United Talent Agency has fired Michael Kassan, the founder of MediaLink, a marketing firm they bought in 2021. They are also suing him for using company funds inappropriately. The agency announced this on Tuesday. In response, Kassan is suing the agency for breaching their contract.
UTA stated, 'Michael Kassan was fired for cause by UTA on March 7th 2024, after a thorough investigation into using company funds inappropriately. We have filed a lawsuit against him today and are looking forward to presenting the facts in court.'
According to Variety, which first reported Kassan’s lawsuit, Kassan denies he was fired and says he resigned. His lawsuit accuses UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer and other executives of acting in bad faith when they acquired MediaLink. Among other things, Kassan says he was promised an expense budget of $950,000 to use “as he saw fit,” but once MediaLink was acquired, that budget was reined in as was Kassan’s authority at the company.
The exact details of the accusations against Kassan have not yet been made public; UTA’s lawsuit has not yet been docketed and won’t be available until Wednesday morning.
UTA bought MediaLink in Dec. 2021 under undisclosed terms. As part of the deal, Kassan became a partner at UTA while still being the CEO of MediaLink, which kept all its staff. Additionally, UTA renamed its marketing department as UTA Entertainment & Culture Marketing, which became a division of MediaLink.
THR first reported on Kassan’s firing.
