Latest sex scandal involving who is who in Hollywood… RatPac partners, Warner Bros. CEO, Marty Singer the #1 Sex Attorney in Beverly Hills, and guess what? We even encountered such terrifying name like ‘Anti-Defamation League’!
Warner Bros. Chairman/CEO Kevin Tsujihara resigns as studio investigates report that he offered acting roles for sex
“I Need to Be Careful”: Texts Reveal Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara Promoted Actress (Charlotte Kirk) Amid Apparent Sexual Relationship
by Tatiana Siegel, Kim Masters
At 12:10 a.m. on Sept. 27, 2013, Australian billionaire James Packer texted a 21-year-old British actress named Charlotte Kirk.
Kirk had been laboring to establish herself in Hollywood with limited success, but now Packer, who was a partner with director Brett Ratner in the film production/finance company RatPac Entertainment, was saying she was about to catch a major break.
“I have the opportunity of a lifetime for u,” Packer wrote in a text message reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter. “Come to [the Hotel] Bel air now. U will never be able to pay me.” He promised an introduction to “the most important man u can meet.” Kirk quickly agreed to the rendezvous.
RatPac partners James Packer and Brett Ratner with Kevin Tsujihara at an Anti-Defamation League dinner in Beverly Hills in 2015.
Packer did not identify the man by name, but based on hundreds of texts, emails and a draft settlement agreement obtained and reviewed by THR, the late-night introduction was to Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara. That communication and subsequent encounters between Kirk and Tsujihara drew the powerful studio chief into what Kirk repeatedly referred to as a sexual relationship. And from there the relationship devolved into a protracted and increasingly desperate struggle among Tsujihara, Ratner and Packer to manage Kirk’s urgent demands to be cast in movies and TV series. At one point, Ratner accused Kirk of attempted “extortion.”
The three-year entanglement, revealed here for the first time, offers a window into a dark aspect of the entertainment industry, which regularly brings together attractive young women, eager if not desperate for a shot at stardom, and successful men who at times see these women as a perk of their wealth and power.
According to the text messages, Tsujihara said he would arrange for Kirk to meet with studio executives on Warner Bros. film and TV projects, a highly unorthodox effort for the chairman of a studio. On March 3, 2015, a frustrated Kirk texted him to say, “You’re very busy I know but when we were in that motel having sex u said u would help me and when u just ignore me like you’re doing now it makes me feel used. Are u going to help me like u said u would?” Tsujihara responded: “Sorry you feel that way. Richard will be reaching out to u tonight.” Other texts make clear that the reference was to Richard Brener, then president of production at Warners’ New Line label. (There was no indication that Brener was aware of any relationship between Kirk and Tsujihara. Brener, through a WarnerMedia rep, declined to comment.)
Kirk ultimately was cast in small roles in two Warners films: 2016’s How to Be Single and 2018’s Ocean’s 8, and according to documents reviewed by THR as well as accounts from sources, she scored auditions for several other projects at Warners and at Avi Lerner’s Millennium Films. The texts show that over time, Kirk became increasingly agitated because she was not getting as many roles as anticipated. Eventually, Ratner seemed to take the lead in attempting to manage the situation and, via attorney Marty Singer, brokered a proposed settlement agreement that would have assured her auditions as well as an appearance in a Ratner-directed movie. The proposed deal was never signed, according to Singer. Ratner maintains that Kirk was a friend and he was simply helping her secure auditions.
The three-year entanglement, revealed here for the first time, offers a window into a dark aspect of the entertainment industry, which regularly brings together attractive young women, eager if not desperate for a shot at stardom, and successful men who at times see these women as a perk of their wealth and power. The Kirk revelations also come as Tsujihara, 54, is poised to take on a larger role at WarnerMedia, the content division of publicly traded AT&T. In a reorganization unveiled March 4, Tsujihara will gain control of Cartoon Network and an animation division as well as the iconic Warner Bros. studio, making him one of the town’s most powerful executives. As a measure of his stature, he sat next to WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey in a plum position at the Oscars in late February.
