{"id":856781,"date":"2026-09-22T16:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/856781\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T16:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T16:38:12","slug":"ari-emanuel-talks-trump-nikki-finke-ai-hollywood-change-qa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/856781\/","title":{"rendered":"Ari Emanuel Talks Trump, Nikki Finke, AI & Hollywood Change: Q&A"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDon\u2019t let the kinder gentler Ari Emanuel<\/a> out there pitching his new memoir fool you. Despite what you may have read during his media tour for Roll the Calls, the WME<\/a> Group boss hasn\u2019t mellowed out.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe notoriously combative Emanuel is still taking names, making calls, taking no prisoners and, from Donald Trump<\/a> and Barack Obama<\/a> to Nikki Finke<\/a> to Mike Ovitz, Mark Wahlberg<\/a>, Patrick Whitesell, Elon Musk<\/a>, Jeffrey Katzenberg<\/a> and everyone in between, calling out friend and foe. To that, his Knopf memoir ghost-written by J.R. Moehringer and hitting shelves Tuesday is in part confession and in part altercation with a lot of big names in the mix and big Hollywood moments as the backdrop.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith David Ellison<\/a>\u2018s $111 billion ParaBros merger finally coming to pass<\/a> this week, Emanuel chatted with me about changing the industry, his old client Trump the former Apprentice host, AI<\/a>, and Deadline\u2019s founder. The TKO<\/a> executive chair also got in the ring about self-reflection and who in town he has the most scorn for, kinda.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: You write towards the end of the book about Trump\u2019s re-election. You talk about Larry David\u2019s reaction to Trump getting back in office, you talk about others lamenting the election, others happy about it, and you say, \u201cI\u2019m serious. I can\u2019t have beef with half my friends. I can\u2019t hate half my country.\u201d Obviously, when people write books, there\u2019s a delay between the completion of the wring and publication. So, with all that has and is going on, I wanted to know if you still stood by that statement?<\/p>\n

\n\tARI EMANUEL: You know that people won\u2019t talk to the other side. I love the echo chamber that they want to create. My mother used to say to me, you know, you don\u2019t make peace with friends; you make peace with enemies. I don\u2019t want to live in a cult. I want to live in a society. And living in a society means that you talk to people you don\u2019t agree with, and you discuss with them. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn my household, when we sat down and had dinners, and you would argue your point, you would learn things from other side, you would think about it, you would move a little bit, and that\u2019s what a society is, compared to a cult. And I think we have been pushed to this cult level.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: How do you mean?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: I don\u2019t want to generalize, but that\u2019s not how I want to live my life. And I will be consistent. You know, recently I\u2019m a Democrat. Grew up as a Democrat. Voted Democrat. Gave money to Democrats\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Have a brother who\u2019s running for president\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: (chuckles) I\u2019m not saying that. I am saying I had a conversation with the president of the United States, recently and I talked about the film credit and the television credit. I\u2019m on the other side having that conversation. I\u2019m doing the same thing with senators and congressmen that are not Democrats of why this is good for America\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: OK, Ari, there\u2019s no discussion that a national film credit is long overdue and that we as the United States have to put our big boy pants on, like the UK and Canada and others have for the industry. But also, you\u2019re the man who put Mel Gibson\u2019s ass out on the curb for anti-Semitic remarks\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Guess what? I\u2019m also the man that had a conversation with Mel, when he did all the work, and he realized that he did something wrong. That said, you know something, you can\u2019t punish somebody for one action as long as he does the work, and he did do the work, learning about all the things that he ranted about. I accepted Mel back in, and when Mark Wahlberg called me and I said you should put him in that movie at Paramount, I was happy to do it because I think Mel did the right amount of work. So, what are you talking about?<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I\u2019m talking about children being pulled off the streets on their way to school and thrown in detention camps.<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Well, I can have a conversation, which I have, saying I think you\u2019ve gone overboard to people. I have had that conversation. I have had the conversation about immigrants and all the other things, with people that are on the other side of that conversation. I\u2019m having a conversation, and it could be forceful\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Yeah\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: \u2026But, that\u2019s the only way you\u2019re going to actually kind of move people in a direction that you agree with. You know, elections have consequences. I don\u2019t make those decisions. I voted the way I did, I gave money the way I did, but I do have to have continued conversations with people.