What I’m Hearing… About a Manager’s “Misconduct” War, and WME’s Morgan Wallen Maneuver

Hello and welcome to Sunday evening at What I’m Hearing H.Q.

Something new: On Thursday 11/11 at 1pm pacific, my colleague Dylan Byers and I will be participating in an off-the-record call for Puck’s Inner Circle members. The topic: Oh, So Meta: The Future of Media and Entertainment in the Metaverse. Join us! And if you’re not an Inner Circle member and want to upgrade, just email fritz@puck.news.

Discussed in today’s email: Brian Robbins, Ari Emanuel, Kelly Bush, David Zaslav, Michael Rapino, Keith Redmon, Austin Neal, Jenny Tartikoff, Morgan Wallen, and the greatest reality show clip of all time.

Let’s start with some news of a nasty dispute…

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“Sexual Misconduct”: The Battle at Anonymous Content

Since his ouster, the behind-the-scenes war between Keith Redmon and Anonymous Content has led to darker and more inflammatory allegations.

MATT BELLONI

Back in June, I reported on the abrupt ouster of Oscar-nominated manager-producer Keith Redmon from Anonymous Content, the Laurene Powell Jobs-backed company behind projects like True Detective and The Revenant, which Redmon produced. Redmon had blown up at a colleague on a Zoom call, and when confronted about it by Anonymous C.E.O. Dawn Olmstead, he was said to have directed some choice words at her, prompting his quick termination after nearly two decades at the company.

Since then, a behind-the-scenes war has ensued between Redmon and his former employer. Redmon was recently hired by Teddy Schwarzman’s Black Bear Pictures to launch an international division, and he took with him some Anonymous clients, including Revenant co-writer Mark L. Smith. He also still shares others with his former employer, like Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morten Tyldum. Redmon went after an Anonymous employee too, hiring away Kathryn Thal as a V.P.

The bad blood—and Redmond’s behavior over the years at Anonymous under its co-founder, Steve Golin, who died in 2019—has been a subject of chatter in the representation community since he was hired by Schwarzman. So I reached out to Anonymous for an explanation, and it responded with quite the statement. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that Redmon was terminated in June for cause, due to what it called a troubling pattern of unacceptable behavior. Then it added:

“The company recently completed a comprehensive investigation and uncovered multiple incidents of sexual misconduct by Redmon, some physical in nature. Anonymous has no tolerance for harassment or toxic behavior.”

It declined to elaborate on the specific misconduct its outside investigation is said to have uncovered. Redmon’s lawyer, Michael Plonsker, has a different view of the situation. “Keith Redmon is saddened and shocked that Anonymous Content would make these clearly false and defamatory allegations,” Plonsker said in a statement to me. He then explained the dispute as follows:

“After Mr. Redmon disagreed with senior leadership on the strategic direction of the company following the tragic passing of its founder, Steve Golin, Anonymous trumped up charges for a ‘with cause’ termination, claiming Mr. Redmon had disagreements with new management and ‘raised his voice.’ Anonymous has tried to take Mr. Redmon's clients, projects, credits, stock and profit participations. It has not and will not work.”

Plonsker then took aim at Anonymous’ claims of sexual and physical misconduct:

“Now, rather than simply allowing Mr. Redmon to fairly compete, Anonymous has made another misguided decision, falsely attacking Mr. Redmon personally and professionally in the worst of ways, with new trumped up charges so egregious that they demand immediate action. Mr. Redmon has the greatest respect for the Golin family and the various partners and employees at Anonymous with whom he had the true honor of working closely over the last 18 years. However, Anonymous and all those working in concert with them will be held responsible for all damages Mr. Redmon suffers.”

Schwarzman, via a Black Bear spokesperson, said he is looking into the allegations. "We have not received any information on Anonymous Content's internal investigation, nor have we previously been made aware of any allegations of this nature against Keith Redmon," the Black Bear rep said in an email. "We take any and all allegations of misconduct incredibly seriously, and will immediately endeavor to determine the facts and act accordingly."

In this dispute, the gloves appear to be off.

Amazon Studios presents MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY, A new documentary chronicling both the personal path and tireless advocacy of the social justice warrior whose work foreshadowed some of the most politically consequential issues of our time. From the directors of RBG, the San Francisco Chronicle raves the film is “jaw-dropping...an extraordinary documentary.”

MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.

Who Won the Week: Kevin Mayer

Just as negative buzz was growing about his Blackstone-backed venture with fellow Disney alum Tom Staggs, and his new job as a Discovery consultant, Mayer pulls off a $3 billion deal for CoComelon owner Moonbug Entertainment. And unlike Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Moonbug owns a trove of I.P. assets.

Brian Robbins Has Found His Mouthpiece

Paramount C.E.O. Brian Robbins is finalizing one of his first big hires. I’m told Jenny Tartikoff is in negotiations to become Paramount’s top communications executive. Tartikoff has been head of comms for Spotify’s content division for the past five months, and before that she worked at Universal, NBC News and Rubenstein, where she repped Paramount. She’ll take over for Chris Petrikin, who followed Paramount’s former C.E.O. Jim Gianapulos from 20th Century Fox and was ousted shortly after Robbins took over. (Tartikoff didn’t respond to my call.)

