Latest news with #MichaelKassan
Los Angeles Times
31-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
UTA and MediaLink founder end legal fight over acquisition
United Talent Agency and MediaLink founder Michael Kassan agreed to drop their lawsuits against each other, after battling over problems related to a 2021 acquisition. 'UTA and Michael Kassan have agreed to amicably end their dispute. The parties are not at liberty to comment further,' representatives for UTA and Kassan said in a joint statement on Thursday. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. UTA in 2021 agreed to buy Kassan's strategic advisory firm MediaLink in a $125 million deal. The Beverly Hills-based talent agency had hoped the acquisition would help expand its branding business. But problems later arose, with both sides accusing each other of breaching a contract. UTA alleged Kassan's spending was out of control and accused him of 'wasting millions of UTA's dollars on his lavish personal lifestyle.' Kassan said that UTA was well aware of his spending habits and that his firm has continued to be profitable during its tenure within UTA. He alleged that UTA did not follow the terms of the deal, such as a promise that UTA's marketing group would report to him. Kassan's attorney alleged that while UTA was benefiting from MediaLink by getting free media consulting and introductions, MediaLink was not benefiting from the relationship. UTA, in legal filings and public statements, denied Kassan's allegations. In 2024, Kassan filed a defamation lawsuit against UTA's legal counsel that a judge later dismissed. Kassan launched L.A. consulting firm 3C Ventures in 2024.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UTA Vs. Michael Kassan Battle Over As Parties Reach Agreement In Messy Employment Contract Dispute
After a year and more of fighting in court, the press & behind closed doors, UTA and Michael Kassan have buried the hatchet. 'UTA and Michael Kassan have agreed to amicably end their dispute,' said a spokesperson for the Beverly Hills agency and Kassan's top lawyer Sanford Michelman. 'The parties are not at liberty to comment further.' More from Deadline Resigned! Fired!: Michael Kassan & UTA Scorch Each Other With Competing Suits Of Fraud, Breach Of Contract & Jeremy Zimmer's Role In Agency Partner's Exit Should He Stay Or Should He Go? UTA & Michael Kassan Clash Over Scheme To Keep Exec On For $3M After Accusations Of Broken Contracts, Theft – Update Sherri Shepherd Signs With UTA Neither side offered any details of the settlement that occurred during arbitration of Kassan's employment contract with UTA and allegations of wild spending and more. However, all the signs had indicated for the past few weeks that this was coming to an amicable end. At the same time, it looks like Kassan will not be returning to work for the agency or his MediaLink banner, I hear. With much hoopla, UTA acquired MediaLink in 2021 for $125 million. In March of last year, Kassan and then UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer took their dust-up public with the latter claiming the former was fired, and the consulting exec insisting he resigned — and was due a payout. Kassan, who founded the insider oriented MediaLink, was made a partner at UTA after the deal and continued to oversee the consulting practice. Earlier this year, however, a major rift in the relationship went public, with the parties suing each other, trading allegations of fraud and breach of contract. The primary case, which was punctuated by barbs, legal and otherwise, between the opponents, ended up going to arbitration. A $125 million defamation case against UTA's outside attorney Bryan Freedman was tossed out last May. Today's announcement comes five months after Zimmer, the main proponent of the MediaLink deal and Kassan's foil according to court filings, stepped aside as UTA CEO. A new MediaLink leadership team was named by UTA in April 2024. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery Everything We Know About The 'Heartstopper' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'Emily In Paris' Season 5 So Far
New York Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
A Messy Business Divorce Plays Out on the Beaches of Cannes
The picturesque beachfront of the French Riviera is an unlikely place for a bitter rivalry. And yet, as the elite of the media and entertainment industries flocked to Cannes this week for the world's top ad festival, two heavyweights squared off. On one end of the beach where ad deals are struck over glasses of rosé: Michael Kassan, 74, a ringmaster of the marketing industry. His MediaLink consulting firm helped transform the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity into a splashy exponent of the schmoozer-industrial complex. On the other end: United Talent Agency, the Hollywood power broker that bought MediaLink in 2021. Last spring, UTA and Mr. Kassan parted ways, with the company filing a lawsuit accusing him of treating MediaLink's bank account as his 'personal slush fund,' wasting millions of dollars on lavish purchases. Mr. Kassan has called those purchases legitimate business expenses. The case, whose expense details scandalized the media and ad industries, is in arbitration. But it has cast a shadow this week over the Croisette, the baking-hot thoroughfare where allies of both rivals discussed the messy business divorce in palatial hotels, ornate ballrooms and private shuttles to breathtaking hilltop villas. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Post
18-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
3C Venture's Michael Kassan talks media M&A and how to survive the long days and nights at Cannes Lions
