Jonathan Barnett Legal Battle Ends

A Sporting Empire Divided: The Bitter Dispute Behind the CAA Stellar Legal Battle

A significant court case has ended, bringing to light the bitter disintegration of a business alliance involving Jonathan Barnett, a high-profile sports agent, and two of Britain's most acclaimed Olympians, Jennifer Stoute and John Regis. The prolonged legal fight originated from the sale of the talent agency they ran together and finished without warning. Stellar Athletics LLP, an agency where Jonathan Barnett held a partnership, pursued a £1.2 million claim against the two former athletes following their 2021 exit. Parent company CAA Stellar resolved the lawsuit in April of 2024, an action that occurred shortly after Barnett himself departed the organisation. This conclusion marked the end of an ordeal Jennifer Stoute, in her first public comments, called a period of torment lasting three years.

The Allegations and a Shocking Discovery

Central to the legal action, as outlined in official filings bearing Jonathan Barnett's signature, was a demand for £952,000. The claim from Stellar Athletics LLP was that Jennifer Stoute and John Regis took these funds above their designated profit allocation to handle company expenses during their 20-year tenure. The firm also sought around £300,000 for damages because the duo created a competing business, Astra Partners. A pivotal moment in the stalemate occurred when Jennifer Stoute and John Regis discovered numerous text messages containing racist, sexist, and homophobic content. Apparently, these communications originated from different individuals in the sporting community and were sent to a mobile number officially listed to Jonathan Barnett. It must be clarified that no evidence indicates Barnett personally composed or supported the offensive material.

Offensive Messages Surface

Among the communications were many offensive items, featuring supposed humour aimed at Chinese individuals, gay people, Muslims, Africans, and Mexicans. A separate message also touched on the subject of violence against women. Neither Jonathan Barnett nor his organisation, CAA Stellar, gave any remarks about the lawsuit or the specific factors leading to its resolution when asked for a statement. It seems the discovery of these communications was the critical turning point that prompted the legal action's retraction. The matter concluded with each side covering its own legal expenses, and significantly, no confidentiality clauses were imposed, which gave Jennifer Stoute and John Regis the ability to discuss what happened.

Foundations of a Sporting Dynasty

With David Manasseh, Jonathan Barnett established the Stellar Group agency for sports representation during the nineties. This firm expanded to become a major international player, with a strong focus on football. A landmark achievement for Jonathan Barnett was brokering the historic £85 million deal that saw Gareth Bale move to Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013. He managed the careers of numerous other football stars, such as Ivan Toney, Jack Grealish, Ledley King, and Ashley Cole. His powerful status was confirmed by Forbes in 2019, which identified him as the top agent in global sports following his successful negotiation of deals exceeding one billion pounds in value. Early in his professional life, he also provided counsel to heavyweight boxing champion-to-be Lennox Lewis and was the agent for cricket legend Brian Lara.

From Athletic Triumphs to Business Ventures

As one of Britain’s most celebrated sprinters, John Regis has an impressive record. His achievements include helping his team win a silver medal in the 4x100m relay during the Seoul Olympics in 1988. A few years after that in Tokyo, he earned a gold medal at the world championships for the 4x400m. He was awarded an MBE for his service to sports in 1994. Jennifer Stoute also reached Olympic heights, earning a bronze for her part in the 4x400m relay during the 1992 Barcelona games. Many people later knew her as ‘Rebel’ from the TV programme “Gladiators.” Jennifer Stoute and John Regis, who share two children, are not together anymore. Once their athletic careers concluded, they entered the business of sports representation with Jonathan Barnett.

An Informal Beginning

Their professional collaboration started when Stellar Athletics Limited was created in 2001. In its early days, the firm functioned informally, lacking official contracts or written understandings among its leaders. It soon grew into a major player within UK track and field, managing the careers of leading national athletes like Laura Muir, Eilish McColgan, Phillips Idowu, and Dwain Chambers. In their legal defense, Jennifer Stoute and John Regis claimed a verbal arrangement had been made back in 2000. They asserted this deal promised them a portion of the revenue generated from any future sale of the wider Stellar enterprise, even though a specific amount was not explicitly defined.

Formalising the Partnership

The venture’s framework was updated in 2011 when it became a limited liability partnership known as Stellar Athletics LLP. Under this new structure, Jennifer Stoute and John Regis kept their 20% and 30% stakes, respectively, carried over from the original entity. This change in legal status later became a key point of disagreement during the court proceedings. The Stellar side argued this new arrangement confirmed that Stoute and Regis were only owed profits that Stellar Athletics would generate in the future. Conversely, the ex-Olympians contended their agreement covered a share of revenue from the sale of the whole Stellar business.

A Lucrative Sale and Deepening Divisions

The disagreement came to a head in 2020 when the Stellar Group, belonging to Jonathan Barnett, was purchased by International Creative Management (ICM), an American entertainment powerhouse, for a reported $100 million (£76.5m). ICM was a prominent Los Angeles agency that managed numerous Hollywood stars and elite athletes in American sports leagues. Following the purchase, Jonathan Barnett continued as the executive chairman for the newly created ICM Stellar Sports. However, this major transaction did not yield the financial outcome that Jennifer Stoute and John Regis had anticipated. They argued they were left unaware of the sale until its completion and received no portion of the income it generated.

The Trust Erodes

The defence statement from Jennifer Stoute and John Regis details how they learned about the sale in October 2020 during a large-scale Zoom conference call with many attendees. The secretive way the deal was handled and the impersonal nature of its announcement infuriated John Regis. He considered it a profound betrayal. This situation, combined with the non-fulfillment of the 2000 verbal pact, caused the professional relationship to completely dissolve by November 2020. Stellar Athletics disputed these assertions, saying a sale of the 'larger business' was never discussed and that staff were told about the ICM transaction as soon as was feasible, given the private and commercially sensitive details involved.

