Ari Emanuel Gets Booed At Simon Wiesenthal Center While Slamming Netanyahu
Hollywood super agent turned entertainment industry kingpin called out the Prime Minister of Israel, leading to loud boos and walkouts.
The famously opiniated and feisty Ari Emanuel has struck again.
While being honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center with its Humanitarian Award at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Wednesday night, Emanuel turned the typically staid event into a raucous affair when he ripped into Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu as a narcissist who greatly compromised Israel’s security with his aggressive policies. He also criticized Netanyahu for having no plan in place for managing the Gaza region after the ongoing Israel-Hamas war is over, and said a two-state solution was the only pathway to peace.
Emanuel, who is Jewish with Israeli parentage and the brother of former Obama Chief of Staff turned Chicago mayor turned Biden ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, did put all the blame for the war and the civilian casualties in Gaza specifically on Hamas, while defending the actions of the IDF and the righteousness of the war. At the same time, Emanuel trashed Netanyahu for leading Israel to this moment, blaming him for propping Hamas up for decades and the divisions between the right and left of the Israeli population, in what Emanuel said was a bid to cling to power to avoid legal problems, including fraud and corruption charges, that await him once he’s out of office.
The Netanyahu attacks only began halfway into his 15-minute speech, and that’s when a steady stream of attendees began to walk out, while the remaining guests applauded Emanuel’s condemnations.
Brash and confrontational, Emanuel is one of the most influential people in Hollywood and media today, and his statements on current events carry a lot of weight. Beginning his career as a partner at InterTalent and senior agent at ICM Partners (ICM), Emanuel founded The Endeavor Talent Agency with Patrick Whitesell in 1995 and quickly established one of the largest agencies in the world. In 2009, he and Whitesell spearheaded Endeavor’s merger with William Morris Agency, one of the most storied in the industry, and became co-CEOS of the newly formed WME, which eventually was organized as a branch of their Endeavor parent company. On top of their agency work at WME, Endeavor is a major media owner, and owns the UFC, WWE, Miss Universe pageant, and the Professional Bull Riders. Emanuel is generally Democratic in his politics, but has a famously long running relationship with former President Donald Trump.