Flying across Hollywood that Endeavor’s Ari Emanuel played against the grain of his tough-as-nails reputation in a moment of extreme generosity and gave his $10,000 Rolex watch to rising star Orlando Bloom after the actor admired it. Was Ari Emanuel trying to steal Bloom away from agent Kevin Huvane at CAA? Did this classic moment between an agent and an actor actually happen or is it just more Hollywood hot air?
To place everything in context, Ari Emanuel is the brother of President-Elect Barack Obama’s new Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel, and a founding partner of the Endeavor Talent Agency. Emanuel is loyal to his Rolex Stainless Steel Oyster Turn-O-Graph Datejust with the Blue Dial. Mark Wahlberg is one of Emanuel’s biggest clients and the producer of HBO’s Entourage, which is based on his experiences as a star. Wahlberg based the character of superagent Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven, on Emanuel.
Like his agent, Wahlberg is a huge Rolex enthusiast, and he wears a Rolex YG-GMT-II with the famous Green Dial. Premiere clearly illuminated Mark Wahlberg’s history with his Rolex: “Wahlberg has barely touched his corned beef hash. He checks his watch, a gold, anniversary edition Rolex with a green face that he picked up in Vegas. “I bought one for Rhea too,” he says, only half joking when he adds, “I told her, ‘I got you something so you’ll let me play golf for a month without any kind of argument.’”
In the past, Orlando Bloom has worn classic Rolex watches in his photo shoots for magazines. In Bloom’s GQ shoot, the credit is as follows: Vintage watch (without band): Rolex. After seeing all the other Hollywood stars like Mark Wahlberg wearing Rolexes, did Bloom want one as well? It is clear that when Orlando Bloom bumped into Ari Emanuel at a gourmet restaurant, the actor admired Emanuel’s Rolex Datejust. Explaining the agent’s normal demeanor, his fan site states, “Emanuel commonly is referred to in Hollywood circles as being competitive, aggressive and, at times, obnoxious.”
When Orlando Bloom gushed over his Rolex Datejust, did Emanuel experience a moment of true generosity and give the actor his watch? On the other hand, was the superagent just trying like Ari Gold in Entourage to win over another major client to his agency? We may never know whether the Rolex giveaway happened, and, if it did, what was the story behind it? In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we will hope it was a moment of true generosity when Ari Emanuel gave Orlando Bloom his Rolex Datejust with the Blue Dial.
