A dramatic three-year legal battle between one of football's most powerful agents and two Olympic medalists has concluded after the emergence of racist, sexist, and homophobic text messages sent to a phone registered to the agent.
The High-Stakes Dispute
The case pitted leading sports agent Jonathan Barnett against his former business partners, Olympic sprinters John Regis and Jennifer Stoute. Barnett's partnership, Stellar Athletics LLP, had pursued a claim for £1.2 million against the athletes after they left the company in 2021.
Regis, who won silver in the 4x100m relay at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and Stoute, a bronze medalist in the 4x400m relay at the 1992 Barcelona Games, described the legal proceedings as "three years of torture."
The claim was unexpectedly withdrawn in April 2024, shortly after Barnett resigned from his position as executive chairman of CAA Stellar, the parent company that ultimately settled the case.
Business Partnership Turns Sour
The trio had been business partners since 2001 when they founded Stellar Athletics, representing many of Britain's top track and field athletes. The agency operated initially without formal written agreements.
According to court documents, Regis and Stoute claimed they entered the partnership with Barnett on the understanding they would receive a share of proceeds when the larger Stellar business was sold. This understanding allegedly formed the basis of their agreement to work with Barnett.
In 2020, Barnett's Stellar Group was sold to American entertainment agency ICM for $100 million (£76.5 million). Regis and Stoute claim they weren't informed about the sale until after it completed and didn't receive any share of the proceeds.
Following the sale, tensions escalated when Regis and Stoute were asked to accept a lower percentage of future profits. They declined and resigned from Stellar Athletics in June 2021, taking all 90 of the company's athletes to their new agency, Astra Partners.
The Legal Claims and Counterclaims
Stellar Athletics LLP, in documents signed by Barnett, claimed Regis and Stoute owed £952,000 for money taken in excess of their profit share over two decades, plus approximately £300,000 in damages for setting up a rival agency.
The company acknowledged that the partnership terms permitted Regis and Stoute to overdraw beyond their combined 50% profit share for expenses including school fees, but claimed these sums were repayable.
In their defence, Regis and Stoute insisted they were entitled to draw funds as salary and operating expenses. They referenced previous occasions where alleged debts were mentioned but never formally demanded or collected, and claimed the company's accountant had confirmed the money wasn't repayable.
Their defence also cited a WhatsApp message from Barnett to Stoute in December 2020 where Barnett apologized, suggesting he recognized his treatment of the couple had been inappropriate.
The Turning Point: Text Messages Surface
The case took a dramatic turn when Regis and Stoute discovered dozens of offensive text messages on an old phone registered to Barnett. The messages contained racist, sexist, and homophobic content, including jokes about Africans, Muslims, Mexicans, Chinese people, and gay people, plus one about wife beating.
The messages were allegedly sent by two other figures in sport - one described as a well-known sports figure and another a football scout. There was no suggestion Barnett sent or supported the messages himself.
After lawyers for Regis and Stoute notified Stellar's legal team about the messages in January 2024, Barnett resigned from CAA Stellar in February. The case was then taken over by Los Angeles-based lawyers who agreed to withdraw the claim in April 2024.
Both parties walked away without admitting liability and bore their own costs. Notably, the settlement didn't require Regis or Stoute to sign non-disclosure agreements.
Aftermath and Reflections
Speaking about their experience, Stoute expressed her initial excitement about the company sale: "I thought it was amazing. I was happy for Jonathan, and I thought it was going to be amazing. I thought I would get my bus pass!"
"But of course, none of that happened," she continued. "And then all of a sudden, we went from expecting a payout, to allegedly owing this enormous amount of money."
Regis emphasized their relief at the case's conclusion: "We just wanted it to go away because it was costing us so much money in legal fees, and were relieved when CAA withdrew the claim."
The settlement brings to a close a bitter dispute that exposed tensions within one of sports' most successful agencies and highlighted the complex relationships between business partners in the high-stakes world of athlete representation.
