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        <title><![CDATA[CAA may pursue legal action after Steve Cohen-backed firm poached top agents]]></title>
        <atom:link href="https://usagag.com/2020/09/08/caa-may-pursue-legal-action-after-steve-cohen-backed-firm-poached-top-agents/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
        <link>https://usagag.com/2020/09/08/caa-may-pursue-legal-action-after-steve-cohen-backed-firm-poached-top-agents/</link>
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            <media:title type="html">CAA may pursue legal action after Steve Cohen-backed firm poached top agents</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It’s war, Hollywood style.</p><p>CAA is exploring legal action against the new Steve Cohen-backed management firm that last month poached some of CAA’s top agents, sources exclusively told Page Six over the weekend.</p><p>The potential move would come after the Cohen-backed Range Media Partners lured away CAA agents including David Bugliari, Michael Cooper, Mick Sullivan and Jack Whigham, plus further names from the CAA Global Brands Group and CAA Foundation.</p><figure id="attachment_5177459"  class="wp-caption alignright"><strong><noscript><img data- data-src="/uploads/2020/09/steven-cohen.jpg" class="lazyload" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" /><noscript><img  data-src="/uploads/2020/09/steven-cohen.jpg" /></noscript></noscript><img class="lazyload" src='data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20210%20140%22%3E%3C/svg%3E' data- data-src="/uploads/2020/09/steven-cohen.jpg" /></strong><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><span>Steve Cohen</span><span class="credit">Reuters</span></figcaption></figure><p>The new Range Media is led by former CAA agent Peter Micelli. It also recruited agents from UTA and WME. But an agency vet told us of a potential legal challenge from CAA: “I’m not surprised&#8230; CAA had the stronger, bigger names [exit]. They have no choice but to send a response.” (The source said of the names from the other agencies, “I had never heard of some of those people.”)</p><p>While non-compete agreements are generally not enforceable in California, the source said, “They could be saying, ‘Let’s make this as uncomfortable and difficult as possible.’”</p><p>CAA last year settled a bitter four-year-long legal battle with UTA after CAA accused the rival of poaching several agents in 2015. In that case, CAA reportedly asked a court for damages, injunctive relief and restitution for “malicious corporate raiding,” among other claims.</p><p>The bombshell move by Range Media to raid the competition came at a time when the agency biz has been hobbled by the pandemic, production shutdowns, and a battle with the Writers Guild of America.</p><p><strong>The Post reported</strong> that a pitch deck to investors from Range Media (previously under the name Moxie Media) pointed out that the agency business is in “free fall,” and, “there has never been a better time to recruit high-end representatives away from their current incumbent. We have never seen more high-end representatives ready to leave these institutions.” The undated deck boasted that the upstart firm’s focus will be “on the top 1% of celebrities.”</p><p>The deck also described the standoff between the agencies and WGA as the “worst rift in the history of the entertainment business.” <strong>The Post previously reported</strong> that there has been buzz in Hollywood that Range Media could aim to “eventually” become an agency. For now it’s a management and production outfit.</p><p>Reports have said that controversial billionaire Cohen, through his Point72 hedge fund, is a “leading investor with a substantial minority investment” in the firm, while other backers include ex-Knicks coach David Fizdale, plus a former Microsoft CMO, and the founder of Grubhub.</p><p>With the competition in Tinseltown heating up, entertainment insiders have been painting Cohen as an unwelcome presence in town — from his former firm, SAC Capital Advisors, to his financial support of Donald Trump.</p><p>But one jaded exec told us of the ongoing agency wars: “Everyone is saying, ‘Can you believe they did that?’ But no one around here has the moral high ground.”</p><p>Reps did not comment.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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