Michael Kassan, the unofficial King of Cannes, is back at Cannes with his new company, 3C Ventures. The founder and Chief Executive of the strategic advisory firm has been coming to Cannes Lions for 25 years – which is nearly one-third of the conference's 72-year existence. 3CV kicked off Cannes with its inaugural Convene dinner hosted by 3C Ventures, iHeartMedia, Disney at Louroc restaurant at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes Monday night. It was followed by Convene After Dark, an after-party, hosted by iHeartMedia, 3C Ventures, Condé Nast, which took place at a newly-constructed venue on the hotel's property, giving two big events to start the festival. The company has also launched 3CV Plage, a new space on the beach where marketers, media execs and advertisers are discussing some of the biggest issues facing the industry throughout the week. 7 Michael Kassan at Sport Beach. Ella Pellegrini 7 Seth Dallaire, Walmart, Elery Pfeffer, Nift Networks, Michael Kassan, CEO, 3C Ventures pictured together. Gary Morrisroe / 3C Ventures Kassan spoke to The Post from Stagwell's Sport Beach Tuesday about how the conference has evolved, what's on the horizon for the media and advertising industries and how to survive the long, hot days and raucous, booze-filled nights of Cannes Lions. Q: I was at 3CV's executive dinner and your party last night. Please tell me more about your new company, 3CV, and what you have planned for this week in Cannes? Michael Kassan: We had some fun last night, and 3C in its inaugural visit here to the Cannes Lions, kicked it off, I think, the way we like to with all of our friends and partners and a good cross-section of this industry. And the way I always describe Cannes Lions is the intersection of marketing, media, advertising, entertainment, sports, and technology. I think, you know, the Latin I learned when I was in law school many, many, many, years ago was 'recipes loquitur,' which in Latin says it speaks for itself. So all one need do is look around on the Croisette and I think it speaks for itself. 7 Michael Kassan speaks to The Post. Ella Pellegrini Q: How did you think last night went? Will you do the same thing next year? Have you had a chance to even think about it? MK: I think we changed it up a bit. I've been coming to the Cannes Lions for about a quarter of a century now. My first visit here was 25 years ago, so I guess that's not about a quarter of a century. I was good at math. That is a quarter century. It's changed dramatically, and I think you always have to iterate. The tongue-in-cheek joke is, I guess, in Cannes, Monday is the new Tuesday. 7 Michael Kassan discusses Cannes Lions and how it's evolved. Ella Pellegrini Q: How has Cannes Lions evolved over the years? MK: It's interesting. When I showed up, kind of accidentally, my wife and I were on holiday, we'd always been in this part of the world in the third week of June, coincidentally, for, you know, 35 years. And one day I was sitting at the pool at our hotel and it was a moment like Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz.' When, if you remember, of course you do, when she woke up and said, and you were there, and you are there, and you're there looking at all the farm hands, which turned out to be the, you know, the characters. And I was sitting at the pool and I saw a bunch of folks from the creative side of the industry. And at that time, I was running what was then the largest media agency in the world. And I only say that to underscore the surprise when I said to them: 'Why are you all here?' And I turned to my wife and said: 'Why don't we go into Cannes tomorrow and check out this thing?' And I got here and this was and it continues to be a celebration of creativity. I think if I'm able to say this with a bit of immodesty. I think what I did was I saw the opportunity to build a conference around the Festival of Creativity. What I learned … is there are events that are conferences or [there are] festivals and they're different. And I understand the nuance now. And if you look around the Croisette, as I said earlier, it's clearly a conference. And that conference still surrounds a celebration of creativity. I think Cannes Lions today is the perfect intersection of everything coming together at one time. It is probably the most efficient week of the year because everyone's here that you want to see. And there's always the answer that you get from people when they say, well, 'I could see you in New York, I could see you in LA, I can see you Cleveland,' but you don't. And here it's a forcing function. 7 Dinner at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Rock. Gary Morrisroe / 3C Ventures Q: What kinds of issues are you talking about at Plage CV this week? What are marketers really focused on this year? MK: There are probably four main issues this year. AI is overwhelmingly the number one topic on everyone's mind. Up and down the Croisette and it's from every aspect just how is it going to play [out in your business] and what's going to happen? What does this do to labor? What does this do to the way I do what I do? It's the technology of yes because it will impact everything we do in every aspect of our life number one so the top issue would clearly be that. I think the second issue is the emergence of what many call retail media networks what I've started to call commerce media networks because they're no longer the province of just retailers. When you have companies like Lyft and Uber and Chase Bank and Best Buy. Best Buy is a retailer so you could call it a retail media network but it's based on commerce. Third is clearly the emergence of the influencer and the creator economy. [The fourth topic], I think is the M&A market and what's going to happen as we are waiting for the Omnicom IPG merger to close, God willing, and I Ihink there'll be more to come. The holding company landscape, I suspect, will not look the same at Cannes 2026. 