Live Talks Los Angeles: Ari Emanuel in conversation with Kara Swisher tickets

Join us for an evening with Ari Emanuel as he discusses his new memoir, Roll the Calls, in conversation with Kara Swisher. A signed copy of the book is included with your ticket.

One of Hollywood’s most accomplished, feared—and funny—dealmakers has some stuff he wants to get off his chest. A lifetime worth of stuff. And secrets. And stories. And it all makes for one hell of a ride, and one of the must-read books of the year.

Ari Emanuel leads TKO as executive chair and CEO and is executive chairman of WME Group, two companies that sit at the center of sports, entertainment, and culture. Since co-founding Endeavor in 1995, Emanuel has repeatedly transformed the business of entertainment—merging William Morris Agency and Endeavor to form global enterprise WME, acquiring IMG and UFC, and ultimately bringing WWE and UFC together to form the sports powerhouse TKO. Based in Beverly Hills, Emanuel continues to build across ventures that include the global events and experiences company MARI and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Kara Swisher is host of On with Kara Swisher and co-host of Pivot. She’s editor-at-large at New York Magazine and a CNN contributor, where she hosts the series Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever. She was the cofounder and editor-at-large of the technology website Recode and co-executive producer of the Code conference. Considered the top reporter in the tech game, Swisher has been reporting on the industry since the early 1990s. She is a former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and has also worked for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She’s the author of the New York Times–bestselling memoir Burn Book: A Tech Love Story (Simon & Schuster, 2024). “’I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!’ I wonder if Ari was Paddy Chafefsky’s agent. Here in Technicolor is another of Hollywood’s greatest characters.” —Rick Rubin, author of The Creative Act Ari Emanuel has long been one of the most influential people in the world, but he’s also something of a mystery. Part of the reason is Emanuel’s job description. As Hollywood’s best-known super-agent—the inspiration for Ari Gold in the classic TV drama Entourage—he’s paid to speak for his A-list clients, not himself.

Now, for the first time, the agent, the mogul, the fero­cious power broker, speaks for himself, about himself, and about the game of life—often at the top of his lungs. In Roll the Calls, his take-no-prisoners memoir, Eman­uel tells the incredible stories behind the signings and fir­ings, the triumphant mergers and nasty breakups, the hard-won victories and crushing mistakes.

With great comic zest, and in precise cinematic detail, he traces the arc of a classic rags-to-riches career, from suffering through severe dyslexia, to clerking in the mail­room of CAA, to striking out on his own with three fellow agents, launching a new talent agency that would go on to represent some of the most glittering names in show busi­ness, including Larry David, Quentin Tarantino, Denzel Washington, Billie Eilish, Martin Scorsese, and Oprah Win­frey. Along the way Emanuel was also raising four kids, fighting and reconciling with friends and colleagues, coping with a failing marriage, and struggling to find love again.

Shattering the mold of stodgy CEO memoirs, Roll the Calls is told in a punchy, telegraphic style, with disarming humility and ribald candor. It’s a fable about success and failure, about creativity and persistence, and a master class in how to ignore the haters, how to overcome withering self-doubt, and, at moments of profound crisis and despair, how to be a fearless advocate for your most vulnerable client: yourself.