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A career in history that took him from teen messenger to studio manager ends in a sudden resignation.
By Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling
LOS ANGELES – For four decades, even as other potholes arrived and left, Ron Meyer remained a very sensible Hollywood actor, a mix of friendly mayor and string shooter godfather, but his career ended Tuesday in a way that has a numbing regime in the entertainment industry: he got caught up in a crazy scandal.
Mr. Meyer, 75, resigned from NBCUniversal, where he was recently executive vice president, claiming that he had been the victim of an attempt to “extort” him from an extramarital relationship.”I recently revealed to my circle of relatives and to the company that I had reached an agreement, under threat, with an outdoor woman of the company who had made false accusations against me,” Meyer said in a statement.
He didn’t identify the woman. According to two other people informed about the subject, who spoke on anonymity to discuss personal details, it is Charlotte Kirk, a 28-year-old British actress, who appeared on the news last year when her relationship with another Hollywood executive, Kevin Tsujihara., have been made public and led to the dimitting as president of Warner Bros.Kirk had a sexual appointment with Tsujihara in 2013, roughly when he contacted Meyer.
Kirk did not respond to a request for comment. Its director, Shannon Pierce, asked if a payment was possible in exchange for an interview with Kirk.The New York Times doesn’t pay for interviews.
In his statement, Mr. Meyer added: “Certainly, this is a woman with whom I had a very brief and consensual relationship many years ago.I made this revelation because other parties aware of the agreement and continually tried to extort me in cash or intended to falsely implicate NBCUniversal, which had nothing to do with this case, and to post false accusations about me.
After the settlement, a male acquaintance of Kirk had repeatedly asked Mr. Kirk.Meyer for more cash, according to other people informed about the matter.It doesn’t look like a police report has been filed.
Mr. Meyer ran the Universal film studio from 1995 to 2013, when he replaced Jeff Shell, who was appointed CEO of NBCUniversal in January.
Since 2013, Meyer had served at the company as a type of stateman; he did not have a daily role in the studio’s film business and oversaw the company’s unglamorous activities at theme parks, but he has maintained a great influence in Hollywood, where he has deeper relationships than almost every other executive and where other people call him Ronnie reverencely.
Mr. Shell informed NBCUniversal workers of what he called “bad news” in an email Tuesday.
“At the end of last week, Ron Meyer informed NBCUniversal that he had acted in a way that we believe was not consistent with our company’s policies or values,” Meyer wrote.Shell.Ron leaves the company, effective immediately. We thank Ron for his 25 years of service and for his important contributions to NBCUniversal.»
NBCUniversal has to work out tactics with Meyer because he had arranged with Kirk without informing anyone within the company, which could expose her to liability, according to two other people with knowledge of the file. took a stand a few years ago, long after their sex dates ended, they said.
Last year, Tsujihara, the Warner Bros. executive who cared about Ms. Kirk, resigned from his post after The Hollywood Reporter revealed accusations that, at his request, he had lobbied for her to be thought of as for film and television roles…
Ms. Kirk’s credits come with portions of two Warner films: “Ocean’s 8,” released in 2018, and “How to Be Single,” released in 2016.Mr. Tsujihara denied having anything to do with his casting.It is not known whether Ms. Kirk sought the casting assistance of Mr.Meyer.Nothing on his resume done through NBCUniversal.
Meyer’s departure is the moment NBCUniversal’s leadership begins this month.Paul Telegdy, president of its television entertainment division, has been expelled on allegations of harassment in the office.actress Gabrielle Union and others he fostered an atmosphere of poisonous paintings, says she has denied it.
Meyer’s resignation follows the downfall of other tough men in the entertainment industry that began in 2017, when investigations through The Times and The New Yorker revealed allegations that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed and abused him. women for decades. Weinstein’s film company temporarily imploded; He was convicted of previous sex crimes this year and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
In 2018, CBS expelled Leslie Moonves, who ran the network for 15 years, after the New Yorker reported that several had accused him of sexual misconduct, but he denied committing any crime.
Meyer had a wealthy career in Hollywood.After dropping out of high school at 15, he joined the Marines at 17 and began his film career at 19 as a courier for a Hollywood skills agency.agent, founded the Creative Artists Agency with Michael S.Ovitz and Bill Haber, ACAA, M.Meyer has represented stars such as Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep.
Over the years, he has become known in Hollywood for his interest in high-risk card games, a hobby that ultimately haunted him.”Chronic play is a disease and there’s a lot of stupidity that comes with it,” Mr. Meyer at the Times in 2007.Il said he surrendered when GE acquired Universal’s peak from French conglomerate Vivendi in 2003.”He made my resolve for me,” he said, referring to the visibility and rigor of control that the conglomerate’s ownership bring.
Hired at Universal in 1995 through a former owner, Seagram, and its president, Edgar Bronfman Jr., M.Meyer first won the investment to suit any competitor.But he squared much of it on a series of failures that included “Babe: Pig in the City, “Meet Joe Black” and a new version of “Psycho”.
“I had enormous monetary backing from Edgar and failed miserably,” Meyer told The Times in 2007.Bronfman reduced the studio’s production group to six hundred million dollars, less than others spent at a time when Warner Bros.The “Harry Potter” franchise and Sony had their “Spider-Man” series underway.
Spending cuts meant smaller films, but “The Bourne Identity” and “The Mummy” got well enough to generate franchises.”King Kong”, a huge big-budget bet in 2005, also won.Other hits of Meyer’s tenure come with “Erin Brockovich,” “Meet the Parents” and “Fast and Furious.”
Unlike many potholes of her generation, Meyer has defended female executives.She mentored Donna Langley, selling her in the ranks of Universal, where she is now president.In the past, Meyer helped prepare Stacey Snider, who was studio president from 1999 to 2006 before leading DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox.
During his 18-year-in-command, Meyer led Universal through 4 disruptive asset changes: the corporate assets of its current owner, cable giant Comcast, in 2011.
Mr. Meyer served as a liaison between Comcast, which is located in Philadelphia, and the Los Angeles entertainment industry.His long relationship with Steven Spielberg helped the company relaunch the “Jurassic Park” franchise in 2015, after more than a decade of inactivity.
Edmund Lee contributed to the report.
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