FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
`COUNTY OF NEW YORK
`--------------------------------------------------------------x
`Wally Shaykhoun (“Shaykhoun”)
`Immortal Model Management, Inc. (“IMM”)
`Plaintiffs,
`
`- against –
`
`:
`:
`:
`:
`:
`:
`:
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`Index No. 453048/2022
`
`VERIFIED COMPLAINT
`(amended)
`
`Philyne Amelia Mercedes
`Dallas Burgera
`Heinz Holba
`NYC Management Group, Inc. d/b/a New York Model Management (“NYMM”)
`Karine Roman
`L.A. Models, Inc. d/b/a LA Model Management (“LAMM”)
`Paola Baratto
`Special Management
`Maryline Added
`The Face Model Management
`Roderick Hawthorne
`Jawahar Chirimar (“Jawahar”)
`One Management Company, LLC (“One Management”)
`
`Defendants
`-------------------------------------------------------------------x
`
`TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK:
`
`The complaint of the Plaintiffs, Wally Shaykhoun and IMM, respectfully
`
`shows and alleges the following:
`
`1. Plaintiff IMM is a corporation organized under the laws of New York State.
`
`The Company is engaged in the business of international modeling. The Company is
`
`headquartered in New York and does substantial business in New York State and
`
`globally.
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`2. Plaintiff Wally Shaykhoun is an American individual (i.e., citizen) residing in
`
`Slovenia.
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`3. The Defendants herein, work out of modeling agencies in Manhattan and Los
`
`Angeles respectively.
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`4. Defendant Philyne’s parental home is 661 E. 234th Street, Bronx, New York
`
`10466 and is a model represented by NYMM as her agent whose address is 71 West
`
`23rd Street, Suite 301, New York, NY 10010.
`
`5. Defendant Dallas Burgera works out of the NYMM offices at 71 West 23rd
`
`Street, Suite 301, New York, NY 10010.
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`6. Defendant Karine Roman works out of the LAMM offices at 7700 W. Sunset
`
`Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046.
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`7. Defendant Heinz Holba is the President and Founder of L.A. Models and
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`NYMM and he works out of 7700 W. Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046
`
`according to public records. Heinz Holba is named here as he owns NYMM and
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`LAMM.
`
`8. On May 3, 2019 Plaintiffs Wally Shaykhoun and IMM and Defendant Philyne
`
`Mercedes entered into a mother agency contract wherein Wally and IMM would
`
`represent Philyne to modelling agencies globally (“Contract”)(Exhibit 1).
`
`9. During the life of the Contract, Defendants Dallas and Karine tortiously
`
`interfered with the contract and in breach of the covenant of good faith and fair
`
`dealing, tortiously interfered with the Contract and Dallas defamed Wally to set the
`
`stage for the later Contract termination.
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`10. Philyne defamed Wally as evidenced by Dallas’ accusations of sexual
`
`harassment of Philyne against Wally.
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`Page 2 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`11. On December 8, 2021, Philyne – in cahoots with the Defendants Dallas and
`
`Karine - breached the Contract by attempting to terminate the contract on fraudulent
`
`and false pretenses.
`
`12. Defendants Dallas and Karine tortiously interfered with the contracts with the
`
`foreign agents, Special Management and The Face Paris.
`
`NATURE OF THE ACTION
`
`13. This is a breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing,
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`defamation, tortious interference with contract and loss of economic opportunity, and
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`fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation action in which Defendants conspired
`
`individually and/or collectively to derail the contract between Philyne and IMM and
`
`Wally thus causing Wally and IMM significant financial loss, emotional distress, and
`
`reputational damage. Despite Plaintiffs’ acting in good faith to secure Philyne
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`modeling jobs from the May 3, 2019 (“Effective Date”) to the termination of the
`
`Contract (defined in paragraph 2) during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
`
`manipulative machinations of the Defendants independently and/or collectively
`
`resulted in a costly breach,
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`financial and time losses,
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`frustrated commercial
`
`opportunities, and damage to the Plaintiff’s emotional state and reputation. Plaintiff
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`sees damages and injunctive and declaratory relief.
