Fallen Giant Sets Hollywood Abuzz
Michael Ovitz says his career was sabotaged by several top Hollywood players, including his own former proteges at Creative Artists Agency, David Geffen and a group he refers to as the "Gay Mafia."
In an interview for the August issue of Vanity Fair magazine, the 55-year-old former head of the CAA talent agency - once considered the most powerful man in Hollywood - blames several people for his professional downfall.
The New York Times reports that the interview has become the talk of Hollywood, where hundreds of photocopies of the article are being passed around.
"He's [Ovitz] finished," one studio executive told the Times. "Actually, he was finished before, but now he's really finished. I can't imagine anyone wanting to have dinner with him after this. You almost feel sorry for him."
Ovitz sold his short-lived company, the Artists Management Group, in May for $12 million to the talent management group the Firm, whose clients include the rock bands Limp Bizkit and Korn.
He blames his troubles on Disney CEO Michael Eisner, for whom he worked as president of The Walt Disney Co. until he was ousted in 1996. And he points to what he calls the Gay Mafia - though some people he's talking about aren't gay - and says Geffen is their leader.
Ovitz is mystified as to why he was targeted.
"I didn't kill anybody. I'm not a murderer," Ovitz said. "I didn't set off a bomb in a shopping center. I didn't take off in a white Bronco. I'm an entrepreneur. The money I lost was mine. My money, my gamble, my mistake. And still they hate me. Everyone. ...
"I know how hard it is for people to see me as a victim," he says later, "but in this case it's pretty close to the truth."
Geffen - co-founder of the DreamWorks SKG entertainment production company with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg - says of Ovitz's comments: "Oh, please. A Gay Mafia? This is so crazy. This is insane."
Later, Geffen continues: "All the gay people get together, like all the Jewish people get together. I mean, yeah, we meet on Thursday. I'm offended. That's just so offensive."