The texts appear to corroborate accounts from other sources who spoke to THR, prompting queries in November 2017 about Tsujihara’s relationship with Kirk. Asked about Kirk then, Tsujihara engaged legal counsel, denied any relationship with her and threatened a lawsuit.
The issue arose again in September 2018. An anonymous letter sent to WarnerMedia’s Stankey raised a series of explosive questions about whether a top Warner Bros. executive had promised speaking roles to an actress, identified only as “CK,” in exchange for her silence. THR reported then that WarnerMedia had retained the law firm Munger Tolles & Olson to investigate, but the company said the probe uncovered no evidence of misconduct.
Now these texts reveal that Tsujihara apparently did have a relationship with Kirk and promised to make efforts to help her get Warners television and film roles.
“Through her spokesperson, the actress has publicly denied any impropriety in her casting, and our prior investigation did not find otherwise,” a WarnerMedia rep says in a statement. “Whenever we receive new allegations, it is our standard practice to conduct an appropriate investigation. And that is what we will do here.” The Warner Bros. CEO’s personal attorney states, “Mr. Tsujihara had no direct role in the hiring of this actress.”
In a statement, Ratner attorney Singer says, “Brett Ratner did nothing wrong and had the best intentions. While he offered to help get Ms. Kirk a limited number of auditions, he consistently told her that she would have to earn any job herself.”
Kirk, meanwhile, states to THR, “I emphatically deny any inappropriate behaviour on the part of Brett Ratner, James Packer, and Kevin Tsujihara, and I have no claims against any of them. I confirm that I was in a romantic relationship with James Packer in the summer of 2013 and that I was treated with respect by Mr. Packer, and I have no issues with him or claims against him. I further confirm that when the relationship ended I sought the advice of Mr. Tsujihara whom I had been introduced to by Mr. Packer. Mr. Tsujihara never promised me anything. I also confirm that Brett Ratner helped me out of friendship to assist me in getting auditions and trying to help me find an agent, and I have no issues with him or claims against him. I deny that there was any legal settlement or agreement entered into between myself and Brett Ratner in 2016.”
A Secret Introduction
According to the text exchanges, Kirk met Packer through Ratner in November 2012 when she was 20 and Packer was 45, and the two embarked on a relationship. After Kirk was introduced to Tsujihara, however, her focus seemed to shift to the Warners chief.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2013, Kirk went to the Hotel Bel-Air for her first meeting with Tsujihara. Later that morning, she texted Packer: “His [sic] not very nice! Very pushy!! He just wants to fuck nothing else does not even want To say anything!” Packer responded, “U OK?” and told her to “Be cool.”
By February 2014, Kirk had enlisted Tsujihara to aid her acting efforts. She continued to text Packer over the ensuing months and was mostly ignored. But she got his attention on Oct. 14 when she texted him that Tsujihara was “very kindly looking at what he can do to help me now that my career is starting to take off.” (She had scored a role in Lionsgate’s Bruce Willis sci-fi thriller Vice.) She asked Packer to watch a video she made, noting, “Kevin loved it.” He replied, “I’m really happy for you. Just don’t want to overpromise. Sending you good energy.”
Kirk answered Packer on Oct. 18 that “putting me in one of your many movies shouldn’t be a big deal,” adding, “I did help u out with Kevin which was hard for me but I did it for you.” At the time Packer set up Kirk’s 2013 encounter with Tsujihara, he and Ratner were sealing a $450 million deal with Warners. RatPac-Dune Entertainment was a financing entity formed between RatPac Entertainment and Steven Mnuchin’s Dune Entertainment. (None of the materials reviewed by THR reference Mnuchin, who is now President Trump’s Secretary of the Treasury.) Kirk would later text Ratner complaining that she felt that she had been “used as the icing on the cake for your finance deal with Warner Bros,” adding, “It’s gross what you all did to me!!!” Ratner responded angrily that the deal had nothing to do with her. (In Kirk’s statement to THR, she adds, “I also deny that I had any connection to the Warners Bros/Rat-Pac slate-financing deal. I had nothing to do whatsoever with closing the transaction, directly or indirectly.”)
