Publicity Wars: R&CPMK Accuses Ex-CEO of Stealing Clients and Employees to Launch Rival Firm
by Gene Maddaus · VarietySome partnerships are not built to last.
In 2019, Cindi Berger and Mark Owens merged Hollywood’s two largest publicity firms, PMK*BNC and Rogers & Cowan, forming a marketing colossus with Berger as chairman and Owens as CEO.
Owens has since been fired, and the combined entity — now known as R&CPMK — is accusing him of stealing employees, clients and confidential information to launch 2pm Sharp, a rival publicity firm.
In lawsuits filed in New York on Tuesday night and in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, R&CPMK accuses Owens of secretly organizing an employee exodus. Lindsay Galin and Jeff Raymond, co-presidents of talent, were first to leave on Oct. 1, followed by 11 others over the next two days.
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The lawsuits claim that the defecting employees breached their duty of loyalty to R&CPMK, which stands to lose “untold revenues from the loss of client business.” R&CPMK must now work to restore the morale of its remaining employees and manage a threat to its reputation as an industry leader, according to the filings.
“The Former Employees’ conduct is particularly egregious in that some of them were senior executives who understand the importance of protecting Company business relationships,” the suit states.
Owens was named CEO of Rogers & Cowan in 2015, after a long career in marketing and developing partnerships between brands and entertainment. He and Berger merged their firms four years later, both of which were wholly owned by Interpublic Group. The combined entity represented more than 500 stars including Robert Redford, Denzel Washington, Glenn Close, Katy Perry and brands like Samsung, McDonalds and YouTube.
“This is a game changing and transformative moment for our agency, and a move that will create significant value and tremendous opportunities for our company and clients around the world,” Owens said at the time.
According to the suit, Owens began plotting his departure in late 2023, when he asked another high-level executive to join him in starting a new firm. R&CPMK believes he also solicited Galin and Raymond around that that time.
The company fired him from the CEO job in January, effective March 1, according to the suit. R&CPMK accuses Owens of using the intervening time to continue to lure employees for his new venture.
Once he was out the door, Berger took the dual role of chairman and CEO.
Owens wasted little time setting up 2pm Sharp, filing as an LLC in Delaware, buying a web domain, and registering to do business in California and New York.
Over the summer, Owens paid tribute to his late father on LinkedIn, giving him credit for instilling values that had served him throughout his business career.
“History teaches a lot and as I turn to a new chapter with a new adventure soon, we all would be blessed to remember that reputation, respect and a moral compass are sorely needed now more than ever,” he wrote.
R&CPMK alleges that Owens was scheming at the time with employees who were still at the company to divert business to 2pm Sharp.
The suits allege that Raymond downloaded 11,000 company files on Sept. 20, just days before he and a dozen other employees resigned. Other employees downloaded another 5,000 files in the days leading up to their departure, the suit states.
R&CPMK maintains extensive confidential files on its A-list celebrity clients and Fortune 500 brands. Such information is kept secret because “if a competitor gained access to it, the competitor would have a ‘playbook’ of how to approach and serve each client and could usurp business from R&CPMK,” the suit states.
Amid the resignations, R&CPMK began to receive notifications from clients that they were terminating their relationships. The departing employees refuse to tell HR or company leaders where they were going, though the company soon learned they were joining 2pm Sharp, according to the suit.
Jessica Sciacchitano, a senior vice president of talent, emailed Owens, Raymond and others on Oct. 2, with a list of clients she would be taking to the new firm, the suit states. The email was later deleted, but was recovered by R&CPMK.
No clients are referenced by name in the suits, but 2pm Sharp has posted images of the Rolling Stones, Jim Gaffigan, Adrien Brody and John David Washington, among others, on its Instagram account.
The two complaints name 13 former employees as defendants, including Owens, Raymond and Sciacchitano.
R&CPMK accuses the employees of violating their contracts and the company Code of Conduct, which forbid soliciting clients and employees to leave for a direct competitor. The suits seek a return of confidential information, as well as compensatory and punitive damages and an order barring the ex-employees from soliciting R&CPMK clients for one year.
“We don’t comment on pending litigation,” Berger said.
Owens and 2pm Sharp did not immediately respond a request for comment.
A similar fight has beset the agency world this year, as CAA sued Range Media Partners, a management firm founded by former CAA agents in 2020. That suit accuses the ex-employees of soliciting CAA clients, downloading confidential company information, and using Telegram to avoid detection.