`
`14. After Wally personally scouted Philyne on the 1 train in Manhattan sometime
`
`in 2019, Philyne and Immortal entered the Contract, a Mother Agency Agreement
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`with IMM, a New York registered company on May 3, 2019, , that stipulated that
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`“Model hereby engages The Mother Agent as Model’s sole exclusive personal manager
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`Page 3 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`throughout [the] entire Word (“The Territory”)…” The Contract provides that IMM
`
`would represent Philyne to other modeling agencies for an initial term of five (5) years
`
`with automatic renewals of one (1) year renewal terms in consideration for a range of
`
`commissions from ten (10%) per cent to twenty-five (25%) per cent (“Commission/s”)
`
`depending on the nature of the job booked for Philyne by IMM. Specifically: the
`
`Contract stipulates: a) per sub-clause 3.1.b, 25% of the gross income paid to Model
`
`directly/indirectly “from direct jobs (jobs booked directly between the Mother Agent
`
`and the client) in Slovenia and other territories where the Mother Agent does not
`
`charge a separate booking fee to the client directly…”; b) per sub-clause 3.1.a, 20% of
`
`“the gross income paid to Model directly or indirectly from direct jobs (jobs booked
`
`directly between the Mother Agent and the client) in the USA, UK and other
`
`territories where the Mother Agent charges a separate booking fee to the client…”;
`
`and, c) per sub-clause 3.1.c, 10% of “the gross income paid to Model directly or
`
`indirectly from jobs booked by The Foreign Agencies.”
`
`15. The term of the Agreement (“Term”) coincided in large part with the entire
`
`Covid-19 pandemic when international commerce was still very stagnant but starting
`
`to come back to life in mid-2021, after the world-wide lockdown that started in March
`
`2020 (Exhibit 2.1)
`
`16. Wally, who has worked in the international modeling world since 1990 when
`
`he started working as a fashion photographer at the age of 17 in Manhattan, has
`
`owned IMM since November 13, 2018. Since he started working as a photographer,
`
`
`1 https://www.gq.com/story/how-coronavirus-is-affecting-the-fashion-industry
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`Page 4 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`Wally has always been hyper-aware of the fragile and vulnerable nature of the young
`
`models, typically women, many of whom are uneducated, come from broken homes,
`
`suffer from mental illness, abuse alcohol and drugs, and try to use modeling as a
`
`means of getting out of their various desperate situations. In 2008, Wally and his ex-
`
`wife, Svetlana Shaykhoun, who worked as an international model for many years,
`
`pivoted from fashion photography and modeling to running Immortal Model
`
`Management, the original agency registered in Slovenia and have signed and placed
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`many young male and female models over the years working as their mother agents.
`
`Wally is naturally gregarious and has an international network of modeling agents,
`
`agencies, and models. Wally is an expert in his field if one applying Malcolm
`
`Gladwell’s rule that it takes 10,000 hours of focused work to become an expert.2 The
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`role of the “mother agent” is multi-faceted and involves mothering young (often
`
`female) aspiring models like Philyne as well as training, coaching, providing
`
`emotional and psychological support, and pitching the models to agencies around the
`
`world.
`
`17. Philyne is a young woman from a low-income household in the Bronx marred
`
`by domestic abuse as Philyne had confided to Wally that her mother physically beats
`
`her because Philyne is a homosexual woman.
`
`18. After signing Philyne to IMM, Wally placed Philyne with a modeling agency
`
`named Lions, which provide unproductive in terms of modeling jobs. After a year,
`
`
`2 Malcolm Gladwell, Complexity and The Ten Thousand Hour Rule, The New Yorker August 21, 2013
`https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/complexity-and-the-ten-thousand-hour-rule [accessed December
`20, 2022.]
