There are few people who know the ins and outs of Hollywood, media and entertainment better than the man who served as the inspiration for hot-tempered agent Ari Gold in "Entourage." Ari Emanuel has represented some of the biggest names in Hollywood. I'm talking Oprah Winfrey, Matt Damon, Adele. That's just to name a few. And in his new book, "Roll the Calls," he's revealing something that helped him reach his extraordinary level of success. Ready? It's rage. "Rage might not solve every problem, or any problem, but it sure as hell clarifies the problem." I want to bring in Ari Emanuel. He's also CEO of TKO, which owns UFC and WWE. While he's not doing that, he's advising David Ellison, navigating the Paramount mega merger with Warner Brothers. As I said, he's really busy. I'm really glad that you're here, for lots and lots of reasons.
Well, you know, we were, pre this, both of us were tearing up over, I know you're dyslexic, I'm dyslexic, and what happens to your kids and how you have to put it through, you know, put them through it to kind of get to the other side. And it's not always easy. So with all that other stuff you just talked about, that's actually the important stuff.
But rage, right? Thank you. When people see rage, they see it in a negative way. You write about it and you tell your story that you're a fighter. And that's what rage really is for you, yes?
Well, I think it came from my mom and my dad, and also things that dyslexia caused. My mom and my dad fought the AMA for kids in lead paint. My mom, demonstrations, civil rights, et cetera, teaching us it's okay to express your opinion. It's okay to do it forcefully at our dinner tables. You had to come and fight for your opinions, which is always a good thing. And then believe in yourself. Being dyslexic, you know, Zeke was, my eldest brother was the smart one, Rom was the artist, and I was the other one. And I was fighting for people that, when I was a kid, called me stupid, my own identity in the family. And getting that across, you can't always just, it's not easy. And so if somebody, I have agency for myself, I have agency for my clients, I have agency for my friends. I'm a doer, I'm a kind of ride or die guy, so why wouldn't I have it for myself? And if I have an opinion about somebody and somebody's calling me stupid or somebody's disagreeing with me, I'm okay to tussle.
Do you think you're stupid or did you ever? I guess I should say.
I thought, I always thought I was gonna be found out that I wasn't smart. And that's because when you're dyslexic, and I was like, "Oh, my God." You know, people, they didn't understand it. And I didn't completely understand it. But I knew I wasn't stupid. I just, I just learned differently. And I was great in math. Reading was really hard, really, really hard. Back in the day, unlike when I brought my kids up who were dyslexic, I put them through Linda Mood Bell, which we discussed. My mom found a woman for two hours and she made me read and it was hell. And my mom put me through it. And the other thing it gave me, it gave me emotional endurance. And I believed in myself. But anybody that either made fun of me, that's when it kind of, I hit the third rail.
You mentioned Linda Mood Bell. I know what it is. It is a program for kids who can't read in the traditional way. Did you feel guilty when you knew your kids were dyslexic, knowing the brutal pain you went through in school?
Yeah, there's no way not to. Like, I handed in this thing. I gave them this problem. The great thing about that problem is once you can get over it, you think differently. I think you think kind of openly, more freely. It's really helped me in business, one, bringing people together, trusting people, believing in myself, having emotional endurance, which is what this book's about for kids starting out in business. This is my journey. There's things you can take from it. Have agency for yourself. I didn't have a plan B when I went into the entertainment business.
It was hustle or nothing.
Right, 'cause I think kids now have a plan A, plan B, plan C, plan AB. I didn't.
How do you tell people get to the other side, right? Because school is brutal and you cannot find your way, but you sort of have this message of like, just get through because your hustle, your problem-solving skills are so much more important than what you get in English literature, but you have to get there, and so many people can't get there.
And I think also, once you learn all the stuff you need to learn, dyslexia gives you this free thinking. It does give you—
There's no way around it. You know that, I know that. And I think then you can utilize those skill sets that you learned and your brains and the way you think in a way that's different from other people. And I saw the entertainment business in a different way. I read a lot and I read this book by George Gilder, "Life After Television," that talked about infinite distribution. Okay, what does that mean? I got an economics degree. Think about supply and demand. Prices are going to go up for creators. I can start an agency, and here's where it's going. And I have the same opinion now when I started my new company, Mari, in addition to TKO, which in 2016, I saw where sports rights were going with my partner, Egon Durbin, and Mark Shapiro and Patrick Weitzel, and we went for it, and the same thing's happening now. Dyslexia gives you a different view on the world that a linear written word readers have, not bad or good, just different. And I utilized them the way I utilized them. And I also knew that I had to work harder. And it gave me the agency, this thing, to say, "If you want to make it, you're going to have to sacrifice a lot. You got to go for it." And I didn't mind going for it.
Is it fair to say you're a polarizing figure?
Um, I'm a person with a very strong opinion. Sometimes that rubs people the wrong way. And I'm comfortable, really comfortable, in uncomfortable situations, very. And I think that's a good thing. I'm not gonna, my mom never taught me, my dad never taught me, get along. My son, we were flying, he was in high school, my eldest son, Noah. He gets in the plane, we're talking, and he turns to me, he goes, "Can't we just be normal?" (laughing)
Like I said all the time.
