The Creator Of “Entourage” Just Responded To Debi Mazar’s “Disgusting” Claims About The “Toxic” And “Testosterone-Fueled Environment” On Set — Here’s All The Context
You know Entourage. It's the comedy-drama series about a fictional A-list actor, Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier), and his three best friends as they navigate a lavish life in Hollywood.
Entourage — which was loosely based on the early Hollywood career of Mark Wahlberg, who served as an executive producer on the show — aired on HBO for eight seasons between 2004 and 2011. During that time, it received 26 Emmy Award nominations and won 6, and the show was such a success that it even had its own movie in 2015.
Mathew Imaging / Getty Images
But despite how beloved the show once was, it's fair to say it hasn't aged as well as many other titles from that era. Entourage glorified wealth, womanizing, and toxic masculinity, and many of the misogynistic jokes throughout the series would not make it out of the writers' room today.
On top of that, two core actors from the series — Jeremy Piven, who played Vince's agent Ari Gold, and Kevin Connolly, who played Vince’s best friend/manager Eric "E" Murphy — have faced sexual assaultallegations since the show ended. (Both men have denied the claims.)
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
Now, one of the female cast members, Debi Mazar, has made some claims about her negative experiences on the Entourage set, telling The Times UK that the production turned "toxic towards the end" of its run.
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images
"Season one was a joy-fest. But in the third season, the set was a testosterone-fueled environment," claimed Debi, who played Shauna Roberts, Vince's hard-headed publicist, on all eight seasons of the show. "I’m tough, but it got toxic towards the end for me."
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
Debi alleged that things became particularly difficult after the birth of her second child in March 2006. "They didn’t like that I got fat, even though I got skinny again. It was complicated because I’m outspoken and never held back my discontent," she claimed. "But I always was professional and I’m grateful I was on it. It was a lot of fun, until it wasn’t."
Gregory Pace / Getty Images
It hasn't taken long for Debi's comments to gain attention, and now, the creator of Entourage, Doug Ellin, has taken to social media to vehemently deny her "disgusting" claims.
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
"Never, ever did myself or anyone that matters care or discuss Debi Mazar’s body. I would one million percent embrace any woman who got pregnant," Doug wrote on X on Sept. 1. "The only bodies on the show I ever commented on were Adrian’s ( I wanted him more muscular) and @jerryferrara who I wanted fatter. I will forever feel bad about that because I didn’t realize the health implications at the time and now couldnt be happier for Jerry’s transformation." He is referring to Jerry Ferrara, who has lost a significant amount of weight since he played Vince's friend Turtle on the show.
Doug also interacted with a number of X users who weighed in on the topic, including one who joked that the Entourage set being "toxic" should not be a surprise. "Fu. It wasn’t," he responded. "And you can ask 99 percent of the women who were on it, who are still good friends to this day."
Someone also highlighted the intense beauty standards in Hollywood, particularly in the 2000s when Debi was on the show. However, Doug doubled down, claiming that "no one would have given a shit" about Debi's weight because she was playing a publicist. "She was not cast for her looks she was cast for her talent," he wrote. "Period."