`
`Page 5 of 37
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`5 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`Wally placed Philyne with NYMM via a commission agreement
`
`(“NYMM
`
`Commission Contract”) (Exhibit 3.)
`
`19. Wally has a soft spot for broken people to the extent that in 2023 he became a
`
`certified life coach. Wally gave Philyne a lot of time and emotional support and bent
`
`over backwards to assist Philyne, who was extremely demanding, constantly sending
`
`Wally emotionally needy voicenotes and messages on WhatsApp. Upon learning that
`
`Philyne’s mother was beating her regularly, Wally worked with NYMM at some point
`
`in late 2020/early 2021 to get Philyne into a model apartment and to give her a $500
`
`monthly stipend which she had to repay out of future earnings while she waited for
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`modeling jobs to materialize. Common sense dictates that NYMM would not have
`
`agreed to such an arrangement if there were no prospects for Philyne in the modeling
`
`world. Wally continued to be fully available to Philyne emotionally via WhatsApp
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`from July 2019 (Exhibit 4), including while Wally was going through his own life
`
`challenges in the form of a nasty divorce and a forced relocation to Slovenia (his now
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`ex-wife’s home country) in July 2020 with his ex-wife and two young boys for whom
`
`he strives to be a good father and set a good example.
`
`20. On December 8th, 2021, without warning and quite unexpectedly, Philyne sent
`
`Wally several undated termination letters via certified mail the stamp of which
`
`12/08/21 (Exhibit 5) that included several false and damaging assertions as the
`
`reason why Philyne was terminating the Contract
`
`(“Termination Letter”).
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`Specifically, Philyne states, “Immortal has ceased to perform its duties to me as
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`specified under clause 1.2 of the…agreement. I’ve communicated my dissatisfaction
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`Page 6 of 37
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`6 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`with the failure to secure me “Foreign Agencies” for over a year. Despite my
`
`dissatisfaction, Immortal has failed to fulfill its obligations to me.” Despite Philyne’s
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`innumerous voice messages on WhatsApp and chirpy WhatsApps (Exhibit 6).
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`Philyne’s Termination Letter went on to make the jaw-dropping and fictitious claim
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`that, “In addition, I have repeatedly expressed to Wally Shaykhoun how many of his
`
`comments, both written and verbal, directed to me and about me, are unprofessional
`
`and make me feel uncomfortable. Despite having expressed myself to him, the
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`comments have continued.” (Exhibit 5). Philyne’s reasons for terminating the
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`Contract were implausible given her having barraged Wally – then a married man –
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`with excessive emails, voice notes and phone calls (including once naked from her
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`bathtub!)
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`21. Wally rejected Philyne’s termination notice asserting that the reasons Philyne
`
`gave for termination were false (Exhibit 7). Note that the Contract stipulates that
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`notice of termination must be given 90 days before the intended termination date. On
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`February 8, 2022, Philyne was merely 2 months/60 days into her termination period
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`and was therefore still under contract to IMM in any event. The abrupt termination
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`set alarm bells ringing for Wally since other agencies have poached IMM’s models
`
`several times before as is par for the course in the international modeling world.
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`22. Wally tried to mediate a solution with NYMM via NYMM’s lawyer, Carlos M.
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`Carvajal, Esq. in February 2022, but these efforts quickly fizzled out and NYMM
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`ignored Wally and IMM thereafter.
