L.A. Reid maintains his position as chairman of the Island Def Jam Music Group despite a deluge of rumors to the contrary.

Yesterday, the internet was all atwitter (pun intended) with rumors of the executive’s firing.

A rep from IDJ confirmed to XXL Magazine that L.A. Reid had not been fired.

“[The rumors] are completely untrue and without merit,” the spokesman told XXL yesterday afternoon over the phone.”

Reid has been dogged with this rumor ever since signing Shyne to a seven-figure deal earlier this year.  People have questioned other recent Def Jam signings such as Jennifer Lopez.

We do feel that Reid’s days at Def Jam are numbered. Though he may not have been “fired” per se, we don’t doubt that the man will probably be asked to resign from his position in the very near future. Def Jam has had a very rocky time since Reid came on board, specifically within these last 5 years.

Though artists like Rick Ross and Rihanna are wildly popular, there has been great difficulty translating that popularity into record sales.  The same goes for Mariah Carey whose last two albums have done very poorly.  It’s also been rumored that the label has spent in excess of $3 million on Kanye West’s new album.

With Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Doug Morris officially relinquishing his CEO position of the mammoth entertainment conglomerate (which owns such labels as Universal Motown, Interscope, Geffen, and A&M, in addition to Island Def Jam) in January 2011, the pressure is on Reid to turn the dismal state of his label group around before the new regime, run by Lucian Grainge, who is already serving as co-CEO of UMG with Morris, takes over and cleans house.

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