Adam Venit, the head of WME’s motion picture group, has taken a leave of absence amid allegations he was the Hollywood executive who sexually assaulted Terry Crews.
Last month, Terry took to Twitter to share his experience with a then-unnamed executive who allegedly groped him in front of his wife.
via Variety:
Sources close to the situation said Crews in recent days has been preparing to cite Venit as the unnamed executive. Crews is a client of WME.
Reps for WME and Venit declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Crews.
Details about the incident, including the setting of the event, remain sketchy. It’s unclear if Venit’s alleged intent was overtly sexual or if it was aggressive horseplay that crossed a line. Crews said the groping occurred in full view of his wife.
Crews’ disclosure via Twitter came a few days after the New York Times and New Yorker reported explosive revelations of sexual harassment and assault allegations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein dating back decades.
Venit represents an extensive client list that includes Dustin Hoffman and Brett Ratner, both of whom have been accused of sexual harassment over the past week. He also reps such top talent as Golden Globe and Oscar winner Emma Stone, as well as Adam Sandler, Diane Keaton, Shawn Levy, Vince Vaughn, Marc Forster, and Eddie Murphy.
Venit used to oversees the agency’s finance and distribution team, WME Global, but after merging with Endeavor Content, that division no longer exist and he is not involved with Endeavor Content.
The agent has negotiated a number of groundbreaking deals for his clients, including Sandler’s pact with Netflix, Kevin James’ agreement on “Kevin Can Wait,” and Gal Gadot’s groundbreaking deal on the “Wonder Woman” sequel with Warner Bros. He is working on putting together “Creed 2” for clients Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan. Venit also struck a deal for M. Night Shyamalan on “Split” and helped build out his writer-director client’s TV business with “Wayward Pines.”
Venit worked at Endeavor from 1996 to 2009 when the agency merged with the William Morris Agency. He began his career in the mailroom of Creative Artists Agency, where he worked for 11 years and became a leader in the talent department.
If you missed Terry’s brave account the first time, click here.