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Now, with the book and this New York City, Chicago and L.A. mini-tour you\u2019re doing, there\u2019s a lot to unpack when you talk about childhood trauma, and we talk about the way it plays itself out. Now, having written the book with your ghost, now the book\u2019s out \u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Did you like the book?<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Ari? For real? I\u2019m a dyslexic with anger management problems in Hollywood. Of course, I f*cking liked the book.<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: OK, good.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I did think it was a little too long and I also thought it ended a little too quickly. But one thing I thought was so smart was the format.<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: The format?<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I love the way you break it up with short to medium-sized graphs, very punchy. It was written as a 21st century book, and I think that\u2019s very important to recognize what your audience is. I think a lot of books still pretend that it\u2019s 1984. They don\u2019t realize that they\u2019re writing to an audience that probably are going to be reading their book on a tablet. That they are going to be reading it in a way that they read TikTok posts, and posts on X or on Bluesky. So, I thought that was a very smart decision.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo that, now you\u2019ve written this out, and it\u2019s officially out there in the world, has there been any change in the way you feel about the way your life has unfolded?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Listen. My mom and dad gave us great moral base and structure. I love my brothers to no end. I couldn\u2019t even describe, you know, my faith in them, belief in them, and love for them. On the other side, you know, I was a guy trying to figure out my identity and my place, and I think they probably had the same thing. But I can just talk about it as it relates to me. And you know, I\u2019m comfortable now.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Really?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Yeah. At one point in the book, Doctor Calm says to me, you know \u2014 and I remember this moment \u2014 he says, \u201cYou know, back in the \u201950s, people used to say people that made a lot of money or successful businessmen were smart.\u201d For whatever reason, that little phrase kind of hit me; I was then on a journey to kind of be confident enough and comfortable enough in who I was. I\u2019m a lot more comfortable now in who I am, what I\u2019ve achieved. It takes a certain amount of, you know, endurance to do that, and also brains and IQ and all the other attributes that I have that are, I think, a definition of intelligence, and so I\u2019m comfortable now.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: In the book, you mention on a number of occasions, our mutual acquaintance and the founder of Deadline, Nikki Finke\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Yes\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: You admit the now open secret that you leaked details of what was going on at William Morris to her as you and Endeavor moved to take it over. You talk about the mutually beneficial relationship you had with Nikki, its up and downs. And, at one point in detailing an expensive real estate mess that Jim Wiatt dumped on the newly merged agency and your efforts to undo that mess, you quote Nikki directly with \u201cWe all know that Ari Emanuel is an asshole, but we also thought he was at least a smart asshole.\u201d Why did that quote stick with you?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEUL: I don\u2019t know. It just kind of\u2026 it was our relationship. You know, with current people that write in the media space, I don\u2019t ever fault them for having to write tough things if we screw up or if I personally screw up \u2014 as long as we respect each other, and we respect what each other do.<\/p>\n

\n\tNikki, she was a trailblazer.<\/p>\n

\n\tI respected what she was, and she had an unbelievable insight. And I did appreciate her making that statement to me at the time.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: You\u2019ve also talked a lot in the book about the decades you\u2019ve been in the industry, as one would expect. Unlike a lot of memoirs, you come back again and again to the downturns: the Great Recession of 2008, the writer strikes, et cetera, et cetera. You show this kind of wheel of fortune that Hollywood goes through. So, let me ask you: Where do you think it\u2019s going now? In an industry that\u2019s all about change, what is the big change that\u2019s coming?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: I would say to anybody that generalizes like Charlie Bluhdorn, the Gulf and Western CEO, did 50 years ago that the movie business is over, or anyone saying it 12 years ago, five years ago or whenever [that] the movie business is over. The movie business is not over.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen we started the business, they said packaging was over and dramas were over, and half-hours were over. Not true. The movie and television business and entertainment \u2014 and that covers from social to podcast, the news, the sports and live \u2014 is only getting stronger. But it is changing.