Here’s an unusual story from the New York office of Omnicom consultancy Interbrand. Until recently, the agency employed model, actor and sometime police procedural guest star Kevin Niviaen “Navayne” Brown, who acts and models under his stage name (thanks, Wikipedia).
It’s not clear how long Brown worked at Interbrand or what position he held, exactly. It’s also not clear whether he had ever worked at an agency before or came to the job with any relevant professional experience.
We do know, however, that the Jamaica-born actor will be playing civil rights leader Marcus Garvey in a long-developing film produced by Don Cheadle that’s set to come out next year or the year after that. We also know that he has appeared in both Law & Order: SVU and CSI: New York, that he has modeled for fashion brands ranging from Roc A Wear to Alexander McQueen, and that you can hire him as a guest speaker for the low price of $10,000-20,000.
Today an Interbrand spokesperson declined to comment on Brown, but a couple of sources confirm that he did work there for a short time, with one indicating that he was employed as an HR lead and another stating that he left the job of his own accord and was not terminated.
The biggest mystery here is why Brown went to the agency in the first place, given that we cannot find any record of him ever working in the advertising industry before he hit the fashion/drama circuit by way of the 1990 Wesley Snipes HBO vehicle Disappearing Acts.