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`Page 7 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`23. On February 8, 2022, Wally wrote to Dallas Burgera, the Director of New
`
`Faces at NYMM, and Karine (LAMM, a sister company of NYMM, both of which
`
`Heinz Holba owns) about Philyne’s Paris placement because, despite Philyne’s
`
`attempted termination of the Contract, the Contract stipulates that the mother
`
`agent, IMM, is still entitled to the Commissions. Specifically, clause 3.3 of the
`
`Contract states, “Model understands that the Mother Agent is entitled to ten
`
`percent (10%) commission from The Foreign Agencies for as long as the Model
`
`works for The Foreign Agency in which the Mother Agent has placed the Model and
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`this obligation will survive the termination and expiration of Management
`
`Period.” Philyne knowingly signed the Contract and obviously knew about this
`
`provision. Karine said that she would still honor the mother agent Commission
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`until the random date of September 10th, 2023 making a unilateral decision about
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`the Contract without consulting Wally/IMM. Karine stated, “I have done my very
`
`best to stay neutral and do the right thing but at some point, you really need to
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`accept reality…Models do leave us that’s just part of the job!” (Exhibit 8.)
`
`24. Karine correctly stated that models leave modeling agencies and that “it’s
`
`part of the job” but she omitted saying was that modeling poaching other agency’s
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`models happens all the time, too. There have been and continue to be many well-
`
`publicized cases of agencies poaching models in New York newspapers.3
`
`
`3 M. Callahan, “Modeling agencies sue one another over claims of poaching”, New York Post, December 12, 2010,
`https://nypost.com/2010/12/12/modeling-agencies-sue-one-another-over-claims-of-
`poaching/?utm_source=url_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons [accessed
`December 20, 2022]; “Modeling Agency Sues Elite Model Management for Poaching Talent”, TMZ, August 6,
`2019, https://www.tmz.com/2019/08/06/modeling-agency-sues-elite-new-york-poaching-talent-models-managers/
`[Accessed December 20, 2022.]; J. A. D’Avanzo, “She’s Gone: Tortious Interference In the Fashion Industry”,
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`25. On February 9th, 2022, Wally asked Karine how she came up with the
`
`arbitrary “September 10th, 2023” date as the date when NYMM would stop paying
`
`IMM’s Commission. Karine failed to respond to Wally.
`
`26. The Contract sets the remuneration mechanism at Clause 5.3: “The proceeds
`
`of worldwide and exclusive only procured by the Foreign Agency for the Model shall
`
`be shared by the foreign agency and the mother agent on a 50/50 basis.” Karine
`
`unilaterally made up a date through which NYMM would pay IMM without
`
`explanation and without giving IMM an opportunity to negotiate – either directly or
`
`indirectly with Carlos - and have blatantly breached the Contract. Despite making a
`
`unilateral decision, Wally and IMM assert that NYMM and LAMM are not making
`
`accurate Commission payments and do not respond to Wally when he emails
`
`requesting updates.
`
`27. The mother agent is entitled to the Commission after the termination of the
`
`Contract per Clause 5.4: “The commission agreement will be in force without any
`
`time restrictions or limitation, meaning the Mother Agent will be entitled to the
`
`Commission for as long as the model works for the Foreign Agency, regardless if the
`
`Model is no longer represented by the Mother Agent.”
`
`28. Philyne, who is a young lesbian from an abusive home in the Bronx,
`
`confessed to Wally that her mother beats her for being gay and she was desperate to
`
`get out of her abusive and violent home.
`
`
`Volume 262-No. 40, New York Law Journal; https://pagesix.com/2014/08/10/agencies-at-war-over-poached-
`models/
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`29. Covid-19 shut down the world, including the modeling industry. The world
`
`started to reopen by mid-2021 when Wally started to make exhaustive efforts to
`
`place Philyne with several modeling agencies around the world. At that point, none
`
`of the agencies that Wally had contacted was interested in Philyne at that time (see
`
`Exhibit 9.)
`
`30. Wally rejected Philyne’s pernicious Termination Letter for a few reasons.