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: How?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: You can make movies for less money, and you can make a lot of money. People are now going back to the movie theater. There\u2019s a generation now starting to drink more and going to the movies, and so, you know, all these kind of grand pronouncements are all bullsh*t. Here\u2019s the one thing that I think is always going to be true: We\u2019re going to have more time on our hands now because of AI. We\u2019re going to need stories, we\u2019re social animals. We need to entertain ourselves, and that\u2019s going to the movies, that\u2019s seeing television shows, that\u2019s listening to podcasts, that\u2019s going to events, that\u2019s going to music, that\u2019s going to sports, and that\u2019s only gonna grow.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Sounds very optimistic.<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Look, there\u2019s going to be dislocation because of AI. Also, movies are going to cost less because of production ability, and that\u2019s a good thing. I don\u2019t think creators and stars, whether it be writers, directors, actors, are going away. I just think that they\u2019re going to be using their legs instead of walking. They\u2019re going to be using their legs on a bicycle, riding faster, and so that\u2019s a good thing; I think that\u2019s a very good thing.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: OK, lightning round.<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: OK.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: You brought up Trump and a federal film and TV tax incentive. So, is it going to happen? Is it going to happen this year, or is it going to all fall apart because of the midterms?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: Look, you have Adam Schiff<\/a>, who wants it. I\u2019ve talked to people on the right who want it. I\u2019m pushing pretty hard with people and talking to a lot of people to make it happen. I don\u2019t know if it happens by the end of the year, but I\u2019m hoping it does. I think this is one place where I think right and left can come together.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: People said to me over the weekend that Trump now banning CNN and MS Now from the White House certainly makes it hard to be bipartisan, to work with him on this\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: I don\u2019t think that ban\u2019s going to get through the courts.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: You mentioned AI. There\u2019s a lot of concerns about AI. What do you think is the primary guardrail Hollywood should be asking for to make sure AI doesn\u2019t turn the industry too far upside down?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: I don\u2019t believe AI can replace Ben Affleck, Marty Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, Aaron Sorkin<\/a>, David Fincher, Adam Sandler. I don\u2019t. I think it enhances them if they use it properly. So, I\u2019m not concerned on that level. Now, there is going to be dislocation with below the line potentially and other things, but we just have to utilize it properly.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: How?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: To enhance really creative people\u2019s points of view. I also think the audience: like in the book world, they don\u2019t like AI books, [and] I don\u2019t think they\u2019re gonna want to be involved in an AI movie. And you definitely need a principled voice to direct it all, a voice that can create great stories. So, I\u2019m not as worried as everybody else.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Greg Daniels<\/a> said when he was getting a star on Hollywood Boulevard: Why do you want to do a series where it\u2019s just me in the room? And he\u2019s had a lot of the writers in the room and actors in the room with him. He goes: \u201cI do this because I want to be with all those people.\u201d I think that\u2019s true. So, will writer rooms go from 12 to maybe seven? Yeah, and there\u2019s some dislocation there, but there\u2019s going to be a lot more shows.<\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t think a bad thing. I think a good thing.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Last one, who do you have more scorn for, Barry Diller<\/a> or Jeffrey Katzenberg?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: (Silence)<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Hello?<\/p>\n

\n\tEMANUEL: (laughs) Good answer, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t let the kinder gentler Ari Emanuel out there pitching his new memoir fool you. Despite what you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[38131,64443,182,74978,8833,138312,236,18205,12,5109,11,88,43945,361854,56939,361855,13353,46966,6493,55194],"class_list":["post-856781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-aaron-sorkin","tag-adam-schiff","tag-ai","tag-ari-emanuel","tag-barack-obama","tag-barry-diller","tag-celebrities","tag-david-ellison","tag-donald-trump","tag-electionline","tag-elon-musk","tag-entertainment","tag-greg-daniels","tag-jeffrey-katzenberg","tag-mark-wahlberg","tag-nikki-finke","tag-qa","tag-tko","tag-ufc","tag-wme"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}