Modeling agency Wilhelmina has had a South Beach shake-up after its veteran Miami director Erin Lucas abruptly exited the firm this week after 15 years, Page Six has learned.
Sources said a raft of Miami staffers left with Lucas after she butted heads with Wilhelmina’s new CEO, Bill Wackermann. Wackermann was named CEO in January after 20 years at Condé Nast as a publisher of mags including Condé Nast Traveler, Glamour, W, Bon Appétit and Brides.
“Erin was a very big part of Wilhelmina in Miami and was there for more than a decade,” a source said. “Everyone in Miami knows her, and a lot of the Miami team left with her.” The source said of friction with Wackermann: “It was so bad, Erin left before her contract was up. With Bill, it’s all about him . . . He’s extremely pretentious, and if you don’t kiss his ass, you’re out.”
Lucas has yet to announce her next move. When we contacted her office at Wilhelmina, we were told she’s no longer with the company.
Wackermann — who’s fond of posting shirtless selfies on Instagram — was fired from Condé Nast last year in the middle of a “morale building” Caribbean cruise with his national sales team, The Post reported. But he landed on his feet at Wilhelmina, which reported record second-quarter revenues on Wednesday.
A Wilhelmina rep confirmed Lucas left, but said there was no bad blood and that the firm’s already hired Nancy Ortiz, from Scott Lipps’ One Management, to head the Miami office. “We had a record-breaking quarter, [the biggest] of any . . . in the company’s history. As part of our success [there is] restructuring across the entire company,” the rep said in an e-mail. “We are really excited to announce that we have hired a new director to take over the Miami office . . . No bad blood anywhere, and we wish all of our past and present employees the best of luck.”
The agency last year signed singer Demi Lovato and also reps Nick Jonas, Victoria’s Secret model Cindy Bruna, Maybelline model I-Hua Wu and Balmain male model Francisco Lachowski.