According to a tipster, a meeting was called on Monday at the New York offices of William Morris Endeavor where Cara Stein, COO of WME-NY, informed agency assistants, most of whom came from William Morris in the merger with Endeavor, that their salaries are being slashed drastically, some down to $10 an hour. A rumor that such a thing might be happening was floated last month. Now it's been confirmed.

Calling the move a "cost-cutting measure to keep costs under control," Stein laid out the new pre-tax, seniority-based compensation rates for agent's assistants:

Employed at WME less than 1 year - $10/hr

Employed at WME 1-2 years - $11/hr

Employed at WME 2-3 years - $12/hr

Employed at WME 3 years or more - capped at $14 hour.

We're told that prior to the merger with Endeavor, newly hired assistants at William Morris were making $13 an hour and up. Additionally, Stein informed the assistants that they'll be forced to work a mandatory 50 hour work week from here on out. No word on whether or not the firm will set up a "good assistant" bonus prize ala Conde Nast.

Not receiving pay cuts: Assistants in the music and personal appearance departments. Our tipster speculates that Ari Emanuel doesn't want to do anything to ruffle the feathers of the heads of these departments as they're generating tremendous revenue for the company at this point.

Speaking of Ari, we wonder if he and his WME co-CEOs, Patrick Whitesell and Dave Wirtschafter, will be taking pay cuts like the little people to help the company's bottom line. If you've any insight into this, feel free to pass it along to us. Your confidentiality will be held sacred.

WILLIAM Morris Chairman Jim Wiatt is so desperate to protect his firm's reputation that he's threatening to sue people who dare to even talk about the agency in an unflattering light. Wiatt was incandescent with rage on Wednesday when he learned that PAGE SIX was working on a story about how Freddie Prinze Jr. threatened WMA President Dave Wirtschafter during a phone conversation several months ago. In March, Prinze was furious after Wirtschafter told The New Yorker that Prinze's wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar, was "nothing" before she starred in the hit horror flick "The Grudge," and he called the WMA president.
"Freddie was very angry," a friend told us. "Dave wasn't even her agent — George Freeman was — so Freddie said, 'I don't want to hear you talking about my wife. You don't even know her. Make sure you don't run into me on the street.' "
Wirtschafter shot back, "Are you threatening me?" — to which Prinze said, "It's not a threat; it's just the truth."

Awwwww, snap! It gets a little more complicated from there, but here's a quick summary: Jim totally called Freddie to ask if he threatened Dave, and Freddie was all, you bet your ass I did! Then Page Six called flack Leslie "Sloane" Zelnick, and she goes, I'm not denyin' nothin'! THEN Jim called Freddie's manager, and he's like, hey, do YOU want a nasty Bert Fields letter, lady? Do ya? We got enough for everybody! Then William Morris' "mouthpiece" is all about Hello? No one's suing anybody, OK? And then Page Six ran the item. The end.

We think. At least until recess, when all hell might break loose.

• AGENTS ON PRINZE AND NEEDLES [NY Post]
• William Morris Fights Back: The Strongly-Worded Letter [Defamer]
• Page Six Finally Playing Nice With WMA? [Defamer]