On the morning of Monday, April 25, Christine Ponthieux beat everyone into the Benz Model & Talent Agency, where she worked for 20 years.
She locked the door of Steve Benzrihem's office and left a note on his keyboard.
According to the report, it said, "Steve, you broke my spirit"
Ponthieux had three adult daughters.
After a few days, film, television and advertisement professionals and Benz clients throughout the state began receiving an unsigned, typed letter accusing Benzrihem of unethical behavior. He was accused of withholding pay from models and actors.
Ponthieux sent copies of the letter to her daughter before she died.
The suicide in the firm's offices sent shock waves through the entertainment industry. Local models and actors are usually booked by the Benz firm.
Employees have left and models and actors are looking for new representation. About 50 models have left the firm.
Some people who received a copy of the letter shared it with others.
The car that Ponthieux parked near the agency had hundreds of additional copies of the letter, blank envelopes and address labels in it.
According to Benzrihem, Ponthieux was to blame if anyone was not paid.
He denied doing anything wrong. That is not true. Not a single person. Why didn't she quit if I was doing something wrong? She is the one who is guilty. He hired an accounting firm to look at the books.
Some models and actors didn't get paid what they were owed because of Benzrihem
Natasha Correia said that she knows because she did Christine's job before Christine did that job.
The makeup artist said the letter has everyone talking on a few sets where she has worked recently. Everyone wants to know if it's true and if they're owed money that they didn't know about.
In the past, local Benz clients have included HSN. Commercials, print advertisements, films and television shows with their models and actors can be seen around the world.
More than 3000 models and actors are represented by the firm.
Benz is one of the largest agencies in the state. It is the largest according to the website.
A model or actor is paid based on how long an ad will last. They cite that length in their contract. When an advertisement contract is extended, Benzrihem does not always pay actors and models.
Ponthieux claimed in the letter that checks were cut for talent renewals. Over the last decade, checks with an undeliverable mailing address were voided. It was not possible to get a current mailing address for the talent. The funds were deposited into the account.
Correia worked for the agency for 17 years. Correia became an agent in 2011.
Correia said that he was sometimes told not to mail a check. When the check was taken out of the mail, I didn't know it was there. The address had changed and there was no investigation to find the talent. That money would be kept by the agency.
Correia would sometimes tell models that a contract had been renewed without telling Benzrihem and then ask them not to mention how they learned. It was not possible to know if every model was paid on time.
Benzrihem said he didn't remember having a conversation withNatasha about that. I don't know what she's saying.
Kira Alexander, who worked at Benz for eight years, said she had heard of situations where talent called and said, "Hey, I just saw my picture up in the airport and that was supposed to be done two years ago."
Alexander left Benz in 2016 because she was not comfortable working in an environment in which employees had to overcome instances of questionable ethics by the owner. She started her own agency.
Some people didn't receive contract renewal money for jobs booked through Benz. Orca stated that she was in a tourism commercial around 14 years ago.
She said that her hair was in her face.
Orca claimed that a person claiming to be a producer for a commercial reached out to her a few years after she was filmed.
Orca said she told Benz, but she never got the money.
After reading the letter, she left Benz.
Many times talent was quoted and paid less than they were paid for the project. Money was removed from the top.
Correia said the same thing when she worked at Benz.
Some people were not surprised by that.
There has been a lot of talk about Steve taking money off the top for a long time.
John Peros started posting a job's rate alongside the call for talent because he said that Benz was misrepresenting rates as being much lower.
Benzrihem claimed that he had not signed a check in years. My stamp was in Ponthieux's hands. She was in charge of the whole thing. I wasn't there to do it.
Those speaking out against him are either disgruntled former employees or agency competition. The accusations and the suicide have had an impact on the company.
Three employees left after Ponthieux died.
The vice president resigned. He couldn't continue working for the company because of the allegations and the fact that Christine took her own life.
Benzrihem wondered if some clients would no longer want to work with the agency after 50 models told him they were leaving. She has taken away a lot of our work. Our current team is resilient and continues to book jobs and provide great results for our clients.
There is no record of complaints against Benz. The agency can only say that investigations have concluded with a finding of probable cause.
TPD spokesman Jamel Lane said that the remarks in the letter are not being investigated.
Orca didn't file a complaint for her missing check. She said that actors and models worried that speaking up could cost them their jobs.
Danielle said that it was sadly true for many in the industry. They need to keep working and be careful. They need to say something.
After the letter went out, a complaint was filed with the film commission.
State law requires agencies to pay their clients within five business days.
Jan Gomper read the letter and said she wanted to be paid for a commercial that was shot a year ago. She was paid and then left.
Benzrihem, who was semi-retired, returned full-time recently. He was not aware that models and actors were not being paid. An accounting firm was hired to make sure everyone was paid what they were owed.
Cooper wants her mom to be remembered as someone who loved to laugh and have fun.
Marshall said that Ponthieux would leave canned goods behind the office for homeless people to use the bathroom.
He said that Friday's at work are usually a bit more lighthearted. People are in a good mood as the weekend approaches. She was singing and dancing on the Friday before Ponthieux's death. I didn't see any signs, so I'm struggling with that.
You can reach the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay by calling or visiting.
The spelling of the name has been changed.
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