In another Oct. 18 exchange, Packer showed his displeasure at the mere mention of Tsujihara’s name and texted, “Hey that’s not being cool.” Still, Kirk persisted: “I didn’t expect to be part of a business deal so all I’m asking is u just help me with a couple of roles it’s not big deal and then we’ll just put this all behind us.” Packer protested that they had discussed all this before. “Yes we did speak before and I was cool before and nothing happened,” she answered. Kirk texted that Packer promised “this man would change my world.'” Packer denied making any promises or forcing her do anything, adding that he felt “like ur trying to blackmail me over a lie.” The two agreed to discuss things in person when Packer was next in Los Angeles.
Three days later, Kirk asked to meet with Packer just as he was about to arrive in L.A. “Dont push me. U’ll regret it,” he wrote. She responded: “James if you’re trying to make me worry about my safety you’ll be forcing me to give this to my attorneys.” Packer answered: “Can’t wait tough girl… Get back in your box or let’s fight. Lying and blackmail are a bad start… tough lying girl.” Kirk replied that the only reason she had raised the possibility of involving her lawyers was because she thought his warning that she would regret pushing him “sounded like a threat on my life.” She continued: “This is all getting out of hand. I’m just asking you to do the right thing and help me. Let’s just meet and resolve this amicably, ok?” He replied: “I’ll meet you but get back in your box.”
After the two apparently met, Kirk noted with disappointment that this time, Packer brought an associate to listen in on their conversation. For months after, Kirk intermittently texted Packer with a conciliatory tone but apparently got no response. At some point Ratner seems to have taken the lead in dealing with her. Packer, who is believed to have sustained losses on his movie investments that mostly included the Warners slate, sold his interest in RatPac-Dune to Ukraine-born billionaire Len Blavatnik in April 2017.
The Relationship: “I Just Need to Be Careful”
After Kirk and Tsujihara met for the first time, they exchanged several texts, arranging a Feb. 24, 2014, meet-up at the bar at Palihouse, a boutique hotel in West Hollywood. Still en route, Tsujihara instructed her to order him a Grey Goose martini with olives. In late February, she texted asking how a screening had gone. “It was good, but I would rather have watched ur music video on loop for a night…” he answered, referring to the video that she had made of herself.
The actress replied, “u make me blush,” and then she asked Tsujihara if he had talked to his “guys” about a television show she had read for. “Yes, I spoke to our guys—i caused a bit of a stir…” he answered. “I don’t usually call about casting about these types of roles. It’s fine, I just need to be careful.” Kirk responded: “I know we can be carful [sic] and make this work,” to which Tsujihara answered, “Doesn’t look great–let’s look for a movie role.”
In an early March 2014 exchange, Tsujihara seemed to be looking to meet up with Kirk but laid out hectic travel plans, saying: “My life is a mess.” Soon after, the actress asked him to “back me” after she read for the role of Becky in The Intern, a Robert De Niro-Anne Hathaway movie that Nancy Meyers was to direct. “Sure. I need to find out where they r on casting,” he answered.
He told her to send her audition clip to his AOL email account but then said the studio had someone else in mind for the role. She replied that her manager thought she would be perfect to play Supergirl for Warners. “Do u want to do a read for me??” he replied. When she responded with enthusiasm, he said, “I’m joking…. U can read anything for me!!!!!”
At one point, Tsujihara texted, “Wish I was doing something else.” She answered, “Mmmm such as? …. I remember how good you were at Mmmm. Your a giver ;)” In her next text, she asked about possible auditions. “Need to ask greg tomorrow…,” he said, apparently referring to former Warners film studio president Greg Silverman. “I’ve got a dinner in santa monica next Thursday night –u want to meet up after?? We’re also beginning to cast some cable tv pilots that I’ll look into as well.” Mentioning that King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was casting, he promised to set up a meeting for Kirk with Silverman or New Line’s Brener. On Aug. 28, 2014, he gave her Brener’s number and said the New Line exec was expecting her call. Tsujihara told her to tell Brener they met at a party.
