Episode 127: UTA's War With Variety

UTA CEO David Kramer fired off a companywide memo attacking Variety reporter Matt Donnelly following a story about high-profile client departures — including Alex Cooper and Nikki Glaser. Kramer accused Donnelly of bias, threatening behavior, and deliberately trying to damage UTA's business. Variety stood by its reporting and said the cited messages were taken out of context. For agents, clients, and anyone watching the agency landscape, the memo itself is the signal worth reading. Key Takeaways: Variety published its UTA client-departure story on August 26, spotlighting exits by Alex Cooper and Nikki Glaser. UTA CEO David Kramer sent a companywide memo accusing reporter Matt Donnelly of declaring UTA a "flagrant and hostile enemy" and threatening consequences "from Variety/PMC and myself." Kramer also accused Donnelly of "hostile and unprofessional behavior" toward women at UTA — a serious allegation made in writing to the full company. Variety's spokesperson confirmed the messages cited date to last May and originated from an exchange a UTA executive initiated — not Donnelly unprompted. Kramer claimed 2025 was a record-breaking year for UTA and that 2026 is on track to outperform — but offered no figures to support either claim. The memo, sent internally, promptly surfaced in The Hollywood Reporter — a reminder that companywide memos at major agencies function as market communications, not just internal ones. The competitive risk: agencies trade on perceived momentum, and a CEO going to war with a trade publication signals that the underlying story landed harder than the response admits. The business question underneath all of this isn't whether Matt Donnelly had an ugly text exchange with a UTA exec last May. It's whether Cooper and Glaser are isolated departures or early data points in a broader client-movement story. Watch what Donnelly publishes next — and watch whether other trades start pulling the same thread. That's the real forward read here. Subscribe to The Option for daily updates on the business behind the business.