Ari Emanuel‘s tell-all book “Roll the Calls” will debut at No. 2 on New York Times best seller list — getting edged out by Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer‘s surprise tome, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” at No. 1.
Emanuel presumably would’ve been in the top spot, but Diana’s brother played the spoiler with his tome — which was only announced on Aug 20, a month before it’s publication by Penguin Press.
Emanuel’s book was announced in January by Knopf.
A publishing source said of Emanuel’s No. 2 bow — after the super agent made a promo blitz that included recent live Q&As with David Axelrod, Kara Swisher and Rachel Maddow, as well as interviews with David Remnick and Puck this week — “It’s disappointing… the Spencer book came out of nowhere and blew right past him.”
But, the insider added, “Still, a decent showing for week one” for Emanuel.
(Emanuel’s book is all about “rage,” and a source wondered if he’d be furious about coming in at No. 2!?)
But another publishing source told us that the Knopf camp is very happy with the results. “The fall is the biggest season for books,” said the publishing insider. “It’s not unusual for big books to share publication dates. Comparing Ari’s book to the Charles Spencer book is like comparing apples and oranges.”
Page Six Hollywood previously reported how Emanuel’s book dishes on subjects including Elon Musk and Donald Trump, as well as foes such as Jeffrey Katzenberg, clients including Larry David and Mark Wahlberg and even friends and colleagues such as the ex-executive chairman of Endeavor, Patrick Whitesell.
Spencer’s left-field book dropped several bombshell claims — including that King Charles sounded like a “lottery winner” when the late Princess Diana died, and that he said she would be forgotten “soon enough.”
The palace issued a stern statement about the book — alleging that the tragic loss of Diana clouded Spencer’s memory. “His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,” the rep told Page Six.
However, Spencer doubled down on his claims, insisting to the BBC that he is “telling the truth” about Charles’ “monstrous” remarks.
Last week, Page Six reported that Prince Harry is working on a documentary about his late mother for the 30th anniversary of her death and is trying to “woo” Spencer into participating in the film.
The NYT best seller list will be published in the Oct. 11 New York Times Book Review.
Ironically, Emanuel also dished that “it’s great” to no longer be working with former royal client Meghan Markle in an interview this week with the Sunday Times. The businessman and media mogul said he’d parted ways with Markle last year in the interview published Saturday, and that, “Here’s the great thing: I don’t have to think about that any more,” when asked about Markle’s career.
