Unnamed sources claim WME Group's Ari Emanuel told actress Sydney Sweeney to break up with boyfriend Scooter Braun to protect her career, a charge Emanuel's representative flatly denies.
The 29-year-old Euphoria star sat down with Emanuel, the executive chairman of WME Group, during a meeting in January, Page Six first reported. During that sit-down, Emanuel allegedly told Sweeney she needed to end her relationship with Braun, the 45-year-old former talent manager, "if she wanted to be taken seriously as an actress and businesswoman." A representative for Emanuel denied both that the meeting took place and that he made any such statement.
The story lands at a moment when Sweeney's career is in transition. She recently left Paradigm Talent Agency, became a free agent, and signed with Creative Artists Agency, one of Hollywood's most powerful firms. The move puts her squarely in the middle of an industry turf dispute between rival agencies and the man she's dating.
One insider told Page Six that Braun himself convinced Sweeney to take the January meeting with Emanuel. That detail makes the alleged advice especially pointed: the man who set up the conversation became the subject Emanuel reportedly wanted removed from Sweeney's life.
A source said Braun learned of Emanuel's remarks afterward and was "very upset." The reaction tracks with the broader dynamic at play. Braun's company, SB Projects, once worked exclusively with WME. He has since sold SB Projects to South Korean entertainment conglomerate Hybe, and the outfit now collaborates with rival agency UTA instead.
Whether that business split colored Emanuel's alleged advice is an open question. No known prior feud between the two men has surfaced publicly.
Sweeney and Braun went public with their relationship after they began dating last June. Sources described Braun as "heavily involved" in Sweeney's career since then. One unnamed source went further, saying Braun "wants to marry her" because "he thinks she is the modern Marilyn Monroe."
Sweeney's signing with CAA earlier this month did not happen overnight. Joel Lubin, CAA's head of the motion picture group, had been pursuing her as a client for over a year. But when the deal came together, Braun reportedly bypassed Lubin and called CAA principal Kevin Huvane directly to arrange a sit-down with Sweeney.
One source called the end-run embarrassing for Lubin. "It's embarrassing for Joel, but Scooter is the kind of guy who goes straight to the top," the insider said. Another source pushed back on that characterization, insisting Lubin was central to the effort all along.
"Joel was on the team the entire time. He's very happy and thrilled [that they signed Sweeney]. He brought this to Kevin."
The dueling accounts suggest tension inside CAA over who deserves credit for landing one of Hollywood's most marketable young stars, and how much influence Braun wields in her professional decisions.
The agency shuffle is only one piece of a turbulent stretch for Sweeney. In March 2025, she called off her wedding to ex-fiancé Jonathan Davino, 43, after six years of dating. She began seeing Braun, who split from ex-wife Yael Cohen in 2022 after eight years of marriage and three children, just months later.
Braun briefly dated Canadian model and actress Rachelle Goulding after his divorce before his relationship with Sweeney became public.
On the business side, Sweeney launched her lingerie brand Syrn in January. She also posed nude for sports betting app Novig, a move that drew sharp criticism from female Olympians who called the ad an insult to women's sports. The third and final season of Euphoria aired on HBO earlier this year.
Hollywood's talent-agency world has always operated on leverage, relationships, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering. The entertainment industry's internal politics can carry real professional consequences for performers, a reality that other prominent figures, from Susan Sarandon to Macklemore, have encountered in different contexts.
The core allegation rests entirely on unnamed sources. Emanuel's representative offered a blanket denial, no meeting happened, no breakup advice was given. No verbatim statement from the representative has been published. Sweeney herself has not commented publicly. Braun has not spoken on the record either.
Several questions remain unanswered. Does Braun hold any formal management or agency role with Sweeney, or is his involvement purely informal? What were the terms under which SB Projects was sold to Hybe? And did Emanuel's alleged remarks reflect a genuine career assessment, a competitive play against a rival's boyfriend, or something else entirely?
None of those answers are available in the current reporting. What is clear is that Sweeney left one agency, signed with another, and the man in her personal life appears to be a central figure in both moves, whether the industry's power brokers approve or not.
In Hollywood, as in Washington, the people who claim to be looking out for your career often have interests of their own.
