Former 42West Publicists Announce The Lede Company With A-List Clients

By Debra Birnbaum

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Former publicists Amanda Silverman, Meredith O’Sullivan Wasson and Sarah Levinson Rothman, who left their previous roles last week , have formed their own firm: The Lede Company, focusing on strategic communications and brand and reputation management.

The three women, all former managing directors at 42West, will serve as co-CEOs for the new company, with O’Sullivan Wasson based in Los Angeles and Silverman and Rothman based in New York.

Among the A-list clients they’ll be bringing along with them are Rihanna, Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon, Queen Latifah, Charlize Theron, Lady Gaga, Emma Stone, Illumination, Anonymous Content, Pharrell, Amy Schumer, Penelope Cruz, PepsiCo, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, Mary J Blige, and Halle Berry.

“The three of us have been privileged to work closely together for the last decade, and during that time, we have found that each of our individual styles and specialties in the talent and corporate worlds complement each other,” said Rothman, Silverman and O’Sullivan Wasson in a joint statement. “As the entertainment, media and branding worlds continue to grow and shift, we are confident that our combined skills and experience have readied us to implement strategies that move along with it, and we can’t wait to see where this new journey takes us.”

New of their departure was announced June 8 in a memo sent out to 42West employees.

“This is a bittersweet announcement for us, as Sarah, Amanda and Meredith all played an integral role in our growth and, more important, have become dear friends for whom we have enormous affection,” said  42West  co-CEOs Leslee Dart, Amanda Lundberg, and Allan Mayer in a statement. “But though we hate to see them leave us, we understand the entrepreneurial urge and we wish them the best of luck in their new enterprise.”