Ari Emanuel

Ari Emanuel (born March 29, 1961) is an American businessman and the CEO of Endeavor, an entertainment and media agency. He was a founding partner of the Endeavor Talent Agency and was instrumental in shaping its June 2009 merger with the William Morris Agency.[1]

Ari Emanuel
Born
Ariel Zev Emanuel

(1961-03-29) March 29, 1961
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationMacalester College (BA)
Known forChief Executive of Endeavor
Owner of Ultimate Fighting Championship
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Sarah Hardwick Addington
Children3

Background
Ari (right) participating in a forum alongside his brother Rahm (left)

Born to a Jewish family[2] in Chicago, Emanuel was raised in suburban Wilmette, Illinois. Emanuel is the brother of former Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel, bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, and adopted sister Shoshana Emanuel. His father, Jerusalem-born Dr. Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a pediatrician who was active in the Irgun, a hardline Zionist militant group that operated in Mandatory Palestine during the 1930s and 1940s[3][4] His mother, Marsha Emanuel (née Smulevitz), was a civil rights activist, and the one-time owner of a Chicago-area rock and roll club.[5] As a child, Ari was diagnosed as both hyperactive and dyslexic, and his mother spent many hours helping him to learn to read.[5] He is a graduate of New Trier High School and of Macalester College in St Paul, Minnesota, where he was roommates with director Peter Berg.

Emanuel is married to Sarah Hardwick Addington; they have three sons.[5][6]

Career

Prior to founding Endeavor, Emanuel was a partner at InterTalent and senior agent at ICM Partners (ICM).[5] He began his entertainment industry career as an agent trainee at Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Emanuel has been described as a mogul and power player in Hollywood.[7][8] Emanuel and WME co-CEO Patrick Whitesell have both been named to Fortune's Businessperson of the Year list.[9][10] In a May 2013 article on Emanuel, Fortune called him "one of the biggest guns in the consolidating entertainment business".[11]

Emanuel's relationships with his clients, coupled with his stature in the industry, has led to various homages and parodies over the years, including Bob Odenkirk's character Stevie Grant on The Larry Sanders Show, and Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven on the HBO television show Entourage.[12] In 2011, Emanuel co-founded TheAudience with Sean Parker and Oliver Luckett.[13]

Ariel Emanuel has served as a member of Live Nation Entertainment board of directors since September 2007.[14]

Public advocacy

Emanuel gained widespread media attention in July 2006 when he called on Hollywood to blacklist Mel Gibson because of Gibson's "anti-Semitic remarks" during his DUI arrest. Emanuel wrote, "People in the entertainment community, whether Jew or Gentile, need to demonstrate that they understand how much is at stake in this by professionally shunning Mel Gibson and refusing to work with him, even if it means a sacrifice to their bottom line."[15]

Emanuel's name was in an August 17, 2006, advertisement in the Los Angeles Times that condemned Hamas and Hezbollah and supported Israel in the 2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict.[16]

Emanuel has hosted fundraisers for the Democratic Party.[17]

During the 2016 Presidential primaries Emanuel offered to produce a movie for his former client, former President, Donald Trump which was considered for the 2016 Republican National Convention but ultimately was not followed through on.[18]

Emanuel donated $2,700 to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[19]

Controversy

An April 2002 lawsuit by agent Sandra Epstein against Endeavor Agency brought forth accusations by Epstein and other Endeavor employees against Emanuel. In the court filings, Emanuel is alleged to have allowed a friend to operate a pornographic website out of Endeavor's offices. According to Epstein, Emanuel made racist and anti-gay remarks and prevented her from sending a script about Navy SEALs to actor Wesley Snipes, saying: "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Everyone knows that blacks don't swim."[20] Emanuel disputed these accusations at the time. Epstein's claims were settled for $2.25 million.[20]

Art philanthropy

Emanuel has in the past been active on the board of trustees of P.S. Arts, a Los Angeles, California-based nonprofit organization that works to bring art education programs to Southern California schools. He has also helped the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, establish MOCAtv, a dedicated YouTube art channel. In 2012, he joined the museum's board.[21]

References
  1. Littleton, Cynthia (2009-04-27). "WMA, Endeavor approve merger". Variety.
  2. The Jewish Daily Forward: "Pope Francis Invites Hollywood biggest jews to Vatican" by Rachel X. Landes August 6, 2015
  3. "Profile: Rahm Emanuel". BBC News. 2008-11-07. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  4. "Major Political Developments". The Jewish Plan for Palestine—Memoranda and Statements presented by The Jewish Agency for Palestine to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. The Jewish Agency for Palestine, Jerusalem. 1947. p. 32.
  5. Bumiller, Elisabeth (1997-06-15). "The Brothers Emanuel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  6. Gateway families: ancestors and descendants of Richard Simrall Hawes III and Marie Christy Johnson, by Christy Hawes Bond, Alicia Crane Williams, C. Hawes Bond, 1994, p. 527
  7. "Ari Emanuel: 21st century Hollywood mogul". The Independent. London. July 15, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  8. Cieply, Michael (June 10, 2009). "Mogul Ascends With Old Hollywood Clout". The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  9. Garrahan, Matthew (December 6, 2011). "Rewriting the Hollywood script". Financial Times. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  10. P.N. (November 19, 2010). "Businessperson of the Year". Fortune. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
  11. Lashinsky, Adam (May 23, 2013). "Hi, It's Ari @#$%ing Emanuel, and I plan to shake up Hollywood". Fortune. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  12. Horn, John (2006-06-28). "A Green Light for 'Aqua'?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  13. "TheAudience: A Stealthy, Celeb-Driven Startup Co-founded By Sean Parker, Ari Emanuel & Oliver Luckett". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  14. "Leaders Archive". Live Nation Entertainment. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  15. Emanuel, Ari (2006-07-30). "The Bottom Line on Mel Gibson's Anti-Semitic Remarks". The Huffington Post.
  16. "Nicole Kidman and 84 Others Stand United Against Terrorism" Archived September 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Hollywood Grind. August 18, 2006.
  17. Berrin, Danielle (November 6, 2008). "Rahm Emanuel's brother, Ari Emanuel, is a Hollywood superagent". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.
  18. "Ari Emanuel Will Not Produce Trump Convention Film". Fortune. May 1, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  19. Messer, Lesley (November 21, 2016). "Donald Trump Meets With Ari Emanuel: Inside Their Long-Standing Relationship". ABC.
  20. Cieply, Michael (2008-07-27). "Agents Replaying a Hollywood Drama". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  21. Randy Kennedy (October 3, 2012), Ari Emanuel Joins Board of Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles The New York Times. 2012/10/03
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