“This Is Not The Wild West”: Bill Weinstein Now Seeks Restraining Order Against Verve In Bid To Be CEO – Update

Dominic Patten
·4 min read

UPDATED with Verve statement & Restraining Order filing : Just over a week after Bill Weinstein left Verve, the former CEO of the agency he co-founded wants his old job back, at least for a while – and Weinstein’s going to court to get it.

The breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Weinstein today in LA Superior Court claims he was kicked out this month for “without any notice, reason, cause or an opportunity to cure.” (Read the complaint here).

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“With Weinstein now conveniently out of their way, Levine and Besser are looking to sell Verve without Weinstein’s participation or cutting him in on the sales proceeds, giving further clarity to the nefarious motives behind the timing and abruptness of Levine and Besser’s ouster of Weinstein,” the complaint from the firm of Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae states, with more that a few additional swipes of “repeated leaks to the media” out of Weinstein’s departure.

“This misguided coup attempt by Levine and Besser violated multiple provisions of the Operating Agreement, including the required dispute resolution procedures, which Mr. Weinstein seeks to enforce through this action for injunctive relief.”

To that end, the ex-Endeavor literary agent is seeking a court injunction against Verve and co-founders Adam Levine and Bryan Besser rendering his firing DOA, at least until the widely expected legal action he began today is dealt with. A potential March 6 hearing date is on the table, I hear.

Also, in his request for a temporary restraining order, Weinstein has slammed his former and perhaps future associates for not abiding “by their contractual duties”: “This is not the Wild West”

“This misguided ‘coup’ by Mssrs. Levine and Besser will undoubtedly backfire spectacularly, as will be proven in Mr. Weinstein’s concurrently filed confidential arbitration proceeding which, in part, challenges the propriety of this ‘termination,'” the ex parte application states (Read the TRO application here)

“For now, however, Mr. Weinstein simply requests that this Court enter a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, returning Mr. Weinstein provisionally to his employment with Verve, preserving the status quo pending the arbitration proceeding, and requiring Verve, Levine and Besser to engage in the contractually required dispute resolution procedure to which all parties agreed during the formation of the company,” the document adds.

Still, if granted, such an injunction and TROwould put Weinstein back in the CEO seat for a spell at the agency he helped create 14 years ago. On top of that, with Verve not naming anyone to the CEO job since Weinstein was shown the door on February 19, Devon Schiff, Matthew Doyle and Jake Dillman left the company too. The speculation is that Weinstein would be forming a new company with the trio first on board.

At the time of his ouster, the agency’s leadership did not comment on the reasons beyond thanking him “for his 14 years of service.”

As Nellie Andreeva reported last week, several people who had worked at Verve over the past decade or have had dealings with the agency, spoke to Deadline about Weinstein’s management style and the culture of fear he allegedly fostered.

In response to the allegations, Weinstein provided a statement, which read in part:

“I work with drive and passion to lift my clients to reach their greatest potential,” he said. “I deeply value my employees and the personal and professional relationships we share. I lead with fairness and patience and a dogged focus toward progress and the future.”

Besser and Levine responded to the lawsuit with a statement by their attorney, Julie Gerchick at Glaser Weil.

“The allegations in Mr. Weinstein’s complaint are false. This is clearly an attempt by Mr. Weinstein to cover up the conduct that led to his termination for cause. His demand to be reinstated at Verve is perplexing in light of his efforts, as reported in the press, to try to start a small agency of his own. Ironically, Mr. Weinstein’s filing of a lawsuit will now necessitate a response from Verve that will publicly air the conduct that the company viewed as so toxic in the first place. This is just another example of Mr. Weinstein promoting himself at the expense of the employees and clients of Verve. To be clear, there is no plan to sell Verve.”

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