CAA’s Scare Tactics

bryan lourd
Lourd & Co. treat their people well, but the CAA mentality has always been, You’re lucky to work here. Fear of leaving is part of that philosophy. Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter)
Matthew Belloni
October 4, 2024

Honestly, is Bryan Lourd okay? It’s a reasonable question after CAA’s leadership escalated their war on the defectors at Range Media Partners with Tuesday’s emotionally charged lawsuit alleging “brazen” theft of confidential information and illegally running a talent agency “disguised” as a management company. Range, according to the suit, was “built on deceit.” Pete Micelli, the former CAA literary agent turned Range C.E.O., “betrayed” his former colleagues. His partners—Jack Whigham, Dave Bugliari, Michael Cooper, and Mick Sullivan—are “accomplices” to the crime. Even by the modern standard of lawsuits dramatically written for the media, this one’s a bit much.