A former CEO at WPP Media, the company that produces reality television hit "Love Island," has filed a $100 million suit claiming he was pushed out of the firm after he raised concerns about billing practices he called "unsustainable, unlawful and a significant threat to the company."

Richard Foster, who led WPP's Motion Content Group, said the media giant consolidated the buying power of its clients to secure volume-based discounted deals from vendors. But instead of passing back those discounts to the clients, the deals were "turned into a non-disclosed profit center," according to the suit, filed in New York County Supreme Court.

Foster said his division was one of the company's most successful and high-profile divisions — it co-produced and co-financed thousands of television series around the world, including "Love Island" and the documentary "Group Therapy." And he said he intentionally built the division to operate independently of WPP's "improper inventory and rebate practices."

For one, Foster established a team "to partner with local markets to vet and approve content investments to ensure deals were structured in compliance with contractual and regulatory obligations," the complaint states. Foster also told executive leadership that the rebate-driven deals were unsustainable and unlawful, he said. By Foster's estimates, the company improperly retained roughly $1.5 billion to $2 billion, he said.

"Rather than address these issues, WPP executives cut Foster out of deals, marginalized him, and ultimately terminated him and his team to cover up their own improper practices," the suit states.

William A. Brewer III, counsel for Foster, said in a statement provided to Law360 Friday that his client "devoted nearly two decades to helping build one of the world's most successful media and entertainment creation operations."

"When he stood up for transparency and accountability at WPP, he was let go," Brewer said. "This case will shine a light on systemic misconduct and the retaliation faced by an executive who refused to go along to get along."

WPP didn't immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday. However, a WPP spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Los Angeles Times that the company is aware of the suit "filed by a former employee who was let go in a recent organizational restructuring."

"The court has not yet made any findings in relation to the allegations and we will defend them vigorously," the spokesperson said.

According to the suit, filed Nov. 11, WPP controls billions of dollars in client spending each year. Its GroupM division, which recently rebranded to WPP Media, controlled $60 billion of client advertising spend making it the largest media buyer in the world, Foster said.

GroupM was launched to consolidate the media buying power of WPP clients, Foster said. That consolidation provided a competitive advantage of clients by leveraging their combined spend to secure the volume-based discounts, he said.

"These discounts may take the form of cash, free or discounted inventory, or other services provided at little or no cost, functioning as financial rewards from media vendors to large buyers like GroupM based on the total volume of client advertising placed through them," Foster said.

Notably, the discounts weren't passed back to clients, he said.

"Although WPP publicly touts a 'client-first' ethos and claims 'zero tolerance' for corrupt and unethical practices, in reality a significant share of its profits comes from leveraging client spend to extract rebates, media inventory, and other financial incentives that benefit WPP at the expense of the very clients whose funds make them possible," Foster said.

And WPP protects this hidden profit stream by punishing those who speak up, Foster said. That's what happened to Foster, who spent 17 years at the company before being terminated, the suit states.

Foster is alleging retaliation and wrongful termination. He's seeking at least $100 million in punitive damages plus unspecified compensatory damages, back pay, civil penalties and reasonable attorney fees.

Foster is represented by William A. Brewer III and William A. Brewer IV of Brewer Attorneys & Counselors.

Counsel information for the defendants wasn't immediately available Friday.

The case is Richard Foster v. WPP PLC et al., case number 659721/2025, in New York Supreme Court for New York County.