CAA Exits Talent Agent Darren Statt

CAA will only confirm that “he’s no longer an employee with the company” though sources say he was fired today. Sources close to talent agent Darren Statt tell Deadline: “Just a hard hit that was unexpected. He is a hard working agent and by all accounts he meshed well over there. He has learned from his mistakes, become much mellower, and really is a decent man. He is a good agent with good clients who had a bad run recently.” Statt’s career has taken a lot of twists and turns and bumps in the road over recent years. Hot-tempered and immature back in 2002, Statt left Endeavor after being suspended for two weeks by partner Ari Emanuel. That unusual action followed an ugly tirade at the DreamWorks offices where witnesses say the Scotsman directed a profanity-laced tirade at the studio staffers over a scheduling mishap. The fracas caused Steven Spielberg to personally phone Emanuel and declare that Endeavor agents were not welcome at Dreamworks offices. But that didn’t bother UTA’s Jeremy Zimmer who hired Statt even though other UTA partners had lingering concerns about specific Statt behavior issues. Statt was a valuable UTA asset and, in 2009 tested the waters at CAA and jumped with his clients. His two biggest at the time were Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Ryan Reynolds. Well, Johnson has since moved from CAA to WME. And Reynolds career is ice cold. But he has signed young clients like The Mortal Instruments star Jamie Campbell Bower, signed Matthew Fox and has an actor list that includes Cillian Murphy, Ciaran Hinds and Paula Patton. No doubt that Statt will land quickly if that’s what he chooses to do.

(Nikki Finke is supposed to be on vacation.)

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