Morgan Wallen, WME, and What Happens When a “Canceled” Client Still Makes Millions

Have you been following the Morgan Wallen saga at William Morris Endeavor? He’s the country music star who was caught on video in February saying the n-word and was subsequently dropped by WME. Well, kinda dropped; the agency’s chairman Lloyd Braun admitted last week that pandemic-related re-bookings of Wallen shows were indeed being handled by the agency, with commissions going to charity. And then Billboard revealed that Austin Neal, Wallen’s young booking agent in Nashville, was also working on Wallen’s upcoming tour, but was doing so “as a friend,” and outside the walls of WME. Okay…

To many, it all sounded like a very agent-y dodge of WME’s public commitment to accountability for Wallen’s racist slur. After all, unlike most entertainers who have been canceled, this dude (and his ridiculous mullet) has actually become more popular in the past nine months. Wallen now has the biggest album of 2021, according to Billboard. A full 2022 tour could generate tens of millions of dollars for Wallen, 10 percent of which would flow to WME. And he’s 28, with a potentially long career ahead of him. This is the rare instance where cutting ties also cuts off a big chunk of cash.

Now another, somewhat predictable shoe is about to drop. I’m told Neal is leaving WME and has plans to start his own agency—with Wallen as his marquee client, of course. It was Neal’s choice; WME decided that Wallen hadn’t done enough rehabilitation and wasn’t ready to return, so Neal is picking his meal ticket over his employer. (WME and Neal declined to comment.)

It’s an interesting situation, and one that illustrates the dichotomy that has developed in entertainment during this age of increased accountability. Wallen’s audience clearly doesn’t care about any of this. And most of the companies that do business with him also seem to have moved past the scandal. Wallen has been reinstated at his Nashville label (if he was ever really suspended), and at most country radio stations that dropped him. I just checked my Apple Music and his full catalogue is available to stream. Spotify too. And Billboard reported Live Nation is on board to promote this planned tour. (A spokesperson declined to comment to me, but a source close to Live Nation says that C.E.O. Michael Rapino consults with Black leaders in the music business before making these kinds of decisions.)

But WME is letting him go, knowing his agent will follow, at a time when its Nashville office could use a boost from perhaps the biggest name in country. Scott Clayton, its co-head of music, left for UTA last week, putting major touring acts like Dead & Co. and Kings of Leon in play. Awards shows also won’t invite or include Wallen, even if he is nominated, as he is at the CMA Awards on Wednesday night—for album of the year. If there are now two Americas—one in which racist behavior, and an inability to properly atone for that conduct, holds actual consequences; and another in which it’s fine, whatever—Morgan is thriving in that latter category. But public-facing entities that operate in the other America, and either care or have to care about clients or advertisers or the media, can’t have anything to do with him.

There’s an element of hypocrisy here, of course. Why would Rapino, who has close relationships with just as many Black artists as WME, likely stay in business with Wallen, while Ari Emanuel, C.E.O. of WME parent Endeavor, isn’t? Is this just different choices by different leaders, or are more passive platforms like Live Nation or Apple Music—businesses that aim to work with everyone—simply held to a lesser standard than a talent agency, which by definition is an advocate for its select group of clients? Netflix co-C.E.O. Ted Sarandos essentially made that argument in defending the Dave Chappelle special to employees when he said that Chappelle is “one of the most popular stand-up comedians today.” I wonder: would Netflix buy a concert special from one of the most popular country artists today? In the U.S., at least, I’m betting a Wallen special would be “super sticky,” in Netflix-speak.

We can be cynical about WME’s motives here. Wallen is gone either because he doesn’t align with the agency’s values or because WME is simply afraid of backlash and the ripple effect with other clients. But it’s a good thing that the current culture is forcing even agents to take a stand on values, and to essentially grow a bigger conscience, even if it’s out of fear. Whether that’s thanks to a more progressive new generation, or social media, or the #MeToo movement, or lots of other factors—WME either does care or is being forced to pretend to care. Either way, good for them.

There are some for whom there should be no path back for unacceptable behavior. That’s understandable. But assuming there is some return route for entertainers who are willing to atone for missteps and aren’t killers or child molesters, the WME approach seems like a decent model for how to handle offenders. Back in February, when TMZ posted the n-word video, WME convened its Client Advisory Committee. Since WME started doing this a few years ago, I’ve always envisioned the process as Braun or WME president Ari Greenburg standing in a white robe behind a podium in a conference room and extending either a thumbs up or down, Gladiator-style. But it’s actually a group of 8-10 diverse employees who look at the specifics of the situation, debate whether to keep or fire the client, and make a group recommendation. Bryan Singer, Armie Hammer and showrunner Andrew Kreisberg were booted on the advise of the C.A.C. That was the initial recommendation for Wallen here.

But unlike those others, Wallen was essentially benched by WME, not booted. Neal and others then worked with him to meet with groups like the Black Music Action Coalition and help educate him. They set up a Good Morning America interview with Michael Strahan during which he could apologize and promise to change. They helped him to “do the work,” as the saying goes.

