CAA’s Brian Lourd hits Ari Emanuel over Harvey Weinstein comments

Brian Lord

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CAA Chairman and CEO Brian Lord responded to his longtime rival at the agency, Ari Emanuel.

Emanuel on Wednesday criticized the CAA — specifically Lord and his colleague Kevin Hovan — over a lawsuit accusing the agency of complicity in Harvey Weinstein’s crimes. Emanuel said Lord should step aside pending an independent investigation.

“Look, we all know that Ari Emanuel is an incredibly performative, eccentric, and, in my opinion, always self-serving as a human being, I think, to the detriment of not only his colleagues, but also his clients — the few that he has,” Lord said Thursday. Speaking to Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw on the second day of the news organization’s Screentime conference: “He left — and more importantly, his investors.”

“The idea that he could think in any way that he could consider himself morally superior to anyone — but specifically on issues that are so challenging for women — is bizarre,” Lord added.

“We have been falsely accused of something we did not do, and we will address those accusations in court, in the appropriate forum. That’s all I have to say,” Lorde continued, in response to actress Julia Ormond’s lawsuit filed on October 4 that claims CAA did not “care about her safety.” “I did not put her in danger, and I warned her not to do so.” Weinstein’s predations.

Lord also addressed the sale that took place last month to French luxury tycoon François-Henri Pinault. Lord says the idea of ​​selling to Pinault was first discussed two years ago at a conference (he doesn’t specify, but his description sounds like Allen & Co.’s annual Sun Valley conference), and that “it took about 14 months to figure it out,” with the company being TPG is “reluctant” to sell.

“I think they like having us in their portfolio, both because of the information we have and the reach we have, and because we do something that most companies don’t do,” Lord said.

He added that although selling the majority to Pinault “is an ideal solution for us now, it does not rule anything out.”

“What we want to focus on is our customers, not the quarterly fear of having to add things that don’t fit organically, which doesn’t allow us to take advantage of the opportunities in the new world,” the scientist added.

Lord is CEO of CAA under its new ownership, a departure from their previous partnership.

“I have a new title, which means I work for a lot more people, I realize that,” Lord said, adding that in his mind there are still about 35 CAA partners and executives working together to run the firm. “I have a feeling that if things get bad, I’ll be the one who stays up late,” he joked.

Lord also commented on the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, with talks on hold Wednesday night.

“There’s a huge, huge financial gap. This is going to be a lot harder to overcome than people think,” Lord said, before adding: “They should both take a breath for a couple of days and get back into the room.”

“I think part of what has been really difficult about these negotiations with both the DGA and the WGA and now SAG is that the companies — for the first time in a clear way — have very different agendas,” Lord added. “And what’s difficult in that room is good faith as all of these people — and I really think they are — their businesses are challenged by different things.”

He went on to suggest that once the SAG talks are over, and a new deal is agreed, AMPTP should get to the table with IATSE as soon as possible, and not wait until before next June’s deadline to start talks. seriously.

“They have to change the way they interact. You can’t leave it until two months before the contract is up to try to resolve something that may not have yearly solutions,” Lord said. “There may be a longer-term approach that has to happen, but that has to be discussed, negotiated and agreed.” . There has to be an apples-to-apples conversation.

Although he also said there was an “opportunity” for a company wanting to make a bold play for talent: “I don’t know who this magic person or this company is, but I will do my best to try to create for them: Someone will have an amazing market advantage if they re-align with artists.” He just said: “If we win, you win.”

Lord predicted that Hollywood’s post-strike future would look very different than it did before the strike.

“I think there will be less production in the middle price range. I think there will be more in the higher price range because when you get to global events like Barbie or OppenheimerOr you know, Super Mario Bros.“It’s worth the investment,” Lord said, adding that he believes mid-market films “will probably be better regulated.”

Although Lord also expressed his hope that “there are more inexpensive things that give more people the opportunity to express themselves and showcase their work.”