Hollywood super agent Ari Emanuel writes about his connection to Watch Hill, Rhode Island, in his new memoir.
Emanuel, who runs WME Group and is widely known as the inspiration for the Ari Gold character on HBO's Entourage, writes about the incident in his memoir Roll the Calls, as reported by The Boston Globe. The Globe's headline says Emanuel got into a fight at the club. The book, ghostwritten with J.R. Moehringer, was announced for publication on September 22, 2026, by Alfred A. Knopf, according to AP News. It runs 432 pages. Moehringer previously ghostwrote memoirs for Prince Harry and Andre Agassi.
Per the Globe's account, Emanuel was playing a round at Misquamicut with entertainment powerbroker Rick Rosen when his golf ball sailed into a group of four golfers playing ahead of them at a slow pace. Emanuel reportedly heard the group swearing from more than 200 yards away. The tension didn't end on the course — the two parties crossed paths again later in the clubhouse, where, per the same account, a member of the group made a remark about Emanuel's brother that nearly triggered a physical fight. Rosen stepped in to break up the confrontation.
The Emanuel Brothers
Emanuel is the youngest of three prominent siblings: former Chicago mayor, White House chief of staff, and U.S. ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, and bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, according to CBS News. The brothers grew up in suburban Chicago and were the subject of Ezekiel Emanuel's 2013 family memoir.
Emanuel discusses his battles with dyslexia in his memoir. He rose from the mailroom in the entertainment industry and co-founded Endeavor in 1995. Today, he serves as Executive Chair and CEO of TKO Group Holdings, formed by bringing WWE and UFC together, in addition to his role as Executive Chairman of WME Group, according to TKO Group Holdings.
Club Reportedly Brought Disciplinary Charges
The Misquamicut Club, described by the Globe as an ultra-private golf club, reportedly brought disciplinary charges against Emanuel following the incident. Private club disciplinary proceedings are typically handled behind closed doors, and Emanuel's own published account remains the primary window into how the dispute was resolved.
The club's 18-hole, par-69 course measures 6,226 yards and combines undulating inland holes with seaside back-nine holes routed through coastal tidal marshes, according to Golf Digest. Donald Ross is associated with the course in 1923 and Tom Bendelow in 1902. The club was built in 1895.
Taylor Swift's Watch Hill Mansion
Watch Hill itself is central to Emanuel's telling of the story. He writes about the resort village, per the Globe's reporting. The historic, wealthy coastal enclave within the town of Westerly developed in the late 19th century as an exclusive summer retreat for affluent East Coast families, according to Yankee Magazine. Colonists used Watch Hill as a lookout during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.
Emanuel vacationed in Watch Hill before Taylor Swift bought a mansion there, the Globe reports.
Watch Hill is one thread in a memoir that chronicles three decades of Emanuel's dealmaking across entertainment, sports and media. For readers in Westerly and across Rhode Island's Rhode Map newsletter community, it's a glimpse of the village's place in his story.
