Former Verve CEO Bill Weinstein has filed a lawsuit against the talent agency, alleging that he was improperly ousted from the company on Feb. 19 by two partners who are looking to sell the company.
Weinstein’s suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Verve partners Bryan Besser and Adam Levine of “a misguided coup attempt” in violation of agency’s charter agreement with the steps the two took earlier this month to fire Weinstein for cause. The complaint asserts that Besser and Levine’s goal is to sell the agency and deny Weinstein his share of the proceeds. According to the complaint, Weinstein owns 25% of Verve, which was founded in 2009 by Weinstein, Besser and Levine.
“Levine’s and Besser’s conduct was and is egregious, malicious, violative of the Operating Agreement and the fiduciary and other duties they owe to Weinstein and are therefore actionable,” the complaint states. “With Weinstein now safely out of the picture, Levine and Besser are looking to sell Verve without Weinstein’s participation and with no intention of cutting him in on the sale proceeds in spite of the fact that he owns over 25% of Verve.”
Verve’s attorney Julie Gerchik at Glaser Weil responded to the suit in a statement provided to PvNew, saying, “The allegations in Mr. Weinstein’s complaint are false. This is clearly an attempt by Mr. Weinstein to cover up the conduct that led to his termination for cause. His demand to be reinstated at Verve is perplexing in light of his efforts, as reported in the press, to try to start a small agency of his own.”
The statement continues, “Ironically, Mr. Weinstein’s filing of a lawsuit will now necessitate a response from Verve that will publicly air the conduct that the company viewed as so toxic in the first place. This is just another example of Mr. Weinstein promoting himself at the expense of the employees and clients of Verve. To be clear, there is no plan to sell Verve.”
The complaint details steps taken by Besser and Levine that violated Verve’s rules around holding board meetings and making termination decisions. Verve also was quick to lock Weinstein out of his agency email and access to documents and other agency-related materials after informing him of his termination.
“Besser and Levine chose to ignore the dispute resolution procedures in the Operating Agreement and instead conspired with one another to oust Weinstein from the company on Presidents’ Day, February 19, 2024, without any notice, reason, cause, or an opportunity to cure,” the complaint states. “To make matters worse, Besser and Levine purported to terminate Weinstein for unspecified ‘Cause’ (which is a defined term in the Operating Agreement). A member’s departure for ‘Cause,’ carries with it serious economic consequences, including Verve’s ability to redeem the departing member’s equity interests at a substantial discount to their true value.”
Following Weinstein’s departure from Verve, agents Jake Dillman, Matthew Doyle and Devon Schiff left the literary boutique. “We are aware that Bill may be trying to create his own agency and we wish him the best,” Verve leadership said in a statement. “Since his departure Monday, we have let go of a few additional employees whose visions do not align with the culture and the future of Verve.”
(Pictured: Bill Weinstein)
