Top Hollywood agent on ‘Jewish listening tour’ after ‘antisemitic’ posts
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The Hollywood super-agent who called Israel’s war against Hamas “genocide” in ill-advised Instagram posts is on a listening tour of Jewish leaders, sources tell The Post.
CAA agent Maha Dakhil, 48, who represents A-listers including Tom Cruise and Madonna, is still working at the firm, despite resigning from its internal board after coming under fire for her posts.
We’re told she went to meet Hollywood rabbi, Steve Leder, of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, as well as Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti Defamation League.
A company source told us: “Maha has divided CAA — there are some Jewish agents who feel very strongly that she should learn from what she did and that she should definitely be sanctioned, if not sacked.
“But there was also a feeling that CAA had to be careful because they could face rebellion from staff who thought that Maha was being muzzled from expressing her own opinions.”
Dakhil’s actions led to Oscar-winning “The Social Network” writer Aaron Sorkin quitting CAA in protest and jumping over to rival WME.
The source said: “Maha looked like she was going to be the next heir apparent at CAA, and one f-up has called her judgement into question.
“At work, she’s always been very professional, but she’s rubbed some people the wrong way and tended to make herself the story, with selfies with the stars and attending all the parties.”
As for now, Dakhil has wiped her Instagram of all her starry photos and has not posted since the debacle.
The Post has reached out to CAA for comment.
And while Hollywood gets back to work after the strike, CAA has more issues as the agency is being sued by actress Julia Ormond over convicted rapist and former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
The complaint, filed last month, alleges that CAA top brass, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane encouraged her to take a meeting with Weinstein. Later that night, she alleges, she was attacked by Weinstein. She alleged CAA agents encouraged her not to go to police.
She also blames Disney executives Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner for negligently shifting responsibility on supervising Weinstein, with the aim of overlooking the misconduct to continue profiting off of the company’s dealing with Miramax. None of the individuals were named in the lawsuit as defendants.
The “Sabrina” star claims her then agents, CAA’s top brass Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, failed to “look out for her well-being, to not place her in danger, and to warn her about Weinstein’s predations” — despite high-level agents allegedly knowing about his “propensity for sexually assaultive and exploitative behavior,” as well as “multiple confidential settlements that Weinstein reached to keep his conduct hidden from public exposure.”
Another industry insider said: “What people are interested about is what CAA agents actually knew and if they helped facilitate anything.”
A CAA spokesperson previously called the allegations in the lawsuit “completely without merit.”
The agency said that it initiated an investigation led by law firm Paul Weiss, which “found nothing to support Ms. Ormond’s claims” against the agency. The spokesperson added they shared the results with Ormond.
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