Ari Emanuel

Background

Born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Emanuel was raised in suburban Wilmette, Illinois. Emanuel is the brother of former White House Chief of Staff and current Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel, National Institutes of Health bioethicist Ezekiel J. 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 whose activities in Mandatory Palestine during the 1930s and 1940s led to its listing as a terrorist organization by the British authorities, the Jewish Agency and the 1946 Zionist Congress. His mother, Marsha Emanuel (née Smulevitz), was a civil rights activist, and the one-time owner of a Chicago-area rock and roll club. As a child, Ari was diagnosed as both hyperactive and dyslexic, and his mother spent many hours helping him to learn to read. 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 has three sons, Ezra, Noah, and Leo.

Career

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

Emanuel has been described as a "21st century Hollywood mogul" and “the pre-eminent power player” in Hollywood. Emanuel and WME co-CEO Patrick Whitesell have been characterized as "rewriting the Hollywood script", and they have both been named to Fortune's Businessperson of the Year list. In a May 2013 article on Emanuel, Fortune called him "one of the biggest guns in the consolidating entertainment business".

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. In 2011, Emanuel cofounded TheAudience with Sean Parker and Oliver Luckett.

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

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."

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.

Emanuel has hosted fundraisers for the Democratic Party.

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." Emanuel disputed these accusations at the time. Epstein's claims were settled for $2.25 million.

In March 2013, it was revealed that Emanuel was unhappy with an interview of him and his two brothers conducted by NBC anchor Brian Williams. According to the New York Post, Emanuel was not pleased with the "aggressive" tone of the interview and believed that "something was just off", according to a source. Emanuel's lawyer sent a letter to NBC over the perceived issue.

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.