Weinstein Claims Emanuel Inflated Book Sales From Prison

Harvey Weinstein, recently sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual assault, has claimed from behind bars that super-agent Ari Emanuel inflated the sales numbers for his recently released memoir, "Roll the Calls."

An intermediary, claiming to relay a message from Weinstein, stated that the disgraced film producer alleged Emanuel purchased copies of his own book to artificially inflate its sales figures. The claim was reportedly intended as a tip to Page Six.

Weinstein was sentenced on September 23 after being convicted of sexually assaulting a former production assistant in 2006. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year sentence, but he received 15 years.

Emanuel's memoir, "Roll the Calls," debuted at number two on The New York Times best-seller list for non-fiction on September 30, narrowly missing the top spot, which was held by Charles Spencer's "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister."

Following the book's release, The Ankler published an article questioning whether Emanuel had "buy[s] his way onto the NYT Bestseller List?" The publication noted that the data service BookScan determined "too many of its sales came in bulk," which reportedly prevented the book from appearing on the Publishers Weekly list. However, sources familiar with the book's release countered that if there were significant bulk sales, the book would have received a dagger symbol on The New York Times list, which it did not. Barry Diller's memoir, "Who Knew," reportedly appeared with this symbol.

Despite these reports, a publishing professional stated that sales for Emanuel's book have dropped significantly and that it fell off the non-fiction bestseller list after three weeks. Another insider suggested that Emanuel may have personally arranged bulk sales to boost his first-week numbers, though this is difficult to prove.

Some sources also indicated that live events where tickets included a copy of the book could have been misconstrued as bulk purchases by data services like Bookscan. Emanuel promoted his memoir through a series of live question-and-answer sessions with figures such as Rachel Maddow, Kara Swisher, and David Axelrod.

In his memoir, Emanuel details past conflicts with Weinstein, including an incident where Weinstein allegedly interfered with the sale of Emanuel's agency, Endeavor. Emanuel also recounted a separate confrontation regarding a film project where Weinstein allegedly sabotaged Mark Wahlberg's movie "The Yards." Emanuel claims Weinstein, upset about the film's poor reception, confronted him, leading to a heated exchange where Emanuel threatened to retaliate.

Weinstein's publicist previously stated that Weinstein did not recall the specific wine bill incident mentioned by Emanuel and could not independently verify it. Weinstein himself was convicted in Los Angeles in 2023 on a charge of rape and sexual assault, and in 2022, he was convicted on two counts of rape and one count of sexual abuse in New York. His New York conviction was overturned in April 2024, and he faces a potential retrial.