More than 650 people packed the 92nd Street Y auditorium on Tuesday as Maddow interviewed the WME Group and TKO chief, a session that covered politics, agency business, the Emanuel family and even gut health, according to an attendee who said “no punches were pulled by Maddow.”
Emanuel revealed that he had terminated Trump’s representation shortly after the 2016 election, writing in his new book that he told the future president, “I’ve never dropped a client with such ease… And I tell him I didn’t vote for him.”
Despite that break, Emanuel said he spoke with Trump three weeks prior to the event about a federal tax credit aimed at encouraging film and television production in the United States, a policy the former president has publicly supported.
During the conversation, Trump reportedly told Emanuel he believed JD Vance and Marco Rubio would form a “formidable group” in the next election, with Vance as a presidential candidate and Rubio as a potential vice‑presidential pick.
Emanuel also recounted how he first signed Trump, then a rising star of the reality series “The Apprentice,” after Trump called him on a golf course in Palm Springs to complain about his NBC contract, prompting the agent to secure a $45 million settlement for Conan O’Brien after the comedian’s “Tonight Show” exit.
In the Maddow interview, Emanuel defended TKO’s plan to stage a UFC “Freedom 250” event on the White House lawn this summer and spoke about his friendship with Tesla founder Elon Musk, claiming he had “changed him a little.”
He also defended fellow agents Larry David and Larry Ellison when Maddow criticized CBS News and “60 Minutes,” noting that while Stephen Colbert’s show was pulled, programs like “South Park” and “The Daily Show” continue under Paramount Skydance.
Emanuel’s next public appearance is slated for Chicago, where he will sit down with former Obama adviser and CNN commentator David Axelrod at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance later that night.
Meanwhile, the Armory Show, the annual art fair owned by Emanuel’s Frieze group, opened at New York’s Javits Center over the weekend, underscoring the agent’s continued influence across entertainment, media and the art world.