But those efforts didn’t go great. The GMA appearance was criticized as insincere, then Rolling Stone reported that Wallen likely didn’t follow through on his promise to support Black advocacy groups, including the B.M.A.C. (I reached out to them and didn’t hear back.) Behind the scenes, I’m told, Wallen wasn’t getting great advice from his manager and friends in Nashville, people who either aren’t sophisticated about the current cultural climate or don’t care. (Volumes could be written about the Nashville music culture that enables this kind of behavior.)

Now Wallen is planning a tour, and the market demand for it is extremely high, so it was decision time for WME. The agency reconvened the C.A.C. for the first time (there had never been a situation like this, where the client’s huge business would have justified reconsideration). They debated the evidence, and determined there wasn’t a path back in the current moment. Yes, the agency could make millions by keeping him, but the short-term financial upside could come with longer-term financial and cultural problems.

So Wallen was dropped, canceled but not canceled, a pariah to some and a top-tier music star to others. And his agent, who ends up becoming a form of modern-day accountability collateral damage, goes out on his own, servicing one side of the two Americas while WME serves the other. Seems like this is the new normal.

Quote of the Week

“Stop the show!”

–The crowd at Astroworld, chanting as Travis Scott continued performing for 37 minutes after Houston Police declared a “mass casualty” event amid a deadly crowd surge, according to The Houston Chronicle. Eight people died and dozens were injured.

How Studios Are Subverting the Golden Globes Boycott

A quick update on the Golden Globes boycott. Or, rather, the public boycott. Most studios have begun inviting Hollywood Foreign Press Association members to general press screenings or sending screener links, hoping to land Globes nominations. They aren’t doing H.F.P.A.-specific screenings, as they normally would this time of year, or press conferences, or even arranging one-on-one talent interviews. That would run afoul of the publicist-led edict not to work with the organization as it attempts to transform itself in the wake of the scandal over some of its practices and its low diversity numbers.

After talking to several key people in the awards space this week, the feeling seems to be that the studios and streamers can quietly court Globes noms without officially shunning the boycott—especially since the H.F.P.A., like a few other awards bodies, isn’t requiring a formal submission process this year. After all, awards are awards, and most talent—especially the rising stars whose careers most benefit—would still like to win a Globe when they are announced (albeit non-televised) in January. A few have even reached out directly to H.F.P.A. members, I’m told.

A handful of studios are still adhering to the total boycott, including Warner Bros., which has declined to engage with the H.F.P.A. Its films and shows are generally available on HBO Max or other streamers, and its big contender, Will Smith’s King Richard, will be publicly available Nov. 19, in time for Globes voting. We’ll see how it does.

Speaking of the H.F.P.A., its lead tormentor Kelly Bush has suffered setbacks of her own lately. A group of publicists at Bush’s ID PR defected last week to Shelter PR, the talent-focused boutique run by Cara and Christine Tripicchio. Leah Chang, Larissa Saenz, and Rachel Hunt are bringing about 20 clients with them, I’m told. Separately, actress-singer Cynthia Erivo, who just booked the Wicked movie, and writer-producer-actress Lena Waithe, recently left ID and are taking meetings.

My Reading List

Eternals, with a soft-for-Marvel $70 million debut, can’t count on a long, competition-free runway in theaters like Shang-Chi got in September. The B CinemaScore and bad reviews don’t help either. [Forbes]
Why did Lionsgate’s stock spike when it again floated selling or spinning off Starz? When you know you’re never going to compete with Netflix and Disney as a global streamer, maybe it’s better to just be a good film and TV producer. [WSJ]
Social media star Jake Paul’s reinvention as a boxer says a lot about the future of entertainment and how to monetize fame. [The New Yorker]
Kudos to John Jurgensen, a writer at Rupert Murdoch’s The Wall Street Journal, who dared write about how the dysfunctional family drama in HBO’s Succession “hits close to home” for some viewers. [WSJ]
The Rust armorer’s attorneys were certainly sleazy in suggesting on the Today show that the gun Alec Baldwin fired might have been “sabotaged.” But were they also smart? I debate with Kim Masters on The Business. [Business]

The Feedback

My Thursday breakdown of the machinations and challenges of incoming Warner Bros. Discovery C.E.O. David Zaslav sparked fewer emails than normal. Maybe people are afraid of commenting on him, or maybe I wasn’t skeptical enough, as some noted. A few responses:

“You’re way too nice to Zaslav. Everyone in unscripted [TV] knows this guy is the cheapest media executive in America. Ask around. When Discovery talent would ask for raises, he would just cancel the show. Shit like that. Warners people who think he’s a savior are in for a rude awakening.”–an unscripted producer

“David Zaslav shouldn’t be wasting his time having dinner with Chris Hemsworth and Sean Penn. These people don’t want to be friends with him, they just want to get paid and make the stuff they want to make. If he thinks he’s actually friends with these people, he will get run out of town like many, many outsiders before him.”–an executive

“Why is the media so nice to Zaslav? He must have an amazing publicist.”–an ad executive