Turns out, CAA’s signing of Sydney Sweeney this month may have hinged on an awkward encounter the “Euphoria” star had with Ari Emanuel earlier this year when he advised her to ditch her beau, Scooter Braun.
Multiple sources say that Emanuel allegedly met with Sweeney in January, shortly after the 29-year-old became agent-less — following a decision by her longtime agent, Jennifer Millar, to leave Paradigm Talent Agency and become a manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners late last year.
According to several sources with knowledge of the conversation, things turned awkward after Emanuel advised Sweeney that her career would be better served if she broke up with her boyfriend, former music manager-turned-entertainment mogul Braun. (Braun famously guided the careers of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, J Balvin, Demi Lovato and more.)
“Ari was telling her that if she wanted to be taken seriously as an actress and businesswoman, she needed to break up with Scooter,” said a source. That evidently did not sit well with Sweeney — and Emanuel’s comments ultimately made their way back to Braun who became upset, sources say.
The irony, however, was that Braun encouraged Sweeney to take the meeting with Emanuel, sources added.
But a rep for Emanuel denies that he ever met with Sweeney in January, and also denies that he ever told her she should leave Braun.
As far as Emanuel and Braun, there’s no obvious evidence of past beef. Both men have been outspoken advocates for Israel and have deep ties to the country. They have also both spoken emotionally about the return of Hamas hostages following the October 7, 2023, attacks (Emanuel has also been openly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu).
Braun’s media and entertainment company SB Projects was at one point working exclusively with WME, but after its sale to Hybe, the company started to collaborate with UTA.
Puck recently reported that Braun was the one who called CAA principal Kevin Huvane to set up a meeting with Sweeney, which P6H independently confirmed (although a source close to the actress says her production team had already met with CAA and walked away from that meeting impressed).
Regardless, Huvane was able to reel her in. But not everybody inside CAA’s Century City HQ was so keen to celebrate, we hear.
CAA’s head of the motion picture group Joel Lubin had been pursuing Sweeney as a client himself for over a year, we hear, and shared with a number of colleagues that he was close to signing her, according to multiple sources.
Lubin’s clients include Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Chris Evans, Andrew Garfield, Jon Bernthal, Charlize Theron, Michelle Williams and Jeremy Renner, among other A-listers — comprising one of the most coveted lists in the industry. But agents at that level take particular pride in actually signing a star like Sweeney. The fact that he was not directly included in Sweeney’s recruiting struck some inside the agency as a slight to one of its most senior agents.
“It’s embarrassing for Joel, but Scooter is the kind of guy who goes straight to the top,” said a prominent manager.
Others inside the agency said any issues have already blown over. “This is a tale as old as time. No matter who you are, you are always at risk of getting bigfooted. Joel was playing the long game and was trying to be respectful of [Sweeney’s] current rep. And he got folded in at some point and it wasn’t very dramatic.”
Yet another source says: “Joel was on the team the entire time. He’s very happy and thrilled [that they signed Sweeney]. He brought this to Kevin.”
Another factor for Sweeney’s signing to CAA was the sale of The Team (formerly known as Wasserman, and the parent company of Brillstein) which many viewed as founder Casey Wasserman’s exit — at least for now — from the industry.
Sweeney’s most recent project was a racy ad for sports prediction market Novig’s first national campaign that received some backlash: In the one-minute spot, Sweeney poses nude, covering her body with sports equipment such as footballs, basketballs and a tennis racket. She also joined Novig as a strategic partner and equity holder. She’d previously appeared in another infamously controversial campaign for American Eagle.
On the big screen, Sweeney’s upcoming movie projects include the sequel to her hit, “The Housemaid,” “The Housemaid’s Secret,” as well as Netflix’s upcoming live-action “Gundam” film, based on a ’70s anime series and Colman Domingo‘s directing debut, “Scandalous!” along with a string of projects.
She began dating Braun last year after they both attended Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s lavish wedding in Venice, Italy. This week, Page Six reported that Braun wants to marry the “Anyone But You” star. “He thinks she is the modern Marilyn Monroe,” said a source.
They were spotted together over the weekend attending Rosh Hashanah services in Greenwich, Conn, after they were photographed the weekend prior smooching on a gondola during the Venice Film Festival.
Braun posted a birthday tribute to Sweeney on Sept. 12, calling her “the person who surprised me and showed me how life with true partnership can be lived.” He has become increasingly involved in her career, reports have said.
View this post on Instagram A PR rep for Sweeney did not immediately comment, and reps for CAA and Braun did not comment.
Emanuel, meantime, has a memoir coming out Sept. 22, “Roll the Calls,” in which he “tells the incredible stories behind the signings and firings, the triumphant mergers and nasty breakups, the hard-won victories and crushing mistakes.” We’ll see if Sweeney makes the sequel.
