Owning Manhattan’s Ryan Serhant has declared he has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to bad behavior after he found himself forced to fire real estate agent Jonathan Nørmølle in a shocking twist at the end of the Netflix show’s first season.
The world-famous broker and CEO, 39, brutally sacked Jonathan, 27, in the last episode after he was caught bad-mouthing a colleague on the company’s podcast and accused of tarnishing the reputation of the business at the showing of a $10 million property.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ryan insisted that there are ‘no bad apples’ working at his eponymous company Serhant – unlike on Selling Sunset – as he implements a ‘one strike policy.’
‘I have a one strike policy for toxicity and negativity,’ he said. ‘There are no bad apples.
‘What you see me go through on the show, is while that term is easy to say, it’s hard to put in practice.
Owning Manhattan’s Ryan Serhant has spoken out about his zero tolerance for bad behavior
The CEO, 39, was left with no option but to fire Jonathan Nørmølle, 27, (pictured) at the end of the Netflix show’s first season
‘Selling real estate in New York City is a super competitive environment. There are 80,000 agents here for 6,000 homes that get sold.
‘Most of the people who are in this business are working for free with no benefits and with a lot of pressure on them. They will make no money this year…
‘Sometimes you’ll see some bad behavior, and my gut instinct is it’s a one strike policy, you can’t work here anymore.
‘But then sometimes I also have a heart. I say, “I understand what you’re going through, I know, this year has been really, really tough, but we’ve got to correct your behavior.”‘
He continued: ‘As a CEO, I’ve had to really focus on like the two B’s when managing people, which is the business and the behavior.
‘I’m working on building something really, really big. This is unlike the other shows that follow people who are just focused on themselves.’
Ryan fired Jonathan on the roof deck of Manhattan skyscraper The Edge at Hudson Yards in the final episode of Owning Manhattan.
Ryan fired Jonathan on the roof deck of Manhattan skyscraper The Edge at Hudson Yards
Fighting for his position at Serhant, Jonathan said: ‘This is going to sound cocky, but I am the face of the next generation of this. I’m the hardest working agent you will ever meet’
The brutal scenes came after Jonathan had showed up late to a showing on Green Street, Manhattan, without any prospective buyers, and had been rude to the listing agent.
He had also previously spoken ill of his colleague Savannah Gowarty on the official Serhant podcast alongside fellow agent Jessica Markowski.
In the showdown, Ryan said: ‘You made your mistake with Savannah and the stupid podcast and using company resources, you have ego issues and you rub some people the wrong way, but even through all of that, I still told everybody: “I still believe in Jonathan.”
‘I stuck through all this bulls**t with you, and I’ve been the one to say, “Jonathan will make everyone proud, just you wait.”‘
Jonathan attempted to defend himself during the head-to-head, but ultimately his efforts fell flat.
‘I don’t think I’ve been mean to other agents,’ he said. ‘I think I’ve been presenting myself really, really well.’
He continued: ‘This is going to sound cocky, but I am the face of the next generation of this.
Ryan’s mind was already made up, and he cut the conversation short by terminating Jonathan’s employment.
Jonathan had previously bad-mouthed colleague Savannah Gowarty (left) on the company’s podcast
‘I’m the hardest working agent you will ever meet, and I think I know more about the industry than most people. You’ll see.
‘Give me a year from now, I’ll be number one at Serhant. You’ll be surprised. You’ll see.’
But Ryan’s mind was already made up, and he cut the conversation short by terminating Jonathan’s employment.
‘Here’s the deal,’ he said. ‘I think you’re going to have a huge career, it’s just not gonna be here.’
Furious by Ryan’s decision, Jonathan quickly stormed off.
Speaking in his confessional, he admitted: ‘I think the biggest disappointment is that Ryan… I thought we had a relationship at least.
‘He was always very honest and always honorable, but that proved to be very very wrong. I don’t think me and Ryan will stay friends or cordial after this.’
Ryan added: ‘Jonathan is a unique agent, but any agent that is here that is a poor representation of our brand and our amazing success, they can’t be here.
‘I took a risk on Jonathan, but not every risk works out.’
Owning Manhattan is available to stream on Netflix
