Doug Ellin Calls Jake Paul’s Entourage Ad a Cheap Copy

Jeremy Piven and Adrian Grenier may have reunited as Ari Gold and Vincent Chase for a Betr commercial, but Entourage creator Doug Ellin is not applauding the nostalgia play. According to Just Jared, Ellin responded publicly after the ad began circulating, calling it a low-rent imitation of the HBO series.

The commercial reportedly drops viewers into a mansion party, where Piven’s character goes looking for Grenier’s character before pitching him on a new movie for the pair. The wardrobe, dialogue and setup all echo the relationship between Ari, the famously volcanic agent, and Vincent, his movie-star client. That resemblance appears to be the entire point—and apparently the entire problem.

Fans celebrated seeing the actors together in familiar territory, while Piven helped push the reunion online with a September 8 post featuring Grenier and Betr. Ellin, however, said he was not involved in the advertisement. He also made clear that his complaint was not about missing out on a paycheck.

His stated grievance was authorship. Ellin said he had received roughly 400 messages about what he described as an embarrassing commercial, arguing that the show’s writers spent years refining its scripts, character voices and precise dialogue. In his view, recreating those ingredients without the original creative team reduces a carefully built series to a costume change and a few recognizable insults.

That is the awkward tension at the center of this ad: the commercial’s appeal depends on viewers instantly recognizing the old Entourage chemistry, while its creator is objecting to the creative labor behind that chemistry being treated as interchangeable. The actors’ return may be catnip for fans, but Ellin’s reaction gives the nostalgia stunt a very different aftertaste.