Stephen Rivers

Who is Stephen Rivers?

Stephen M. Rivers was an United States political activist and publicist, who represented numerous actors and celebrities, including Kevin Costner, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Fonda, Michael Ovitz and Oliver Stone.

Rivers was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on February 17, 1955. He started his political activism career organizing a New England boycott of grapes for the United Farm Workers. He later moved to California and worked for UFW President Cesar Chavez.

Jane Fonda was a long-time client, for whom he arranged a trip to the Soviet Union in 1984 on behalf of refusenik Ida Nudel. Fonda's visit made her the first Westerner to visit Nudel in six years. He arranged a 1987 trip to Poland to express her support for Lech Wałęsa, leader of the then-banned Solidarity movement. The trip to Poland with her then-husband Tom Hayden to Warsaw had Fonda meet with government officials as well as with supporters of Solidarity.

Rivers started working for Creative Artists Agency in 1990, where he spent four years organizing the firm's government and charitable efforts, including a fundraiser for President Bill Clinton and managing talent.