By early September, Tsujihara was becoming evasive. The day after a Sept. 4 meeting between the two, she texted, “It was nice seeing you last night… So your going to speak with Richard [about] what he has Specifically?” Tsujihara responded, “Yes.” For much of the fall of that year, she peppered Tsujihara with questions about the status of Brener’s efforts to get her work. Tsujihara told her, “I’ll follow up… [He’s] trying his best.” But by spring 2015, communication between the two had become strained.
On March 25, Kirk texted that she received “a very strange call from Brett.” Kirk was becoming increasingly frantic, saying that Brener was now ignoring calls. She wrote, “Please make sure that Richard accepts or returns my agent’s calls – as he requested – so that I can get the help you promised me before luring me to that motel to have sex with you.” She referenced a role she had just landed — presumably How to Be Single, which was just about to begin filming — with disgust. “Kevin? A two liner?? U have got to be kidding me!!” After that it is unclear whether he responded to any further texts.
A knowledgeable source says the decision to cast the actress was “back-channeled” by producer John Rickard, who has a long history with Ratner, having formerly served as his assistant. Given the expense of travel, most of the small speaking roles were cast with New York-based talent. L.A.-based Kirk was an exception. Asked by THR if there were unusual circumstances regarding Kirk’s casting, Rickard responded, “Not that I’m aware of.”
The Breakdown: “Entitled and Despicable”
In July 2015, just after How to Be Single wrapped, Kirk texted Ratner: “You know what u need to do. U haven’t even come close to doing it. If you thought I would be so easily manipulated you’re wrong.” Ratner replied, “What are u talking about? I told u i would get Richard to talk to u…. And he did. He is the key to getting work…. I don’t work for u. Why are u so unappreciative?”
Then Ratner asked where to send “the contract,” an apparent reference to a draft settlement agreement. Four days later, he reversed course, saying, “I’m not sending u the contract. I trust you.. I will just get you a bunch of auditions.. I have 2 auditions coming up… One from New Line for a Will Farrel [sic] movie.. Let me know if you want my help or not? I will have Richard arrange it.” He again complained that Kirk didn’t appreciate what he did for her and said that once she got the auditions, he had done what he could.
Kirk shot back, “You’re the one who wanted me to sign an agreement. Sending me on auditions is a step in the right direction but until it translates into what Kevin promised me then the issues remain unresolved.” To that, Ratner replied, “Well i don’t know what he promised u i wasn’t there.”
A few days later, Kirk said she wanted to tape an audition for Wonder Woman. Ratner responded that the film’s casting director, Lucinda Syson, would call Kirk’s agent to request the tape. Kirk told Ratner on July 16 that she was on the Warners lot auditioning; then she asked to read with Ben Affleck on another movie Syson was casting. “You are giving me too much work,” Ratner complained. When she answered that Ratner sounded like he was going back on his word “yet again,” Ratner called her “entitled and despicable.” To that, she said, “Acting entitled is exactly how Kevin behaved with me, so let’s not go there.”
Kirk reminded Ratner, “you came to me Brett after Kevin told you to because you’re the one who set me up with James.” She accused Ratner of using her as a gesture to commemorate the RacPac-Dune deal with Warners, adding, “You just keep lying to me about getting me jobs and you’re not doing what Kevin told you to do.” As she threatened that she would have her lawyer call Tsujihara, Ratner responded: “I only promised u auditions not jobs. After Kirk persisted, Ratner texted, “Jesus.. Stop acting desperate..” (THR reported on Sept. 30, 2013 — three days after the texts show Packer arranged the first meeting between Kirk and Tsujihara — that the RatPac-Dune deal had just closed.)
In early August, Kirk — who had threatened to involve her attorney in the situation — told Ratner she would ask her lawyer to hold off for a month to give him another chance. “Ok. I will do my best to make you a happy girl,” he replied. A couple of weeks later she told him she’d sent in a tape for the role of Marian in Lionsgate’s Robin Hood. Ratner promised to call “my friend who runs lionsgate!!”. (She does not appear in the film.)