7 Michael Kassan, CEO of 3C Ventures, Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, Musician Questlove, and Rich Bressler, Chief Financial officer of iHeartMedia, attend the iHeartMedia, 3C Ventures and Conde Nast after party. Getty Images for iHeartMedia Q: How will the Skydance-Paramount merger impact the media landscape, assuming it happens? MK: Well, it already has. Paramount's already made some decisions on who their media partners are going to be. That was announced about two weeks ago, so we're already seeing some impact there, and that's even prior to this deal closing, which hopefully it will. And I think once that deal closes, and I do believe it will and I think it should, I think that it will unlock massive changes in the streaming marketplace. I just think the way you've got WarnerBros. Discovery having spun off the cable assets and Comcast having spun off its cable assets…it readies you for different kinds of transactions and I do think once the Skydance Paramount deal closes, you'll see a lot more activity in that regard because like commerce media networks. I've always subscribed. To a philosophy that if you find circumstances where you can use the following three words in a sentence in the right way, someone will make money. And those three words are consolidation, fragmentation, and efficiency. If you can find me a fragmented circumstance that can be made more efficient through consolidation, someone will do well. If you look across the landscape today with the emerging commerce media or retail media networks, there's too many of them. I think there'll be consolidation. I look at the streaming situation exactly the same. So, I think you'll see some of the streamers come together. And I think the Paramount deal is an unlock for that. 7 From left to right: Michael Kassan, CEO of 3C Ventures, Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, Musician Questlove, and Rich Bressler, Chief Financial officer of iHeartMedia. Getty Images for iHeartMedia Q: As a Cannes veteran, what are your tips for people going through this week? How do you be efficient while surviving the grind of going to all of these events late at night and getting up in the morning for meetings and panels? MK: It's really hard, but what I've always told my teams when we hit the ground at the beginning of Cannes, part of my game day speech to the team has always been that glass of rosé in your hand is merely a prop. It's not there for you to drink. It's there for you to hold and be social. That's the best lesson I can give you, number one. Number two, dress light, it gets really hot, and take it all in. Smell the roses, make sure you take it all in. Do spend time looking at the work because at its core, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is around the work.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
#PAID LAUNCHES CREATOR MARKETING GUIDE FOR CANNES LIONS 2025
The creator marketing company provides interactive resources, an exclusive breakfast, and 1,000 essentials kits at Cannes Lions NEW YORK and TORONTO, June 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- #paid, a leading creator marketing platform, today unveiled its Creator Marketing Guide for Cannes Lions 2025. This comprehensive online resource helps creators and brands navigate the festival with a curated list of top sessions, networking opportunities, featured speakers, and on-the-ground activations focused on the creator economy. "Cannes Lions is where creativity meets commerce, and we're here to ensure that creators and marketers find the most relevant sessions, networking opportunities, and partner activations," said Bryan Gold, CEO of #paid. "The guide highlights some of our favorite creator-focused moments to help attendees make the most of this massive event." Now live at the Creator Marketing Guide features a curated list of creator-focused sessions, profiles of top creators attending Cannes, and an easy-to-browse map of key locations—including quiet zones where attendees can step back from the chaos and recharge. The company also announced an exclusive, invitation-only breakfast co-hosted with Michael Kassan's 3C Ventures at Lucia restaurant, within PLAGE 3CV. This closed-door gathering offers a rare opportunity to network with top creators, brand marketers, and some of the most influential voices in the industry. #paid has also partnered with a lineup of top brands—Vacation, LolaVie, Neuro, Jukebox, and others—to distribute must-have essentials kits. Their street team will be stationed along the Croisette, wearing #paid-branded smart backpacks that feature built-in lockers for easy access. With just a quick tap of a phone, attendees can unlock a locker and grab a kit. Throughout the week, #paid's creator marketing experts will join a wide range of industry leaders—including Corey Rados (Uber), Leticia Hirabayashi (Patreon), Meena Mutha (Discord), Chris Bellinger (PepsiCo), and many others—to discuss the future of the creator economy. Catch them at panels across the festival, and visit to access the guide and secure your essentials kit. About #paid #paid is a creator marketplace that connects vetted creators with the world's most recognizable brands, like McDonald's, Sephora, Samsung, and Disney. Together, creators and marketers collaborate and measure entire creator marketing campaigns in a centralized and integrated experience. The company empowers creators to do what they love, and brings trust to the creator ecosystem with proprietary technology solutions to large category problems, like fair pricing, algorithmic matching, and automated content usage rights that create true omnichannel creator marketing. The company is rated #1 for its customer support and managed services, and powers marketing teams and content creators from offices in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. View original content: SOURCE #Paid Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
