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“Entourage” creator Doug Ellin has spoken out against an ad reuniting Jeremy Piven and Adrian Grenier, calling it a “cheap, shitty imitation” of his beloved HBO comedy.
While Piven and Grenier are technically playing
themselves in the ad — not super agent Ari Gold and movie star Vincent Chase — their performances, dialogue and dynamic are certainly reminiscent of “Entourage.” (Piven snakes his way through a mansion party to find Grenier on a yacht, where he pitches him a new movie role.)
“Many people worked really hard to make our show as good as it was,” Ellin wrote on Instagram. “When I see cheap, shitty imitations that try to pass for what we did it makes me puke.”
On Wednesday, Variety broke the news of Piven and Grenier’s on-screen reunion, which took place in a three-minute spot for Jake Paul’s gambling app Betr. Ellin said in a video message that he received “400 messages” about the “god-awful commercial,” clarifying that he was not involved in its creation.
Ellin said he’s not bitter over not being paid for the ad. He simply wishes the writers of “Entourage” would get more credit for the hard work they put into the scripts and character development, only for their work to be distilled into an “embarrassing” emulation of the HBO hit.
“I watch it and I want to throw up, because I would suffer, along with many other people, over every syllable, every fucking word,” Ellin said. “So I watch this trash, this shit, and go, ‘Ugh, ugh.’ There’s no bitterness. I want everyone to get paid, get rich. Just fucking do your own shit. That’s all.”
Ellin then seemed to take a shot at Piven — who won three Emmys for playing Ari on the series — claiming that the actor distanced himself from “Entourage” in the years following the 2011 series finale and 2015 movie.
“I not only wrote, we found these people. We cast these people,” Ellin said of forming the “Entourage” ensemble. “I actually had to beg Piven to do the show because he didn’t wanna do it. And he didn’t wanna talk about it afterwards. Like, he wanted to get away from it, because he had so much better shit going on. But now he’s back on it, because he’s getting paid.”
A representative for Piven did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Responding to Ellin’s comments, a spokesperson for Betr said in a statement, “We were excited to bring Jeremy and Adrian back together, appearing as themselves. Creating that kind of unexpected cultural moment with two amazing actors was exactly what we wanted for Betr 2.0.”
The statement continues, “We’re really proud of how the spot came together, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive, generating nearly 10 million organic social views in less than 24 hours. We had a lot of fun making it, they had a lot of fun making it, and people seem to be having a lot of fun watching it. We appreciate Doug watching the ad and helping promote it. Betr 2.0 is available now.”
On another social media app, X, Ellin continued to lash out against the ad. “I have zero positivity in watching things I busted my ass [off] on for years [be] turned into garbage,” he wrote. “Go create your own shit. And if you need money … Flip burgers. This is trash and theft. Period.”
Responding to a fan who said he hoped Ellin was behind the ad, the “Entourage” creator fired back: “I think it’s pretty damn obvious I didn’t write it. My god.” And, with apparent sarcasm, Ellin replied to a fan asking for an “Entourage” reboot: “Piven should write and direct. I can’t wait [to] watch.”
Ellin has often been asked about doing an “Entourage” reboot since the series ended 15 years ago. A proper revival has never been in development, but the cast and (for a while) Ellin have expressed an interest in returning to the world of Vinny Chase. Earlier this month, however, Ellin threw cold water on the possibility, saying on the “Joe Vulpis Podcast” that a reboot or spinoff is unlikely, and “I don’t spend one second thinking about ideas unless somebody’s paying me.”
The closest he got to a revival was a 2022 pilot titled “Ramble On,” a dramedy about established stars looking to reinvent their careers that starred “Entourage” favorites including Kevin Connolly and Kevin Dillon alongside Charlie Sheen. Ellin released the trailer for the project, but it ultimately failed to sell to a distributor.
Ellin currently hosts the “Victory” podcast with “Entourage” star Kevin Dillon.
