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In the Wall Street Journal’s article about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex last weekend, WSJ buried an interesting detail in their negative, tabloid-like assessment of the Sussexes’ “flop.” WSJ noted that “News Corp’s Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has a content partnership with Spotify’s Gimlet Media unit.” The same Gimlet Media unit which worked alongside the Archewell Audio team. Thus, it was the Gimlet team leaking all of that weird sh-t about the Sussexes, and the far-reaching empire of Rupert Murdoch was eager to disseminate every negative story about the Sussexes.

Speaking of, we now know that Murdoch’s empire has a connection to UTA – the Wall Street Journal is represented by UTA, and UTA’s CEO Jeremy Zimmer decided it was a good look to say, at Cannes Lions last week, that Meghan is talentless. The ol’ UTA-WSJ-Murdoch-Dow Jones-Gimlet connection, all working in concert to smear, insult and lie about the Sussexes. Well, as it turns out, Zimmer’s comments are being seen within the industry as incredibly unprofessional. Which is true – I’ve been shocked by the lack of professionalism across the board, not just with UTA’s CEO, but with Spotify saying nothing as their executive publicly trashed the Sussexes.

Pearls were clutched all over Hollywood on Monday in the wake of an unlikely press beef – United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. On a media spree at the Cannes Lions for the past week, Zimmer was asked about the recent meltdown of a $20 million multi-year deal Meghan and husband Prince Harry signed with Spotify in 2020. The pact produced a single series, “Archetypes,” which was not renewed. The termination of the deal was announced June 15.

“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent,” Zimmer told Semafor at the marketing festival in the South of France. “And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something.”

His comments were “mind-blowing,” according to one A-list talent manager who asked to remain anonymous. “As an agent, you never publicly discuss your own talent or anyone else’s.”

A top agent from a UTA competitor called Zimmer’s quote “a shocking display of bad taste. Who wants to sign with someone who trashes people like that in public?”

Indeed, the polished suits of the representation business treat their roles behind the scenes as virtue — so rarely stepping out in front that it’s a shock when they offer on-the-record defenses (as CAA’s Bryan Lourd did for his client Scarlett Johansson during her battle with Disney) or speak broadly about larger issues like discrimination (Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s decrying of Kanye West’s antisemitism in 2022).

Zimmer’s Markle diss boiled over Monday afternoon, when the New York Post reported that the agency had pursued the formal senior royals as potential clients when they first moved to Los Angeles (an individual familiar with UTA said no meetings were ever scheduled or held with the Sussexes). In April, Meghan landed at a major talent house, signing with WME.

The Zimmer insider added that the CEO fielded relentless questions about Meghan and Spotify the day of his Semafor interview, as a lengthy Wall Street Journal piece about the Sussexes made its way around the world.

Taking the Sussexes out of the equation, another top dealmaker said “I don’t care who it is, decorum is decorum. I feel for the staff.” Variety spoke with three UTA agents on Monday, who declined to be named in this piece but admitted they were “embarrassed.”

[From Variety]

“…A shocking display of bad taste. Who wants to sign with someone who trashes people like that in public?” Exactly. Not only did Zimmer trash Meghan, he ONLY trashed Meghan. Not Harry. He trashed the woman who actually produced a very popular podcast, a podcast which won awards. There’s something about Meghan – gee, I wonder what?? – which makes so many of these white men lose their f–king grip on reality. Not only that, Zimmer’s comments look like sour grapes, given that UTA was trying to sign the Sussexes.

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