• Ad Age , Monday, December 11, 2006 11 AM

Ousted Wal-Mart marketing "agent of change" Julie Roehm has fessed up to possibly taking some free food and sitting in one ad agency chief's fancy sports car, but denies rumors that she was sleeping with one her subordinates, who was also run out Bentonville by the retail giant last week.

Roehm tells the trade magazine that she did not receive "any gift or gratuity," but is not sure what she had at an event at the posh Nobu restaurant, or who paid for it: "It was one of those hors-d'oeuvre-y things, so I'm not sure exactly what I ate, but I just fully anticipated that they knew to bill the food back to Wal-Mart, which is what Draft had done on other occasions and what the other agencies did too."

She also rejects the notion that she has an "an improper relationship" with Sean Womack, who worked under her. "Absolutely not," she says. "I've had this my whole career. ... I'm meant to have slept with about half the men I've worked with, so I clearly get around, but I can tell you I've never experienced any of the benefits of that."

Her husband Mike backs her up: "No, I'm not divorcing my wife. Sean is a good family friend of ours." Wal-Mart is keeping mum on details about her departure, although a spokesman stresses Roehm is not accused of any criminal acts.

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