Entourage creator Doug Ellin accuses HBO of burying the award-winning show on its streaming platform because it isn’t woke enough
- Doug Ellin argued that HBO had stunted his show’s legacy by giving in to a ‘wave of righteous PC culture’ in the #MeToo era
- The show, which ran over eight seasons between 2004 and 2011, was a Hollywood insider series based on actor Mark Wahlberg
- Ellin claims people now paint the show as a ‘vulgar brofest’ despite it being ‘a very realistic portrayal of what Hollywood was like at that time’
- The 53-year-old writer and producer claims this is the reason why Entourage is not included on HBO Max’s ‘must-see comedy’ lists
- Entourage won six Emmys and a Golden Globe during its run
Entourage creator Doug Ellin has accused HBO of burying the hit show on its streaming platform because it isn’t woke enough.
In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Ellin argued that HBO had stunted his show’s legacy by giving in to a ‘wave of righteous PC culture’ in the #MeToo era.
The show, which ran over eight seasons between 2004 and 2011, was a Hollywood insider series that Ellin claims people now paint as a ‘vulgar brofest’ despite it being ‘a very realistic portrayal of what Hollywood was like at that time’.
Entourage was inspired by actor Mark Wahlberg’s early days in Hollywood.
The 53-year-old writer and producer claims this is the reason why Entourage, which won six Emmys and a Golden Globe, is not included on HBO Max’s ‘must-see comedy’ lists.
Entourage creator Doug Ellin argued that HBO had stunted his show’s legacy by giving in to a ‘wave of righteous PC culture’ in the #MeToo era
‘I resent it tremendously because I don’t think Entourage was this vulgar boyfest that people like to paint it as now,’ Ellin said.
‘When we came out, The New York Times said we were the smartest show on television. And then, all of a sudden, this wave of righteous PC culture…
‘Nobody says that about The Sopranos, where they murder people, that maybe we should re-address whether murdering people on TV is OK… a small group with loud voices started criticizing (Entourage) out of nowhere.
‘Every day I’m getting Google alerts telling me how bad I am.’
Critics of Entourage often point to the depiction of women in the show and say the show embraced a culture of celebrating sexist culture.
‘The executives at HBO that I was dealing were female executives who were very proud of the show at the time, and read every script and gave me their thoughts,’ he said.
‘I love and respect women and love great female characters and always have, and did the best I could.
The show, which ran over eight seasons between 2004 and 2011, starred Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier and Kevin Dillon
Entourage was a Hollywood insider series that Ellin claims people now paint as a ‘vulgar brofest’ despite it being ‘a very realistic portrayal of what Hollywood was like at that time’. Pictured left to right: Kevin Connolly, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier and Doug Ellin
‘At the same time, it was a 30-minute show with five male leads, so the fact that we were even able to find time to get in the women we did, I feel very proud of.’
Ellin believes the backlash against Entourage resulted in HBO not picking up another show that would have starred Sopranos star Michael Imperioli.
He said he would ‘never forgive’ HBO for passing on the pilot.
‘Whether they thought it was good or not, I earned my chance to have a second shot and they put some other pretty crappy shows on (instead),’ Ellin said.
He acknowledged that the highly-anticipated Entourage film sunk at the box office when it was released in 2015.
‘Unfortunately, the movie didn’t work as well as some may have hoped, and you kind of move on. How much can you say about it?’ he said.
Now, Ellin and former Entourage star Kevin Connolly are co-hosting a Victory the Podcast where they will dissect Entourage episodes.
‘Getting back together with these guys has been so much fun and it’s brought all of the memories of what a great time we had doing it,’ Ellin said.
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