`
`After Dallas Bugera defamed Wally on November 29, 2021 (see paragraph 25),
`
`Philyne’s attitude toward Wally abruptly went from “hot” to “cold,” after months of
`
`aggressively and sometimes inappropriately (see below for the “bathtub incident”)
`
`pushing Wally to find her work via WhatsApp commencing July 2019 and earnestly
`
`trying to build a relationship with Wally. The levels of emotional, psychological, and
`
`business coaching that Philyne demanded of Wally were well beyond the scope of
`
`the Contract. Wally, being a very nice guy, accommodated Philyne’s demands for
`
`support and attention. Philyne’s behavior was overstepping the boundaries of a
`
`normal business relationship. Once after Philyne had moved into the model’s
`
`apartment, Philyne called Wally via Facetime while she was naked in the bath,
`
`which Wally found very odd indeed. Philyne’s preferred mode of communication
`
`with Wally was WhatsApp through which she left a raft of voice notes and text
`
`notes expressing her depression living at home with her abusive mother, her
`
`despair that her modeling career had not yet taken off (totally lacking the
`
`situational awareness that the entire world had shut down due to Covid-19), her
`
`general depression, and she even threatened to stop modeling and “just get an office
`
`Page 10 of 37
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`10 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
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`job” on several occasions (Exhibit 4). Philyne was exhausting and using Wally for
`
`emotional and psychological support and then dropped him like a hot potato and
`
`immediately joined NYMM, whose broker, Dallas Burgera, unfoundedly accused
`
`Wally of being sexually inappropriate with Philyne.
`
`31. Before receiving the December 8th, 2021 Termination Letter, Philyne barraged
`
`Wally with so many histrionic and emotional WhatsApp voice notes from Philyne
`
`declaring that she was giving up modelling for good, raising Wally’s suspicions about
`
`the incongruous and disingenuous machinations of Philyne and Dallas, NYMM et al.
`
`The entire context and timing raised Wally’s suspicions about what was really going
`
`on.
`
`32. The renewal and termination provisions in the Contract stipulate at Section
`
`2.2 that the model can terminate in the following circumstances: “This Agreement
`
`will automatically renew for successive one (1) year periods on the 5th anniversary of
`
`the Effective Date (“Initial Term”) and afterwards keep renewing for successive one
`
`(1) year on each anniversary of the Effective Date, unless either party gives the other
`
`party written notice by registered mail at least ninety (90) days’ prior to any
`
`anniversary of the Effective Date after the Initial Term of their intention to
`
`terminate. If this Agreement shall be terminated, the Mother Agent shall retain all
`
`rights to commissions and other monies as provided hereunder arising out of any
`
`engagement concerning the Model’s appearance or use in any Commissionable Work,
`
`which shall be in effect or substantially negotiated at the time of termination.”
`
`(Exhibit 1).
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`Page 11 of 37
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`11 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
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`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
`
`33. Wally immediately suspected that he was a victim of a conspiracy between
`
`Philyne and NYMM and with good reason. Specifically, based on the simultaneous
`
`events transpiring while Philyne was trying to extricate herself from the Contract,
`
`Wally suspected that NYMM and its agents were coaching Philyne to terminate the
`
`mother agreement with IMM. Wally suspected that NYMM was trying to cut Wally
`
`and IMM out of the Philyne picture so that NYMM could put Philyne to work without
`
`Wally and IMM’s mother agent Commission, which the Contract guarantees as
`
`explained above.
`
`34. To put Philyne’s Termination Letter into a larger context, the relationship
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`between Wally, Dallas (NYMM) and Karine (LAMM) started to deteriorate for no
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`apparent reason on October 4, 2021, when Wally received an unexpected email from
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`Dallas announcing NYMM’s unexpected decision to release Pia Bernjak, a
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`commercially successful and profitable model that Wally had placed with NYMM.
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`(Exhibit 10). It was such a bizarre, inexplicable, and abrupt commercial move by
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`NYMM that Wally concluded that NYMM, specifically Dallas, was actively trying to
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`sabotage Wally and IMM.
