Talent Buying Guide

CTI has found that some talent buyers wonder which talent agencies are professional and which ones may not be, so we wrote helpful articles about this topic. We have found that there are some fraudulent businesses, who contact legitimate agencies like CTI, in the attempt to get information to sell tickets for events and projects they cannot produce. Some agencies get major complaints, have a lawsuit against them, may have gone bankrupt, and just might use shady business practices to rip you off by taking deposits on bookings - when they have not really contacted the talent or their representatives.

At times, agents can lie and fake having contacted the correct representatives to book a celebrity while making false claims that the talent is available and would like to do your event, asking for a deposit that is not valid. Look on the Better Business Bureau in their area, for reviews and make sure they do not have claims or a lawsuit against them. Positive reviews are good on social media sites, but beware of manufactured reports from spammers and people trying to extort money from agencies with false claims about the agents or agency.

Unfortunately, professional agencies can get attacked online by individuals who want to meet or extort celebrities, having no intention of booking them for an event. You might come across a Rippoff Report or a Wordpress page that was setup on a professional agency who did nothing wrong, except for denying service to, what seemed at the time, a potential buyer that was not properly funded or they wanted a personal message given to the lead singer in One Republic or Matthew McConaughey, or even the President of the United States.

If you suspect an individual is a scamming agent asking for a deposit before he gives you assurances of the talent being able to be confirmed, do not send in a deposit until they are checked out.

If you are exposed to a fraudulent business while attempting to hire a celebrity or major performer, please feel free to call our company. We can let you know if they are a shady business and might cheat you out of your money.

CTI wants to help expose these individuals and warn buyers on the Internet, since major celebrity names are powerful in being able to create revenue for scammers trying to take your money for fraudulent charities or fake auctions that offer to buy time with celebrities. We have come across clients who were scammed by shady businesses just like that.

An example was a con artist from Australia, a couple of years ago, who attempted to get information from our company to build his a fake business, designed to ripoff fans by selling auction tickets to have a chance to spend time with celebrities - when this was not possible at all. He acted like he was a legitimate agent, but was really attempting to cheat people out of their money. CTI found out about this fraudulent business and notified the major agents and managers that he was a con artist. CTI eventually filed a police report on this man and it seems major agencies started a lawsuit against him as well. That company went bankrupt and does not exist anymore, due to CTI helping to expose his fraud.

Learn More on our Celebrity Talent International Consumer Advocacy Portal.