EXCLUSIVE: The fallout from KMR Talent’s growing problems with client payment that culminated with the agency on Friday suspending its SAG-AFTRA franchise, continues.
One of KMR’s top agents, Jed Abrahams, today resigned from his post as SVP and head of the agency’s New York office. He announced his departure in an email to colleagues, clients and friends, a copy of which was obtained by Deadline.
“My beloved NY colleagues and I stand together in our profound disappointment and melancholy,” he wrote in the email. “It has been demoralizing as we powerlessly watched the unfolding of recent events and the consequent challenges now confronting so many we treasure.”
KMR owner and President Mark Measures on Friday sent a letter to SAG-AFTRA, informing them of the decision to inactive the agency’s franchise. The move, which would not allow any guild member to work with KMR agents during the suspension, is said to have come as a surprise to many reps at the agency.
In his email, Abrahams noted that “as per Mark Measures, KMR remains open” amid swirling speculation on social media over the weekend that the agency’s suspension of operations may be permanent.
In his letter to SAG-AFTRA on Friday, Measures stressed that “we will emerge from this temporary setback as a stronger and more resilient agency.”
In response to Deadline’s request for comment on Abrahams’ departure, Measures issued a statement praising the veteran agent.
“Jed was an integral part in our journey of building our New York office into the success it is,” Measures said. “I know he will take his amazing taste in talent and his undying passion for representation to the next level in whatever his next chapter is. I will always be indebted to him for the work he did and the council he gave me over the last 10 years.”
In his letter, Abrahams addressed his next step, saying that “I will be charting a new and exciting path in representation, and I look forward to sharing those specifics as they take shape in the very near future.” He has not returned a request for further comments from Deadline.
As we have been reporting for the past week, KMR clients have been waiting in vein for months to get their checks in what Measures called “talent payment breakdown” during an interview with Deadline.
KMR also recently exited the Association of Talent Agents (ATA), the trade organization that negotiates agency franchise agreements with the major entertainment guilds and does legislative lobbying on behalf of its members.
Abrahams is not the only KMR to exit or plot a departure amid the turmoil. As Deadline reported on Friday, Jamie Hernandez, Head of Adult On-Camera Commercial, and talent agent Alicia Ruskin, Partner/SVP, announced to clients that they will be opening their own shop, True Artists Agency, with at least one other KMR employee joining them as a coordinator. Valerie Chiovetti is said to be exploring her options, with others reaching out to other agencies for jobs.