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ICM Agents Are Lawyering Up

As CAA says goodbye to ICM agents in the wake of its $750 million acquisition, the situation has devolved to the point where several of the ousted ICM people have hired a top litigator.

Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Matthew Belloni
July 8, 2022

I know, nobody feels an ounce of sympathy for Hollywood agents. To many, they’re parasitic mercenaries who will lie and obfuscate to secure their clients a few more peanut M&Ms in their trailers. That stereotype is not totally true, of course, and to the extent that it is, so what? Agents extract value in a system designed by studios and streamers to hide it, even if most executives consider them a 10 percent tax on talent.