United Talent Agency is seeking a dramatic rewrite to the lawsuit brought rival Creative Artists Agency, with UTA declaring CAA’s accusations of fraud and malice untruths designed to publicly shame the younger agency.
A CAA civil suit filed on April 2 — sparked by the March 31 exodus of top CAA comedy agents for UTA with star clients in what the former called a “lawless, midnight raid” — has seen significant bloodshed, and UTA is balking at legal language that ratchets up its alleged misdoings.
In a new documents filed Friday in L.A. Superior Court, UTA found CAA’s suit to be “riddled with irrelevant statements, half-truths and downright lies.” UTA also said its rival “only fired off these hyperbolic and improper accusations in an attempt to publicly embarrass” them.
Representatives for CAA did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment on the legal amendemnt.
Among the charges hurled at UTA, CAA alleged intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty, breach of duty of loyalty, conspiracy to breach duty of loyalty and violations of business.
UTA, run by CEO Jeremy Zimmer, is also eye-rolling at CAA’s request for damages, saying the outfit “has not and is unable to plead sufficient facts to support an award of punitive or exemplary damages.”