Ex-Hearst honcho in hot water
SCOTT Sassa, the former high-flying Hearst exec who left his $6 million-a-year job at the company in 2013 after sexting with a stripper who forwarded the racy messages to Hearst bosses, is in yet more trouble.
Sassa, who as Hearst’s president of entertainment and syndication cut deals with ESPN and Lifetime, was convicted in LA this month of 15 counts of contempt of court for nonpayment of child and spousal support.
After being sued by his ex-wife Ellen Sassa, Scott — who has held big jobs at Marvel, Turner and NBC — was sentenced to 900 hours of community service and three years’ probation. He had testified that he was broke and used up his retirement account to pay $14,700 a month for his Manhattan apartment, but couldn’t afford to pay an extra $3,000 a month in child and spousal support. He allegedly claimed he kept his expensive NYC home because he “needed to keep up his appearance to look like he was a CEO.”
Judge Tamara Hall at Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that Scott owes $96,750, which must be paid at a rate of $3,015 a month. The judge added that Scott will face 75 days in jail if he fails to make the payments to his ex and their two daughters.
Scott — who is now chairman of Milk Makeup, founded by Milk Studios’ Mazdack Rassi and his wife, fashionista and E! News correspondent Zanna Roberts Rassi — will carry out his com- munity service in New York at a location to be agreed upon. His attorney Douglas A. Bagby declined to comment.
Scott quit Hearst after meeting a stripper in LA. They engaged in steamy text exchanges while arranging to hook up, plus she sent him sexy pictures. The stripper, helped by a boyfriend, then tried to blackmail Scott, saying she’d expose him if he didn’t give her money. When Scott didn’t pay up, the boyfriend e-mailed the sex-text exchanges to horrified Hearst honchos, including then-CEO Frank Bennack Jr., Hearst Magazines president David Carey and Michael Clinton, president of marketing for the magazines. Sassa was promptly asked to resign.