UTA Chief Jeremy Zimmer Faces Backlash Over Public Shaming of Meghan Markle: ‘Shocking Display of Bad Taste’
variety.comMatt Donnelly Senior Film Writer 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).
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