‘Run Of Terror’: A3’s Adam Bold accused of fraud, drug abuse, sexual harassment and trying to sell agency ‘for parts’ by CEO and president

Five years after acquiring a majority stake in A3, executive chairman Adam Bold is accused by the agency’s chief executive and president of running a “campaign of chaos” and of being a cocaine addict, a “sneaker” liar who created a toxic and hostile workplace that created Spendthrift. . which “sends the remnants of a once great company into bankruptcy.”

“In a stunning series of horrors, Bold has messed everything up: A3 finds itself in a state of chaos and disintegration as its employees jump from the sinking ship and flee to A3’s competitors or wait in shock and fear for the next shoe to drop bag. explains A3 partners Robert Atterman and Brian Cho’s 10-count fraud and breach of contract lawsuit against Bold, A3 itself and Superbrands Capital (read it here). “Remarkably, Bold has managed to alienate nearly every A3 employee, from management to administrative staff, through an undermining and toxic leadership style that is more Nero than Bob Iger.”

The lawsuit, filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court, asks for a “temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction” to stop Bold from “selling A3 for parts and getting himself a golden parachute create.” In addition to a series of damages claims, the duo wants the court to “indefinitely restrain Bold from disclosing further confidential and trade secrets to A3 competitors.”

Last year, Bold was selling part of the A3 format to Gersh. A sale, which Atterman and Cho said would involve corporate moves and more, would leave them “empty-handed” and hand the ax to the roughly 200 remaining A3 employees. The deal for Gersh Agency to acquire A3’s unscripted and digital divisions is ongoing and won’t move any faster thanks to these legal actions.

Despite the fact that the name of a certain stocky, curly-haired Roman emperor has been dragged through the mud, the lawsuit continues: “The downfall of A3 is directly attributable to Bold’s personality, leadership style and deviant behavior, such as quickly described in the City. became known.” and A3 acts as a confused, out-of-control and overbearing narcissist who is often drunk or drugged. In fact, his wife’s divorce papers state that Bold’s past addiction to cocaine was such that it ruptured his sinuses.”

It continues: “His drug addiction was not Bold’s only problem. During his tenure at A3, Bold sexually harassed nearly all of A3’s female employees, fired those he deemed unattractive, targeted male and female employees with lewd comments about female employees and his dating preferences, turned officers against each other, and lied acted. of the generally crazy, unusual and disturbing kind. The result is a series of threatened lawsuits and civil rights complaints from A3 employees alleging harassment and hostile work environments, leading to confidential settlements and an exodus of agents and their clients.”

Bold did not respond to a request for comment on Attermann and Cho’s lawsuit. If he does, we’ll update this post.

On the other hand, it wasn’t surprising that Attermann and Cho’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, a decades-old veteran of A3, had something to say about the lawsuit his company filed today.

“While weathering the pandemic and enduring the unprecedented double strike, Adam Bold’s misconduct and breach of fiduciary duties culminated in his covert attempt to liquidate A3’s assets through unilateral allocation, rather than his legal obligations to A3’s partners, employees and customers “Submit agent contracts to other companies without the consent of others,” Freedman told Deadline. “This lawsuit will hold him accountable,” the baroque attorney added, noting that this is all about “protecting the employees and clients of A3 Artists Agency from the devastating effects of Bold.”

Our sister publication Variety first reported on the action against Bold.