By the end of August 2015, Ratner was exasperated. He bristled at the suggestion that he was doing Tsujihara’s bidding, saying the studio chief was merely an “employee” while he was head of his own company. “Stop writing Kevin and saying what he told me to do?? I don’t work for him.. That’s insulting to me,” he wrote. “I am helping you but your attitude sucks.. As I said, I don’t owe you anything. If anything u owe me for all the money James paid you. A thank you would be nice.” In a subsequent exchange, he accused her of trying to hurt Tsujihara: “He is a married man what are u thinking?”
Kirk denied angrily that she had been paid for sex, saying Packer had showered her with gifts, claiming to be in love with her. If Ratner did not apologize, she warned, “the shit if [sic] going to hit the fan!!!!!” Ratner backpedaled, saying he didn’t think she had been paid for sex, but added: “Regardless what you are doing is extortion [and] is very illegal in this country.” He continued, “You can’t take back the extortion u have committed because u have sent text and emails asking for these auditions and jobs.” He pointed out that she had appeared in How to Be Single, which was her objective. Still, he said he would do his best to get her roles “but only because I’m your friend.” Kirk responded, “Brett you’re an idiot I’m not extorting anyone.”
In September 2015, Ratner connected Kirk with producer Christa Campbell, who has produced a number of films for Lerner’s Millennium including The Hitman’s Bodyguard. A month later, he gave her the phone number of producer Beau Flynn, who was in the midst of casting Paramount’s Baywatch. But Ratner soon became frustrated again. “You told my friend that newline gave u a part because of kevin. U have the big mouth..” he wrote. He later said, “Call Kevin. I’m not doing anything for u. U are ungrateful and unappreciative. You said u wanted to speak to the producer of Baywatch so I made that happen. You didn’t even thank me for the introduction.”
In September 2015, Ratner sent off a flurry of texts to Kirk, imploring her to stop bothering Tsujihara. “KT cannot get you jobs or auditions I told u this many times. Stop asking..its up to the directors and producers.. If you are going to be fucking someone for a part it should be a director or producer..”
A Draft Settlement
By May 3, 2016, a proposed settlement seemed to be underway. With the exception of Ocean’s 8, which Kirk would shoot later that year, Warners movies no longer seemed to be under discussion. Instead Kirk emailed her lawyer, Raymond Markovich, with an eye to appearing in movies from Lerner’s Millennium. “Ray I had a think let’s not reply to Marty until I meet and speak with Avi next week and lock down these roles,” she wrote, apparently referencing attorney Marty Singer. “There is no moving forward on the Brett agreement until it is clear I have the roles.” It is unclear what roles she meant but sources say Lerner attempted — unsuccessfully — to get her a part in the new Hellboy reboot and also hoped to cast her in The Expendabelles, a female-centric version of The Expendables that stalled. (Lerner declined to comment.)
On Aug. 21, 2016 — just before AT&T started the process to buy Warner Bros. parent Time Warner in a $85 billion deal — Markovich emailed Kirk asking her to approve an agreement he had drafted. He wrote that in his email to Singer, he would reference a project called “From Autism to A-List,” which a source says was represented as Kirk’s memoir. That would offer a way to explain any monetary payment made to the actress in the settlement.
In addition to a stipulation that Kirk would get six auditions in the following calendar year, the proposed settlement called for Ratner — in exchange for Kirk’s silence — to “arrange for [the actress] to obtain one (1) acting role compensated in accordance with SAG scale in the next theatrical motion picture directed by Ratner … In the event that, prior to the next theatrical motion picture Ratner directs, Ratner is able to obtain an Acting Role for Kirk in a motion picture he produces but does not direct, that Acting Role shall satisfy Ratner’s obligations pursuant to this provision. Kirk acknowledges and understands that there is no guarantee as to the size of the Acting Role and no guarantee with respect to credits for such Acting Role.” The agreement was apparently never signed.
But Ratner hasn’t directed a film since the agreement was drafted. Given the misconduct allegations against him (Ratner was accused by multiple women of sexual assault in fall 2017, charges he denies), it is unclear when he will work behind the camera again.
