Cari Ross, who joined the Gersh talent agency last year to head its communications department, died Wednesday, according to the agency, which cited a heart condition as the cause. She was 59.
Ross spent the past year serving as senior VP of communications for the Gersh talent agency. Before Gersh, Ross ran her own PR firm, Balance Public Releations, for 11 years. She previously served as an executive at ID, and made her name over many years the PR firm Baker Winokur Ryder PR. Ross was skilled in orchestrating FYC campaigns for Oscars, Emmys and other major entertainment awards.
“I am deeply saddened to learn and inform you of the passing of our friend and colleague Cari Ross,” Siebert wrote in a memo to Gersh staff. “On behalf of Gersh, we send our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends. Her dedication, passion and commitment to her work and her contributions to our team at Gersh will always be remembered.”
Ross was respected and well-liked in the creative community. She was a fierce advocate for her clients, but she also understood the needs of journalists. She was known for being quick with a yes or quick with a no when fielding requests for the stars that she represented over the years.
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In October 2017, as the #MeToo scandal erupted with reporting on Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual assaults, Ross was one of very few industry insiders to call out the culture of enabling and covering up bad behavior that allowed Weinstein’s shocking behavior to persist for so long. Ross demonstrated the courage of her conviction by penning a guest column for PvNew, proving that she was willing to say in public what so many were saying in private.
“Why has this community remained silent for so long? Why have we all turned the other way when we knew what he was doing? Power vs. Ambition,” Ross wrote. “The powerful, like Weinstein, holds all the cards for the ambitious. To be ambitious in Hollywood means you put up with anything you can tolerate to get ahead. You close your eyes and your mouth as long as the powerful moves you up the ladder. And it’s not just the women in question, but their representatives, the studios, the networks and the Weinstein Co. themselves.”
