‘Manhattan’ Star Ryan Serhant Denies Jonathan Normolle’s Firing Claim

Ryan Serhant is being candid about Jonathan Normolle’s departure in the “Owning Manhattan” Season 1 finale. The founder of Serhant. Real Estate, 40, addressed the issue on a recent episode of Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast. Serhant finds Normolle’s claim that he orchestrated his own firing rather unbelievable.

“I haven’t publicly commented. All I’ll say is I don’t fault anyone these days for trying to control their own narrative, but I think the facts tell a story, and it’s almost like the facts were on a global Netflix TV show,” Serhant remarked.

“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,'” he elaborated. “I’m like, ‘OK, well don’t say anything that will make you sound like a jerk.’”

The drama unfolded when Normolle, 27, appeared on a podcast with fellow Serhant real estate agent Jessica “Jess” Markowski. During the episode, he made harsh comments about several colleagues. Markowski, 31, joined in the conversation but was decidedly less critical.

As shown in the final episode of “Owning Manhattan,” Serhant confronted Normolle about the situation atop The Edge at New York City’s Hudson Yards and ultimately fired him while the cameras rolled.

“It’s so awkward. It wasn’t my intent,” said the “Million Dollar Listing New York” alum on the podcast. “I don’t hire people with the intent to fire them,” he continued. “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.”

Normolle, for his part, claimed in a recent interview with the Daily Mail that he was behind his own firing, boasting that Serhant fell into his trap.

“I had a plan because I was under contract with Ryan and all the sponsorships,” Normolle said. “The only way I could get out of those contracts was if I got Ryan mad enough for him to fire me,” he added. “… I went in on Ryan with all these things and he got upset enough to fire me on TV—and instantly these contracts were completely void.”

Regardless of whether Normolle had any influence over his termination, Serhant has no regrets. He believes his former employee had “taken it three steps too far” by speaking poorly of his colleagues.

“If I don’t act like a CEO, then I’ll lose all the good people, and that’s a tough lesson for me to learn,” said Serhant, who oversees a team of roughly 750. However, he hinted that Normolle’s return to his agency—and a potential future season of “Owning Manhattan”—is not out of the question.

“I came to New York City to do theater, so I got onto a soap opera [‘As the World Turns’]. So I played Doctor Evan Walsh IV. Not long after I started did I go from a good doctor to the doctor that kills everybody to then is murdered by his own grandmother. Which in ‘Actor World’ means you’re fired,” he shared. “And 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 recalled. “And that’s what I’ll say.”

“Owning Manhattan” is currently available to stream on Netflix.

Source: Page Six, Daily Mail