Sorrell grilled on WPP exit during Cannes Lions interview

CANNES — A tanned Sir Martin Sorrell began to sweat.

His moment to address the scandal that led to his sudden exit from the top spot at ad agency giant WPP months earlier had finally come.

He faced a soft-spoken yet relentless interrogator in journalist Ken Auletta, who was being interviewed by Sorrell about his new book, “Frenemies,” at the Cannes Lions festival here on Friday.

Auletta waited politely until 40 minutes into the hour-long talk before turning the tables to become the interviewer.

“So, let’s talk about the elephant in the room,” Auletta said.

Although Sorrell a day earlier had reiterated at a festival event that he “strenuously denied” rumors that he paid a prostitute using company funds and that he bullied employees, he hadn’t faced a pro like Auletta.

“What’s the elephant in the room?” Sorrell asked.

“The circumstances under which you were compelled to leave [WWP],” Auletta said, first pressing him on claims that the exec was “verbally abusive” and “cruel” to his employees.

The journalist cited a Financial Times article featuring testimonials from 20 to 25 WPP employees about the verbal abuse.

“Am I an easy person to deal with? The answer is no. Am I demanding? Yes,” the glib Sorrell said. “I don’t know who the FT talked to. They claimed to be talking to 20 to 25 people … maybe they spoke to the wrong 20 to 25 people.”

Moments later, Sorrell addressed the use of company cash to pay for a prostitute.

“We’ve dealt with each and everything that’s been said and we’ve responded formally to everything that’s been said,” he noted. “We dealt with that by strenuously denying. It’s not true.”

The Wall Street Journal reported in April that WPP’s board was investigating the allegations shortly after Sorrell left the company.

When pressed as to why he left WPP if the allegations weren’t true, Sorrell said: “When you have leaks of that nature at the highest level of the company, it’s a very difficult situation. Relationships come under a lot of pressure under situations like that.”

Sorrell has asked WPP to “look into the leak,” and noted that the option of “legal action” is still there.

After the intense exchange, the ad man went back to asking Auletta about his book, which chronicles the disruption of the advertising industry.

Following the talk, the duo held a press conference during which one reporter asked Sorrell to give insight on what he has learned this year at the festival.

“The first thing I’ve learned is never do an interview with Ken Auletta,” he quipped. “The second thing is never give a press conference.”