So far, Kirk has not appeared in a Millennium film. She has, however, starred as Nicole Brown Simpson in an as-yet-released film titled Nicole & OJ, which shot in Sofia, Bulgaria, where Lerner owns a studio, with many crew members who are regulars on Millennium movies. But a company spokesperson says Nicole & OJ is not a Millennium project. It is not clear who provided the financing (one press report said the film’s budget was $65 million), nor is it known whether the movie has a distributor to take it into the marketplace.
The film was directed by Joshua Newton, who is said to have a personal relationship with Kirk, and has few listed previous credits. It is Kirk’s biggest role to date and Newton, responding to queries from THR several months ago, said it postulates that the football star (played by Boris Kodjoe) was framed in the infamous double murder. Newton promised that the movie would be a revelation. Kirk is “a dedicated actress who takes her craft really, really seriously,” he said, adding that when his film is released, “She will be one of the most sought-after actresses on the planet.”
WarnerMedia’s Kevin Tsujihara Investigation Expected To Wrap Up Quickly: Can He Survive?
Call it the trilogy that no studio head wants.
For the third time in a 16-month span, Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara is the subject of an internal investigation about his relationship with British actress Charlotte Kirk. And with the recently promoted chief’s fate hanging in the balance, parent company WarnerMedia is being asked uncomfortable questions about how thorough the first two were.
A WarnerMedia representative says the prior investigations it conducted did not find impropriety in Kirk’s casting in two Warner Bros. films: the 2016 New Line comedy How to Be Single and the 2018 Sandra Bullock-led caper Ocean’s 8. But according to a knowledgeable source, the company is treating text messages between Tsujihara, 54, and Kirk, 26, first reported by THR in a March 6 exposé that revealed the CEO was lobbying his employees on behalf of the actress with whom he apparently was having an affair, as “new information.” WarnerMedia declined to comment further.
It remains unclear whether the texts are being considered new because WarnerMedia was not made aware such evidence exists, or because of the actual content of the exchanges, which show that Tsujihara made introductions for Kirk with film and TV underlings to help her.
Either way, the revelations present the first embarrassing scandal since AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner cleared regulatory hurdles in February. New WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey recently expanded Tsujihara’s domain to include children’s content like the Cartoon Network and the iconic Warner Bros. animation studio. Adding to the chagrin, perhaps, is the fact that Stankey was seated next to Tsujihara at a WarnerMedia town hall in New York just before the Kirk story broke; the pair also sat together at this year’s Oscars.
According to two sources, it is not a violation of company policy for a rank-and-file Warner Bros. staffer to have an undisclosed consensual relationship with someone who is not in his or her direct line of report. But an executive of Tsujihara’s station is believed to have more restrictive language in his contract that references bringing the company into ill repute as grounds for dismissal. Even if he didn’t violate any specific policy, if Tsujihara lied during the previous investigations, that would be a fireable offense, say lawyers (employees are typically required to sign statements they make during a formal inquiry).
Time Warner first launched an investigation by an undisclosed law firm in November 2017 as reporters, including some from THR, began calling about Tsujihara and Kirk’s relationship. At that point, Ocean’s 8 had wrapped, and rumors about Kirk’s casting had begun to swirl. The company, in the midst of the merger, found no wrongdoing.
The issue reared its head again nearly a year later when a letter penned by someone going by the moniker “Social Justice Warrior” was sent to Stankey in September and raised a series of explosive questions about a top Warner Bros. executive who promised speaking roles to an actress it identified only as “CK.” In response, WarnerMedia retained the respected law firm Munger Tolles & Olson to investigate (it was not involved in the first investigation and is not involved in the current one). Again, no wrongdoing was found.
“That may be because the scope of their investigation was narrow,” says Ann Fromholz, an attorney who specializes in workplace harassment. In other words, the investigators had a limited, constricting mandate from WarnerMedia. “Or it may be because people didn’t give information to them and they had no other way to get it.”
If so, that withholding could itself be problematic for Tsujihara. Fromholz says it’s common for executive contracts to include broad statements requiring that the person follow the board’s orders, and withholding information from investigators could be interpreted as a violation. “The difficulty of investigations is you only know as much as people will tell you or that you can find via email,” Fromholz says. Meanwhile, the other players in the scandal — like director Brett Ratner and his billionaire producing partner, James Packer, who introduced Tsujihara to Kirk — would have had little incentive or mandate to even participate.
