Yahoo Lifestyle JD Vance Quietly Scored an $8 Million Deal for ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Follow-Up as Hollywood Straddles Both Sides of Political Divide (EXCLUSIVE)
When it comes to politics, Hollywood could be mistaken for a one-party town. But for the two names at the top of the Republican presidential ticket, the Hollywood ties run deep.
In fact, WME has represented both former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance. Though Trump is no longer a client, Vance is still with the mega-agency, which continues to collect commissions on the Ohio senator thanks to his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” WME also has at least one massive Vance commission on the horizon. Sources say that back in 2017, WME’s Tina Bennett negotiated an $8 million deal for him to write a follow-up. (Bennett left the agency in 2019, but Vance stayed on as a client.)
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Meanwhile, Vance and WME are pulling down plenty of money from “Hillbilly Elegy.” According to the VP hopeful’s financial disclosures, he earned $823,132 in royalties from the book in 2020 and 2021 alone (WME takes a 15% cut, the standard rate for literary sales). In 2023, Vance took in less than $50,000 in royalties, but that figure will jump for 2024 given that the tome returned to the No. 1 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list after he was announced as Trump’s running mate. (HarperCollins recently said the book, which spawned the 2020 Ron Howard film for Netflix, sold 650,000 copies in the first few days after Vance joined the Republican ticket.) And when Netflix won a bidding war in 2019 for film rights, it paid $45 million for the package, with Vance reaping some of that windfall. (CAA negotiated that deal.) In recent weeks, viewership for the film has sent it back into Netflix’s Top 10.
Some industry conservatives like Amanda Milius, who directed the hit 2020 Trump documentary “The Plot Against the President,” call out Hollywood’s MAGA hypocrisy.
“They’ll platform and take their share of money from the populist phenomenon while at the same time pushing out the holier-than-thou celebrity ‘vote blue’ videos,” says Milius, the daughter of Hollywood legend John Milius. “Hollywood wants the appearance of distance but the ability to make money.”
After all, Trump was a long-standing WME client when he made more than $400 million from “The Apprentice,” which ran on NBC from 2004-17, though he has said he negotiated his “Apprentice” deal himself. The agency also booked lucrative side hustles for the future president, who earned $500,000 to star in an Oreo commercial that WME client Peter Berg directed. (Trump’s relationship with the WME ended prior to his 2016 presidential campaign.) But in a bid to distance itself from the polarizing politician, the agency — and streamers — may be leaving money on the table. Neither “The Apprentice” nor its spinoff “Celebrity Apprentice” are available on NBC’s Peacock or any other streaming platforms. (Amazon, which controls the property following its acquisition of MGM, declined comment.)
At the height of his “Apprentice” run, Trump and then-lawyer Michael Cohen discussed with WME a “Dynasty”-esque scripted series called “Trump Tower,” according to a source familiar with the pitch. When Trump was informed of the economics of a successful drama series — $25 million for a non-writing creator on the high end — he lost interest.
The Republicans aren’t alone in the WME fold. As the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris, now at the top of her party’s ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out, also has WME ties. Her stepson, Cole Emhoff, was an assistant at the agency from 2018-19. Agents say he was well liked and worked hard when he manned the desk of Adriana Alberghetti, whose clients include Eva Longoria and Shane Black. He then left to join Brad Pitt’s Plan B and has amassed credits on such films as “Minari.” (Emhoff still works at Plan B.)
While Hollywood has tried to disassociate itself from Trump and Vance, the Democrats are in turn downplaying their industry coziness, which was seen as putting off some voters during Hillary Clinton’s 2016 run for the presidency, when celebrities like Lena Dunham and Katy Perry rallied on her behalf. As such, although “Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is willing to lend her comedic talents to the Harris effort, she currently has no firm offer to speak at the DNC.
Says a source close to the actress: “That could always change, but we have not received an official ask.”
Meanwhile, supporters Tony Goldwyn, Kerry Washington, Ana Navarro and Mindy Kaling are hosting the four nights of the convention, with performers like Jason Isbell and James Taylor.
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