How Mark Wahlberg got ‘revenge’ on Harvey Weinstein after movie flub
Mark Wahlberg allegedly imbibed several bottles of pricey wine and charged it to Harvey Weinstein’s tab after the producer destroyed a film starring the actor.
In Ari Emanuel’s new memoir “Roll the Calls,” the agent recalled getting his client, Wahlberg, then an up-and-coming serious actor, into the 2000 crime drama “The Yards,” which also starred Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, Faye Dunaway, Ellen Burstyn and James Caan.
Everyone had “high hopes” for the film, “especially Wahlberg, who’s still looking to break through,” Emanuel wrote.
However, the producer was “a d–k,” according to Emanuel. “You never know what kind of s–t this guy might pull. And sure enough, he starts showing up in the editing room, butting in where he doesn’t belong…This producer, of course is Harvey.”
The movie was invited to the Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened and eviscerated by critics. Wahlberg was devastated that his “gutsy performance” had been left on the cutting room floor.
Toward the end of the festival, Wahlberg had dinner in his suite with Emanuel and ordered some red wine.
“Not just any red, one of the most expensive in the world,” Emanuel wrote. “Petrus. I don’t know anything about wine and I know this is the s–t.”
“The average age of a Petrus vine is older than my grandfather. Each bottle goes for somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000.”
The “Boogie Nights” star, 55, ordered “many bottles and charged them to Harvey’s tab.
“‘Revenge,’ Wahlberg says, raising his glass, and we clink.”
On the final night of the festival, there was a huge party, where Weinstein rushed over to Emanuel, livid with rage.
“Your client has crossed the line, Ari!” Emanuel claimed Weinstein bellowed. “Petrus? PETRUS? That s–t cost a f–king fortune!”
Despite having a hair-trigger temper, Emanuel decided to keep his cool until Weinstein, who is currently serving time in prison for rape, poked him in the chest with a finger that “looks like a baby carrot dipped in motor oil.”
“I tell Harvey to step off,” the uber-agent recalled, “and I promise that if he ever lays one of his filthy little digits on me again, I’m going to snap them off one by one.”
Weinstein’s publicist clapped back on the tale, telling Page Six that “Harvey remembers having disagreements over films and expenses for most projects, but whether Mark Wahlberg ordered expensive wine at Cannes and put it on Harvey’s bill more than 25 years ago isn’t something he recalls or can independently reconstruct.”
However, they added, “‘The Yards’ is one of Harvey’s favorite movies and Mark Wahlberg did an amazing performance, and the film was accepted at Cannes.”
Wahlberg’s rep did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
The 65-year-old Hollywood bigwig’s memoir, which hit bookshelves on Sept. 17, also includes juicy details of his dealings with Elon Musk, Larry David and Donald Trump.