Frieze owner Ari Emanuel told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show on Monday, September 21, that he rejects the word genocide as a description of the Israeli military's actions in the Occupied West Bank and criticized rapper Macklemore over his pro-Palestinian remarks.

"I don't believe the word genocide is the proper word for what happened in the West Bank," Emanuel said. He did not mention Gaza once during the exchange — a territory a United Nations commission declared a site of genocide in 2025.

The Hollywood mogul and billionaire addressed Macklemore's speech at an earlier stop opening for British pop star Ed Sheeran's tour. Sheeran subsequently dropped the rapper from his global tour at the behest of Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of Boston's Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is scheduled to perform on September 25 and 26.

"I don't think it was completely understanding the facts," Emanuel said of Macklemore's remarks. "I think it was belittling to Jewish people." He did not mention that his own company, WME, represents Macklemore for North American bookings.

Macklemore had directed his protests strictly at the Israeli government. "To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you," the rapper told the crowd.

The timing is awkward for the art world. Emanuel's interview aired days before the September 24 opening of New York's Armory Show, which Frieze owns and effectively operates alongside six other fairs, two exhibition spaces, and its namesake publication. Through his company MARI, Emanuel acquired Frieze in 2025 for $200 million from Endeavor Group Holdings, where he served as CEO from 2017 through 2025. Frieze bought the Armory Show in 2023; it remains one of the longest-running art fairs in the United States.

Emanuel appeared on the talk show as part of the press tour for his new memoir, Roll the Calls, co-written with celebrity ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer. In the book, he traces his career as a Hollywood agent, channeling his "anger and rage" into his idea of a successful business model, and grapples with the achievements of his older brother, Rahm Emanuel, the longtime Israel defender who served as White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2010. Rahm Emanuel only recently turned critical of Israel's leadership, calling the state a "territorial pariah" in a July speech at Tel Aviv University.

Ari Emanuel's own record on Israel has shifted over time. At a 2024 Simon Wiesenthal Center gala, he condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — yet in the same award speech he called the pro-Palestinian liberation slogan "from the river to the sea" genocidal and said that "Israel is not targeting civilians the way terrorists do." An independent United Nations commission, in findings published in June 2026, reported that Israel has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and deliberately targets children.

During the Daily Show interview, Emanuel also defended his friendship with tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has regularly met with Israeli leadership. "I think he's done incredible things for the human race and continues to do great, unbelievable things," Emanuel told Stewart. He added that when he disagrees with the Tesla CEO, he talks with Musk to "move" him.

In Roll the Calls, Emanuel defends his friendships with other right-leaning figures, including Dana White, president and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. White hosted the "UFC Freedom 250" event with President Donald Trump on the White House South Lawn in June.

"I don't want to live in a country that is a cult or in a kind of echo chamber," Emanuel said. He envisions a country "where we can all sit there and say, okay, here's one argument, here's the other, and let's get to a point where we can have a conversation."

With Emanuel now controlling one of the largest art-fair portfolios in the world, his political pronouncements — delivered on the eve of the Armory Show — are likely to shape how dealers, collectors, and artists read the man behind the brand.