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`35. A pattern of corporate sabotage and blocking was beginning to emerge. First
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`Dallas and NYMM cut off Pia Bernjak. Then NYMM inexplicably paused the
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`employment talks around hiring Wally as a European scout. Then, the Philyne fiasco
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`began to unfold.
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`36. In November 2021, Wally, Dallas, and Britanny Milligan, a NYMM employee,
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`had two very unpleasant conference calls. It is pertinent to the defamation count to
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`Page 12 of 37
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`12 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
`
`note that the bookers’ table at NYMM is a long table that is shared with fifteen
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`bookers in an open plan office. Aside from bookers, there are also models and other
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`people milling about constantly. It a densely packed open-plan office where agents sit
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`elbow to elbow and no one can help but hear everyone else’s conversations. Wally has
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`known most of the bookers for many years given his long career in the international
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`modeling world, both as a photographer and modeling scout, which started in New
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`York City, and now as the owner of an international modeling agency.
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`37. The first call occurred with Dallas and Britanny, sometime from September
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`2021 to November 28th, 2021. During the first call, Dallas and Brittanny accused
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`Wally of being inappropriate with Philyne by simply commenting, “Yum” on an
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`Instagram picture in which she was eating ramen noodles (Exhibit 10.) Dallas and
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`Britanny ganged up on Wally unfairly, feigning concern that they had to remove
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`Philyne from Wally’s supervision for Philyne’s safety (the same Philyne who called
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`Wally – then a married man - naked from the bathtub.) Dallas and Brittany’s
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`insincere protestations about Wally’s supposed mistreatment of Philyne were not just
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`defamatory and damaging but an exercise in histrionic pearl clutching to set the stage
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`for Philyne’s abrupt termination of the Contract. Wally quickly realized that Dallas
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`was trying to sabotage his relationship with Philyne and NYMM because Dallas’
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`reaction was extremely nasty, unwarranted, and disproportionate to the situation.
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`Dallas was gaslighting Wally, turning a mundane action (i.e., supporting one of the
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`IMM models’ Instragram accounts by liking a photograph) in a major, very ugly, and
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`reputation damaging drama. Sample sexually explicit and inappropriate Instagram
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`Page 13 of 37
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`13 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
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`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
`
`posts from both Dallas’ and Philyne’s Instagram respective accounts demonstrate the
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`extent to which Dallas and Philyne are hypocrites (Exhibit 12.)
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`38. On November 29, 2021, Wally had a second conference call with Dallas and
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`Britanny, another booker with NYMM. Wally advised Dallas during the call that he
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`was pulling a seventeen-year-old model named Anastasia Rusanoff, whom he had
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`placed with NYMM in August 2020. Because Anastasia was a “new fave”, Wally
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`worried that NYMM would try to poach Anastasia, given Dallas’ earlier false,
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`melodramatic yet dangerous and damaging accusations against Wally of
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`inappropriate behavior with Philyne. Things escalated quickly during that call.
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`Dallas launched a verbal assault against Wally, screeching at Wally and insisting
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`that Wally had hit on Philyne and been inappropriate with her (the clear
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`implication was that Wally was being accused of having been “sexually
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`inappropriate” with Philyne), thereby defaming Wally in front of other NYMM
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`bookers and Wally’s longtime acquaintances whom Wally could hear in the
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`background of the conference call. Specifically, Wally heard Cory Baptista, Stephen
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`Lee, Sandy Shaw, and Tony Vavroch in the background. Dallas had apparently
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`realized that he was on speaker phone while verbally assaulting Wally in front of a
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`room full of bookers and hung up on Wally. Dallas then called Wally about twenty
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`minutes later and continued the ugly conversation in more dulcet tones.
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`39. In early December 2021, three weeks after the emotionally distressing and
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`defamatory conference call with Dallas and Britanny, Wally received the first of
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`several Termination Letters from Philyne, echoing Dallas’ tall and harmful tales
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`Page 14 of 37
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`14 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
`
`about how Wally had been inappropriate with her and failed in his contractual
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`obligations to her. The timing was suspiciously coincidental, especially since
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`Philyne had sent several voice messages via WhatsApp declaring that she was
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`giving up modelling as she despaired at not landing any jobs.
