In all of the exorbitant fallout from Michael Kassan’s exit from UTA earlier this month even the lawyers are getting shrapnel now.
Following a Deadline article of March 25 in which the agency’s outside counsel Bryan Freeman called ex-MediaLink CEO a “pathological liar,” Kassan is now aiming his ire at the Hollywood heavyweight to the tune of $125 million. If the sum sounds familiar, it’s because it is the exact amount that UTA bought strategic advisory firm MediaLink for in a handshake deal back in December 2021
The trial seeking defamation suit filed today in LA Superior Court cuts pretty fast to the chase, as you can see here
Knowing that Kassan’s profession consists of providing important strategic advice to the largest companies in the world, on behalf of his clients, Freedman took aim at the heart of Kassan’s livelihood and profession and engaged in a sharp-shooting character assassination plan to further the scheme of trying to create a non-compete by defamation. Specifically, Freedman “proclaimed2” to a reporter at Deadline that Kassan compulsively and repeatedly lies because Kassan has the clinical pathology of a mental disease – a “pathological liar.” This statement was made as if it was relaying a fact. This statement by Freedman was malicious and intentional. Stated another way, a non-compete by defamation. Freedman did not just say this to a few people, he said it to countless people via Deadline article so he could inflict maximum damage. Freedman is not just a sophisticated lawyer and knew what he was doing was illegal but has also been a party to litigation in the past and understands what this strategy could do to a person’s reputation. Freedman broke the law by defaming Kassan, and as an agent of his clients, so too did they.
The harm Freedman’s false and malicious statements have caused cannot now be undone. Through this lawsuit, Kassan seeks, as best he can, to remedy Freedman’s and FTC’s wrongful, illegal, and defamatory conduct.
No stranger to the slings and arrows of the town, Freedman was quick to respond.
“Facts are not defamation,” the lawyer said, a slight repetition of previous swipes at his client’s foe. “Michael Kassan’s continuous baseless filings and statements are nothing more than an attempt to create a false media narrative and divert attention from his fraudulent activities.”
Full disclosure, Freedman, as well as representing the likes of Gabrielle Union snd Megyn Kelly against NBC, and various Reality TV stars and others, has represented Deadline’s parent company PMC over the years
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