As to what comes next for Tsujihara, sources assert he will either stay or go — no suspensions or half-measures. One source, who thinks he is unlikely to remain, says WarnerMedia is looking to wrap up the investigation by the end of March. Industry chatter has moved on to possible replacements, including calls for a woman to get the job.
“I think he’s pretty much toast,” says Kerry Fields, a USC professor of law and ethics. “This information should have been presented to the law firm that previously investigated. He undoubtedly did not fully cooperate. … They had competent outside legal counsel, and I surmise they weren’t given direct responses. It was either intentionally concealed or he used others to buffer the information to protect himself.”
Whether Tsujihara remains in his job, WarnerMedia is taking a PR hit given that it promoted him knowing there were questions about his behavior.
“Whether a CEO needs to go higher than HR and inform the board [about an affair] is debatable,” says Gene Del Vecchio, USC adjunct professor of marketing. “The best course of action is for the CEO to never engage in a romantic relationship at work, especially in cases where he or she has direct influence over the partner’s career. Since most relationships end, it is ripe for lawsuits and blackmail.”
Powerful Friends: After Kevin Tsujihara, More Executives Pushed to Cast Actress Charlotte Kirk
Charlotte Kirk at the June 2018 NYC premiere of ‘Ocean’s 8,’ a film made by Kevin Tsujihara’s Warner Bros.
The reference was to Avi Lerner, the 71-year-old founder and CEO of Millennium Films, who confirms to THR that he indeed knows Kirk. Seemingly with a push from Ratner, Lerner has worked for two-plus years to help the aspiring 26-year-old British actress secure roles in movies produced by his company, including a female-fronted version of The Expendables that never got made and Chuck, a 2016 boxing drama starring Liev Schreiber.As filmmaker Brett Ratner grappled with actress Charlotte Kirk’s increasingly urgent demands for movie roles, he at one point texted: “U know Avi…. Go bother Avi.”
Sources say Lerner’s most focused effort, to include Kirk in the upcoming Hellboy, was resisted by the film’s producer, who refused to cast her. A Millennium spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The campaign to put Kirk in movies came as the actress had become a serious problem for Warner Bros. chairman Kevin Tsujihara. As reported by THR, after the married Tsujihara started an affair with Kirk in September 2013, she pressured him to help her find roles. Tsujihara set up introductions on her behalf, and she secured small parts in two Warner Bros. films: How to Be Single, from the studio’s New Line label, and Ocean’s 8. Tsujihara’s lawyer says his client played no “direct role” in Kirk’s hiring. In a March 8 letter, Tsujihara apologized to Warner Bros. staff for “mistakes in my personal life”; WarnerMedia is investigating his conduct.
Kirk was introduced to Tsujihara by Australian billionaire James Packer, then partners with Ratner in Warners-based RatPac Entertainment. At the time, Kirk was having an affair with Packer, according to texts between them, but then Kirk’s attention turned to Tsujihara.
As the one who had introduced Kirk to Packer in the first place, Ratner appeared to become the point person in the attempt to placate her when her demands on Tsujihara escalated. (Through attorney Marty Singer, Ratner says he was acting as a friend to Kirk.) By 2016, the parties were discussing a settlement that would have required Ratner to get Kirk six auditions for films and cast her in the next movie he directed.
In the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, it is unclear when Ratner might direct again; Warners has severed ties with him. Ratner’s attorney says the agreement was never signed, but Kirk’s attorney Raymond J. Markovich referenced an oral agreement in an email exchange with Kirk on Aug. 21, 2016, citing “1 or more film roles.” Two months later, Kirk was working on Ocean’s 8.
As Ratner attempted to help Kirk secure roles — imploring her to stop contacting Tsujihara — the focus of his efforts shifted to Lerner’s Millennium. Lerner has a well-established reputation not just for making B action movies but also as a producer whose parties and film sets are often populated with aspiring actresses and attractive women.
