Entertainment
Owning Manhattan’s Ryan Responds To Jonathan’s Firing Claims
He talked about Jonathan’s perspective on a recent podcast episode.
Ryan Serhant is addressing “the facts” surrounding the firing of his former employee Jonathan Nørmølle.
In the Owning Manhattan Season 1 finale, Nørmølle was fired from Serhant’s real estate firm after speaking negatively about his colleague Savannah Gowarty on the company’s podcast, acting rude toward a listing agent, and showing up late to an important showing.
Nørmølle later claimed to the Daily Mail that he wanted Serhant to fire him from the company so that he could launch his own business. “I had a plan because I was under contract with Ryan and all the sponsorship,” he said. “The only way I could get out of those contracts was if I got Ryan mad enough for him to fire me.”
Serhant isn’t convinced by Nørmølle’s story. “All I’ll say is I don’t fault anyone these days for trying to control their own narrative,” he said on Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast. “The facts tell a story, and it’s almost like the facts were on a global Netflix TV show.”
He added that having to fire Nørmølle atop New York City’s The Edge skyscraper was “so awkward.”
“I don’t hire people with the intent to fire them,” he said. “I didn’t hire any of the agents — who are actual real estate agents, who are actually at our company — with the intent to let them go. That was super uncomfortable.”
Speaking to host Evan Real, he continued, “When clients come on the show, they’ll say to me, ‘OK, I want to go on the show but I want to make sure you don’t make me look like a jerk. I’m like, ‘OK, well don’t say anything that will make you sound like a jerk.’”
Jonathan’s Return Isn’t Off The Table
Since leaving the company, Nørmølle has continued working in New York real estate, and is now a salesperson for Highline Residential, a company described as a “young and vibrant brokerage built on excellence and a cross-disciplinary approach.”
Although he appears to have moved on, Serhant isn’t ruling out Nørmølle’s Owning Manhattan return.
Recalling his years acting on the soap opera As the World Turns, Serhant said he was fired from the show when his character, Doctor Evan Walsh IV, was killed off.
“I remember going to the executive producer and he’s like, ‘Hey, listen. If the audience loves ya, you can always come back from the dead,’” Serhant told Page Six, adding, “That’s what I’ll say” to Nørmølle.
