This story first appeared in the July 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.
In 2008, as Wesley Snipes was fighting his former talent agency UTA over unpaid commissions, he sat for an interrogation by Power Lawyer Bryan Freedman. THR tracked down the hilarious transcript.
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Freedman: Assuming I’m a talent agent and you’re my client, in the usual talent agency-client relationship, if I’m representing you and you make some sort of money from some source during the time that I’m representing you, the usual claim from a talent agency is that they’re entitled to commission off whatever you make during the period of representation.
Snipes: Right.
Snipes’ lawyer: Objection. Vague and ambiguous, lacks foundation, incomplete hypothetical, calls for an expert conclusion.
Snipes: I can translate it to the way I understand it. It’s no different than a pimp. That’s what a pimp does with a ho. A pimp will lay claim to whatever the ho produces anywhere on the planet for as long as she’s a ho. And then, even after she retires from being a ho, they’re still gonna make the claim. Now, whether they actually do anything or not to deserve it is a whole ‘nother issue. That’s kind of my experience with the talent agencies — if they receive the phone call, if your name has been a part of their roster, if they receive a piece of mail, then as far as they’re concerned, they are entitled to commission.
Freedman: What does the pimp do when the ho doesn’t pay?
Snipes: They usually beat them up.
Freedman: No further questions.
Snipes later reached a confidential settlement with his former agency.
Email: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com
Twitter: @THRMattBelloni