In May 2017, a former creative executive sued Millennium as “Jane Doe” alleging among other things that during her tenure at the company, Lerner hired “unqualified girlfriends” as producers. When she protested, the suit alleged, she was told “the girls” were valuable to the company because they procured prostitutes for actors and for Lerner’s friends. In a January interview with THR, Lerner called the lawsuit “nonsense,” and the case was apparently settled. Jane Doe declined through her lawyer to comment.
Lerner made news recently when he hired Bryan Singer to direct a reboot of Red Sonja. After Singer was accused in an Atlantic magazine article of sexually assaulting underaged boys, Lerner dismissed the story as “agenda-driven fake news,” then walked the statement back. Eventually, he dropped Singer from the project because he was unable to secure a domestic distributor.
When it came time to cast the Millennium-financed Hellboy remake, sources say veteran producer Lawrence Gordon balked at giving Kirk a major role, even though he was pressured not only by Lerner but by a number of influential individuals in Hollywood. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one top executive at another media giant confirms that Kirk is a “friend” whom he met several years ago through a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and acknowledges that he attempted to intercede on her behalf. Gordon declined to comment.
If Gordon wasn’t sold on Kirk’s acting, Hellboy director Neil Marshall was impressed. “She was my top choice for [Alice], and I pushed hard for her to get the role,” Marshall tells THR in an email. “Ultimately, despite the high quality of her work, she wasn’t considered a big enough ‘name.'”
A rising director, Marshall has episodes of Game of Thrones and Westworld under his belt; Hellboymarks his highest-profile film. He was so taken with Kirk, according to a source, that last summer Marshall left the Hellboy production, which had begun shooting in the U.K. but was moving to Bulgaria, to spend time with her. Leaving the project at that point was highly unusual and Marshall barely returned in time to resume the shoot. He then stunned associates by splitting with his longtime agent turned producing partner and abandoning other potential projects. He and Kirk moved in together as Marshall devoted himself to pitching horror films that Kirk would not only star in but co-write.
“Charlotte is a true creative force,” explains Marshall, “and I’m proud to be collaborating with her.” Marshall approached several top producers about backing these projects, but all passed. Finally, one of the films, The Reckoning, about a woman accused of witchcraft, was announced late in 2018 as the inaugural venture of the troubled MoviePass Films (the film was slated to shoot in Puerto Rico in the first quarter of 2019) .
At this point, MoviePass co-CEO Randall Emmett emphatically denies the company is still involved. “We optioned a movie from Neil Marshall, but the rights lapsed when we couldn’t raise the financing and he now owns it outright,” Emmett says. Marshall says The Reckoning is in preproduction, but it is unclear what, if any, entity is backing the film.
Kirk recently posted a photo on Instagram of herself and Marshall from a trip to Puerto Rico — apparently on a private jet — but has since deleted it.
Meanwhile, Kirk has filmed portions of Nicole & O.J., based on the premise that the former football star was the victim of a setup. On June 28, 2013, Kirk texted Packer that she would star as Nicole Brown Simpson. Actor Boris Kodjoe (Code Black, Resident Evil) would play the ex-running back. The project would be directed by Joshua Newton, who has few listed credits.
The O.J. movie remains unfinished, but the footage shot to date was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria. Although not a Millennium project and apparently not done on Lerner’s soundstages, it employed a crew consisting of regulars who work on Millennium films. Newton says the film, with a budget thought to be between $2 million and $3 million, is backed by a British insurance executive named Kevin Farr. The director hopes to complete the project by November but is still looking for a distributor.
Newton, who explains to THR that Kirk is a former girlfriend, said the finished film would be a revelation. Kirk is “a dedicated actress who takes her craft really, really seriously,” he says, adding that when his movie is released, “She will be one of the most sought-after actresses on the planet.”
In a statement to THR, Kirk has denied “any inappropriate behavior on the part of” Ratner, Packer and Tsujihara and said she had “no claims against any of them.” Kirk’s mother Angie told the Daily Mail that Charlotte was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome as a young girl and defended her daughter, saying “the roles she has won, she has won on merit alone.”