The News
The CEO of United Talent Agency is going after one of Hollywood’s biggest trade publications, accusing one of its journalists of trying to deliberately damage the agency’s business.
On Wednesday, Variety published a story noting that a slate of high-profile clients has departed from UTA, putting the agency on edge and leading to speculation about whether other big names will jump to rival agencies.
In a note to UTA staff on Wednesday, first seen by Semafor, UTA CEO David Kramer said the story’s reporter, Matthew Donnelly, had a “clear bias against our business.” As an example, Kramer pointed to a recent email he said Donnelly had sent describing UTA as a “flagrant and hostile enemy,” and a text in which he promised “consequences both from Variety/PMC and myself.” Kramer also accused the reporter of treating several female executives in a “hostile and unprofessional” manner.
“That does not live up to any editorial standard,” Kramer wrote. “We will not tolerate it.”
Staff at Variety were taken aback by UTA’s fiery response to the story, and disputed Kramer’s characterization of Donnelly’s behavior towards UTA executives. In May, Variety published a positive interview with UTA independent film chief Rena Ronson. Ronson, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, was unhappy with the piece, and threatened to tell other film executives that the story was erroneous, prompting Donnelly to counter that he would publish the full audio and transcript of the interview.
In a statement on Wednesday, a Variety spokesperson said Donnelly regretted the confrontation. But the publication said that the comments that Kramer quoted were taken out of context, and argued that UTA did not dispute the core facts of the article.
“We stand by our reporting and our editor Matt Donnelly,” the spokesperson said. “The email and texts cited by UTA in its memo to staff date from last May when a UTA exec initiated a heated back and forth, regarding an on-the-record Q and A published by Variety, which Donnelly regrets being drawn into.”
Max’s view
Kramer’s note on Wednesday was an unusually personal response to a trade story from the head of a major talent agency — an organization that more often has a symbiotic relationship with the Hollywood trades, doling out scoops about clients and placing announcements in their pages.
While heated exchanges are not uncommon between reporters and agencies over negative press around clients, the scorched-earth email blast to thousands of employees about a single reporter is a rarity. In this case, in responding angrily to Ronson in writing, Donnelly gave the agency an opening to question his credibility, fairly or not.
Kramer’s note also gets at a larger frustration held by many entertainment executives around the state of news media in Hollywood. The trades have largely consolidated under one roof, Penske Media, which owns Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Billboard, and Rolling Stone, among others, granting it a near-monopoly on major industry news.
Case in point: Despite the unusual nature of Kramer’s note, by Wednesday evening, the all-staff email had only gotten picked up by TheWrap, one of the few remaining independent Hollywood trades. Kramer sent his email out knowing full well that it would likely be seen by Penske outlets. It will be worth watching whether UTA attempts to withhold scoops or change its relationship, at least temporarily, with the entertainment news giant.