Rep Sheet Roundup: WME Signs Rick Astley

Who got signed, promoted, hired or fired? The Hollywood Reporter’s Rep Sheet rounds up the week in representation news. To submit announcements for consideration, contact rebecca.sun@thr.com.

No Pranks in This Column, No Sir

Singer Rick Astley has signed with WME. This month the English artist, who has sold more than 40 million records worldwide, played his first official shows in the U.S. in 27 years, including an Aug. 11 concert at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. Astley’s comeback effort 50, which BMG will release Stateside on Oct. 7, opened atop the U.K. charts last month, his first album to do so since his 1987 debut Whenever You Need Somebody. That album included the single “Never Gonna Give You Up,” which reached No. 1 in 16 countries and is enjoyed by many people today.

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Real-Time Publicity

24: Legacy‘s Coral Pena has signed with PMK*BNC. The Blue Bloods alum will play Gia, an eager, self-taught computer analyst, on the Fox franchise reboot, which is set to premiere Feb. 5.

Not Playing Around

CAA has signed Derek Jeter’s media company The Players’ Tribune for entertainment. The agency recently helped TPT option former NFL player Vernon Turner’s life rights for its first film project. 

A Handful of Characters

Abrams has signed five reality stars to its alternative programming department in New York:

·    Dalen Spratt, Juwan Mass and Marcus Harvey, the stars of Destination America’s Ghost Brothers. The trio has explored haunted sites together since 2011 while maintaining their day jobs, Harvey as a comedian and celebrity barber, Spratt and Mass as the designers behind label Loren Spratt.

·    Elizabeth Saint of Destination America’s Ghosts of Shepherdstown. In addition to pursuing acting and modeling, Saint studied electrical engineering and worked as a technician and investigator for Maryland Paranormal Research. She currently is a paranormal investigator based in Colorado and designs research equipment through her company Ghostly Gadgets.

·    Josh Owens of Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners. In addition to making moonshine, the North Carolina native was a retired professional superbike and motocross racer who was the N.C. dirt bike champion in 2003-04.

Personal Announcements

42West publicist Julie Mathis welcomed her first child, son Bowie King Crooks, with Jerome Crooks, a tour manager for bands including Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden and Tool. Bowie was born on July 20 at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles at 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches long.

Anonymous Content manager Dara Gordon, a member of THR‘s 2014 Next Gen class, married writer/director Chris McCoy (Good Kids) on July 30 at Foxfire Mountain House in Mount Tremper, N.Y. The two were engaged in December in the Galapagos Islands and honeymooned in France and Italy.

Elsewhere in Rep World:

CAA Signs ‘Transformers 5’ Star

UTA Signs High Times

Ed note: If you’re confused by any of the links above, please read this.