The Final Split

The breakdown of their professional relationship led John Regis and Jennifer Stoute to plan their departure. They handed in their resignations from Stellar Athletics in June of 2021, just before the Tokyo Olympics began, and launched their new firm, Astra Partners. In a significant move that highlighted their strong client connections, they brought all 90 athletes from the company with them. Adding another layer to the conflict, court submissions showed that before leaving, the pair had been requested to take a smaller slice of future earnings, a suggestion they refused. The legal representatives for Stellar confirmed that various profit distribution models, including a 70-30 arrangement, were tabled, but a final consensus was never achieved.

A New Era and a Lawsuit

The landscape of sports representation was in flux. ICM Stellar Sports revealed in September 2021 that it would merge with another major Hollywood talent organisation, Creative Artists Agency (CAA). That deal, reportedly worth $750 million (£573m), was made official in 2022, leading to the formation of CAA Stellar, with Jonathan Barnett taking the role of executive chairman. This major industry consolidation was soon overshadowed by legal conflict. Stellar Athletics initiated a lawsuit in October 2021 against Jennifer Stoute and John Regis, claiming they had plotted to illegitimately seize the LLP's operations. The legal filings accused them of a "coordinating and carefully planning their resignations and the taking of the LLP's business."

Allegations of Misappropriated Funds

The legal action against the former Olympic athletes also contained accusations of conspiracy, fiduciary duty breaches, and contract violations. A major part of the legal demand centered on £952,000, which Stellar Athletics claimed the duo had withdrawn from the Stellar Group during the past ten years beyond what their profit agreement allowed. The company broke this down as £705,000 by Stoute and £247,000 by Regis. While Stellar conceded that the LLP's terms let them take more than their 50 per cent combined profit share for costs like their children's education, the firm insisted these were loans that had to be paid back.

A Dispute Over Earnings

This claim was strongly contested by John Regis and Jennifer Stoute. They argued that they had every right to use those funds for their salaries and to pay for valid business expenditures. When they first started, their monthly take-home pay was around £1,000 each, a figure that had grown as the company became more successful. Their defense cited past instances where Peter Lazard, Stellar's internal accountant, had "irregularly" brought up that they had a balance with the company, at one time mentioning a figure close to £900,000. However, no official request for repayment was ever issued following these talks.

Conflicting Accounts and an Apology

The defense position was that the reasoning behind the supposed debt was never properly explained and contradicted what they had discussed with Jonathan Barnett. They maintained they were permitted to continue taking money from the business as what they considered to be guaranteed income. Their case was strengthened by the assertion that Melvin Gantz, the company's accountant, had stated in writing that the funds were not due for repayment after he assessed the 2020 financial statements. They also claimed that in December of 2020, Jonathan Barnett had said sorry to Jennifer Stoute for his attitude towards them and for seeking repayment, a point they backed up with a WhatsApp communication entered as evidence.

Barnett's Contradictory Stance

Stellar Athletics presented a different view regarding the supposed apology. The company's official response claimed that Jonathan Barnett's expression of regret was not an acknowledgment of fault but was intended to calm an agitated John Regis and help them move past their disagreement. This disparity in viewpoints underscores the severe breakdown of their relationship and the competing stories that shaped the legal proceedings. Whether the apology was a sincere admission or a tactical move, it did not heal the divide between the former associates, which ultimately led to the lengthy court case.

The Path to Resolution

Discussions aimed at a negotiated end to the dispute were unsuccessful, and it seemed the case was set for a full court hearing in 2024. The crucial development occurred with the unexpected finding of racist and sexist content on an old mobile phone listed in Jonathan Barnett's name, which Jennifer Stoute had. The messages came from two individuals—a well-known personality in sports and a football scout—and Jonathan Barnett was apparently the person they were sent to. In January of 2024, the legal counsel for Jennifer Stoute and John Regis at Primas Law notified Stellar's lawyers about these messages, indicating they might introduce them in court as pertinent material.

A Sudden Withdrawal

The possibility that these messages would be made public appeared to have an immediate and significant effect. Jonathan Barnett stepped down from his role as the executive chairman of CAA Stellar in February of 2024. The case was then managed by attorneys in Los Angeles working for the parent organisation, CAA. By April of 2024, CAA had decided to drop the legal action against Jennifer Stoute and John Regis. The matter was concluded with both sides leaving the case without admitting any wrongdoing and agreeing to handle their own considerable legal expenses. The absence of a non-disclosure clause was a major win for the former athletes.

A Painful Ordeal

Looking back on the situation, Jennifer Stoute conveyed the huge amount of stress the court case had caused. She described her initial thrill when she learned of the company sale, a time when she believed it would be a wonderful outcome for all parties. That feeling of hope quickly faded. Instead of receiving a payment for their hard work in building the athletics arm of the business, they were accused of having a massive debt. The $100 million sale of Stellar Group to ICM yielded absolutely nothing for them, a deeply disappointing end to a partnership that had lasted two decades.

Broken Promises

These feelings were shared by John Regis, who noted Jonathan Barnett’s authentic love for athletics and how much he valued its contribution to the business. The original agreement, as John Regis described it, was that the business would be sold one day, and they would get a share of the money. That did not come to pass. Instead, the company they helped create ended up suing them. The legal costs were financially and emotionally draining, and the eventual retraction of the claim by CAA was a huge source of relief, finally concluding their long and difficult chapter.