Shocking! Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead and COO Heather McCauley Resign: Protest Comparison to Former Top Producer Keith Redmon?

UPDATED: CEO Dawn Olmstead and COO Heather McCauley have resigned from their positions at Anonymous Content. It’s a developing story, but sources said it involves a settlement with Keith Redmon, who left under a cloud and took a job at Black Bear Pictures and later sued for breach of contract.

The duo’s sudden departure comes barely a month after former Netflix exec McCauley joined Anonymous, which was recruited by Olmstead.

Deadline has a statement from Olmstead: “I can confirm that I am stepping down as CEO of Anonymous Content, effective immediately. I am proud of everything we have accomplished in my two years with the company. I am especially grateful to my extraordinary team who have worked with me to take Anonymous to an exciting new level. I wish them the best.”

The Board of Anonymous Content agreed: “Because of Dawn’s contributions, the company is in a strong position and we are confident that our team, values ​​and talent will continue to thrive. Dawn has been a valued leader over the past two years and we wish her and Heather all the best in their future endeavours.”

According to sources, the interim leadership will soon be decided by the board, which is reacting to the surprising development.

There is also another vacancy on Anonymous’ management roster as Robert Walak and Alisa Tager leave their positions as presidents of film and television at AC Studios. As Deadline reported, UCP veteran Garrett Kemble, who joined Anonymous last summer as EVP of Development for AC Studios, has been reunited with former UCP president Olmstead, with Walak and Tager’s impending departure set for a greater role. It’s unclear whether Olmstead’s departure would affect that.

Last year, Redmon filed a lawsuit against his former employer to challenge his firing, alleging that the company was conducting a “smear campaign” to smear him with allegations of sexual misconduct.

In the lawsuit, Redmon sought unpaid damages and a 25% share of the net profits from the TV series from Anonymous. Schott’s Creek.

In the filing (read it here ), Redmon argued that last June Anonymous created “a fabricated basis” to fire him “for good cause” and then refused to honor his employment contract and other obligations to him. He claims that the company “ultimately used a public smear campaign aimed at falsely portraying Redmon in the press as the perpetrator of multiple non-consensual physical sexual assaults, none of which were true.” able to carry out an executive termination plan in a reasonably competent and professional manner.”

Redmon had been with the company for nearly 20 years when he left. He was one of the producers of the Oscar nominee The revenant. In the lawsuit, Redmon claims he was “targeted” by the company’s new leadership under CEO Olmstead for openly disagreeing with them. In the lawsuit, his lawyers write that on June 11, a week after a Zoom call, he was suddenly suspended and “was told that he had done something inappropriate on the Zoom call.” When Redmon protested and was able to make a recording of the Zoom call (which Olmstead didn’t know existed when she suspended Redmon), it was clear he had done nothing wrong, and Anonymous called the Zoom call . Never call again.

But the lawsuit says Redmon was fired “allegedly for good cause” a week later for allegedly yelling too much in the office. Redmon’s lawyers say none of the incidents described in her termination letter were documented in her personnel file. “The termination came with the threat that Anonymous would publicly accuse Redmon of sexual misconduct — to be clear, no such misconduct occurred — unless he accepted a fraction of the compensation owed to him and forfeited his equity have” in the company.

A spokesperson for Anonymous Content said at the time: “This complaint is filled with falsehoods and untruths. We support the decision to Mr. Firing Redmon for a reason. We will vigorously defend the false allegations in this complaint.”

While Redmon denied his termination for cause and the company honored his employment contract, the company said it was investigating sexual harassment complaints “allegedly filed about a decade ago when he was not in a management position, and when he it was.” If you do not accept Anonymous’ offer, the information will “come out”. Redmon said he had “consensual debauchery” a decade ago, but it was not harassment or any other form of wrongdoing. He said his personnel file contained no complaints “of any kind.”

According to the lawsuit, Anonymous issued a statement in November saying the company “recently completed a comprehensive investigation and discovered several incidents of sexual misconduct by Redmon, some of which were physical in nature.”

“Redmon has never engaged in sexual misconduct and, as such, Anonymous does not represent victims’ cases,” the lawsuit states. “Furthermore, the women with whom Redmon engaged in consensual interactions a decade ago are not served by being pawns in Anonymous’ malicious smear campaign.”

Yowza, it’s getting uglier.