Jeremy Zimmer on Leaving UTA, Hollywood and the MediaLink Mistake | Exclusive

The UTA co-founder and CEO built the agency for decades, but let Michael Kassan get the better of him

Jeremy Zimmer at The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival in May 2024. (Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Jeremy Zimmer at The Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival in May 2024. (Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

It’s an exquisite irony that Jeremy Zimmer’s last major business trip was at the end of February, where he sat at a gala dinner in Doha with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani — just across from his nemesis, Michael Kassan.

The CEO of United Talent Agency was there to secure MediaLink’s business with Qatar’s Government Digital Council (GDC), which was hosting a Web Summit for 25,000 attendees and star speakers like Will Smith and Alexis Ohanian. 

Kassan, the brand-whisperer who has been entangled in a bitter lawsuit with Zimmer for a year after (pick a side) quitting or being fired from UTA, was competing for Qatar’s business too, but as a rival to UTA-owned MediaLink. 

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