Movie producer slams LATimes biz story

A movie producer is claiming that a California publicist is behind a “hatchet job” on him by two Los Angeles Times business reporters, according to a New York Post story.

The parties are producer Ryan Kavanaugh and well-known PR person Michael Sitrick.

The Post’s Paula Froelich wrote, “In ‘Hollywood’s Hedged Bets,’ published in the LA Times last Saturday, writers Michael Hiltzik and Josh Friedman wrote that Kavanaugh sold hedge-fund managers ‘on the idea that investing in a dozen or more films at a time would reduce the risk that a single bomb would sink the portfolio.’ But, they say, stinkers like ‘Poseidon’ ate up much of the capital, prompting ‘investors to take a closer look at the structure of the deals,’ with some concluding the terms favored the studios at their expense. The article also chronicled an ongoing lawsuit in which Sitrick – whose p.r. firm represents Johnny Depp and Robert Kardashian – sued Kavanaugh for allegedly mismanaging a multimillion-dollar investment.

“Kavanaugh and his lawyer, Marty Singer, told us the LA Times failed to mention that its former deputy business editor, Jim Bates, once supervised Hiltzik and Friedman and now works for Sitrick. Singer said he is eyeing a defamation suit unless the Times apologizes. Singer also said the reporters ‘mysteriously’ appeared in court in the investment-suit case just as Kavanaugh was about to take the stand, and Sitrick ‘or someone from his camp’ had tipped them off. ‘It is as if the LA reporters have become members of Mr. Sitrick’s trial team,’ Singer said.”

Later, the story added, “Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan said: ‘We’re not aware there’s any controversy. We haven’t heard from Mr. Kavanaugh since the article was published.’ She said the claim that it was inappropriate for the papers’ reporters to attend Kavanaugh’s trial was ‘nonsensical.'”

Read more here.