Allow Wesley Snipes to put the actor/agent relationship in the "pimps and hos" terms everyone can understand
The particulars of the Hollywood actor/talent agent relationship can often be murky and incomprehensible to the layman, especially as it relates to collecting commission fees from actors who don't like to give money to other people. Fortunately, The Hollywood Reporter has unearthed the below deposition video of Wesley Snipes explaining what actually seems to be a pretty firm grasp on the actor/manager dynamic, putting his relationship with his former talent agency UTA—and specifically, their 2008 court battle over unpaid commission fees—into the "pimps and hos" language that even those outside the industry can comprehend. You see, a pimp's love is very different from that of a square, and often that makes for some very uncomfortable business situations:
Snipes: I can translate it to the way I understand it. It's no different than a pimp. That's what a pimp does with a ho. A pimp will lay claim to whatever the ho produces anywhere on the planet for as long as she's a ho. And then, even after she retires from being a ho, they're still gonna make the claim. Now, whether they actually do anything or not to deserve it is a whole 'nother issue. That's kind of my experience with the talent agencies — if they receive the phone call, if your name has been a part of their roster, if they receive a piece of mail, then as far as they're concerned, they are entitled to commission.
[Lawyer]: What does the pimp do when the ho doesn't pay?
Snipes: They usually beat them up.
[Lawyer]: No further questions.
Indeed, if only Snipes had this sort of clarity of vision about the relationship between the IRS and the taxpayer, he wouldn't be in jail right now.