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`40. The damaging impact of labelling a male owner like Wally of a modeling
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`agency like IMM as a sexual predator in a post-#MeToo world cannot be adequately
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`described in words or quantified in a dollar amount. In the cutthroat world of
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`international modeling where young men and women enter the industry at very
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`young and vulnerable ages and are susceptible to all manner of abuse and human
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`trafficking, Wally is one of the few agents who is hyper aware and vigilant about
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`the dangers to young girls and, in the case of Philyne, treated her as protectively as
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`he would a younger sister. The Defendants’ actions go beyond contract breach and
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`tortiously interfering with a contract; using ugly character smears and painting an
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`innocent man as a sexual predator is an injury from which one cannot easily
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`recover. The tools of competition cannot be allowed to include defaming the
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`character of an innocent man by assigning him the characteristics of a sexual
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`predator. It cannot stand.
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`41. While the Philyne fiasco and defamatory call with Dallas and Brittany were
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`unfolding, Wally had executed separate commission agreements(“Commission
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`Agreement/s”) with Special Management via Paola Baratto (“SM Commission
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`Contract”)(Exhibit 13) and with The Face Paris via Maryline Added (“TFP
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`Commission Agreement”) (Exhibit 14) in respect of Philyne on February 9, 2022.
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`Page 15 of 37
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`15 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
`
`Despite Philyne’s accusations that Wally/IMM was not working to secure Philyne
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`work, Wally was working zealously to secure and succeeding in placing Philyne with
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`international modeling agencies. Philyne, being desparate because of her home
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`situation, and her increasingly intense jealousy of other models in the model
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`apartment who were working, lost patience and lacked the situational awareness to
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`understand the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic was having on the international
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`modeling industry and her career. Philyne’s immaturity and Lady MacBeth-esque
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`ambition moved her to stab Wally in the back and get ahead in her modeling career
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`at all costs, even at the cost of her good (and platonic) relationship with Wally, the
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`Contract, Wally’s reputation and good standing in the New York and international
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`modeling community. One cannot simply make up lies and destroy another human
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`being’s reputation to get out of a contract.
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`42. Clause 5.4 of the Commission Agreement mirrors the Contract provisions
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`which stipulates that the agent i.e., Special Management and The Face Paris
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`respectively, still must pay the mother Agent, i.e., IMM even after the termination
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`of the agreement between the model and the mother agent. Philyne is listed on the
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`websites of The Face Paris4, Special Management5, and NYMM.6 Wally learned
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`from Paola Baratto that Dallas had instructed Paola to not honor the Commission
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`Agreement soon after NYMM poached Philyne and lied about the reasons.
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`4 https://models.com/models/philyne-mercedes
`5 https://www.specialmanagement.it/models/women/2556-philyne-mercedes
`6 http://www.newyorkmodels.com/PhilyneMercedes
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`Page 16 of 37
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`16 of 37
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`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 04/15/2024 10:49 AM
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 99
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/15/2024
`
`FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/02/2023 12:38 AM
`DocuSign Envelope ID: 301A37D1-7AB8-4A2C-B4C6-E488DCAD05C1
`NYSCEF DOC. NO. 85
`
`INDEX NO. 453048/2022
`RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/02/2023
`
`43. After issuing the termination letter, Wally noted that Philyne’s Instagram
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`account (@philssimcard) revealed several facts of extreme relevance to the dispute
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`between Wally and Philyne et al: i) Philyne was in Europe (i.e., Milan and Paris from
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`February 2022); ii) despite Philyne’s fictitious claims that Wally’s comments and
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`behavior made Philyne “uncomfortable” per the termination letter, (we already
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`established that Philyne had a propensity for callin