Speaker So when did you first become aware of David Geffen and how are you introduced and what were your first?
Speaker You know, David and I met at Dough’s when we physically met was Joe’s restaurant steak joint in Little Rock. I sat next to him at that. It was only about 14 or 15 people then Governor Clinton running for president and we hit it off. But I talked to him multiple times on the phone prior to meeting him finally in person. And you got to kid, you know, Jewish boys with very strong mothers in our background.
Speaker And we’re either a swear word or a Yiddish word is interspersed with English periodically. Just so you know, you’re linking it all together with English. And we just hit it off on the phone and we hit it off in person. And he has been a dear friend of mine for years.
Speaker What were your first impression? I mean, over the phone, obviously.
Speaker I mean, I was kind of fascinated with meeting him. I’ve read stuff about him before I met him. But, you know, I mean, he I suppose you can say when you met him, he he was more full living color than he was just an hour a person over the phone.
Speaker So you were intrigued to meet him, whatever you want. What about him? Made you want to read to know it?
Speaker Well, I didn’t look, I was my job was to raise money for president. And here was a guy that was wanted to be helpful for President Clinton. But there is you know, when you get you just talk to somebody and there’s a chemistry, there was a chemistry. There wasn’t my desire to meet David, except for when I did start talking to him on the phone, we just hit it off. And so there was more of it from a personal relationship.
Speaker Did you set have the first meeting then after that between Clinton and.
Speaker Yeah. Yeah, I think I am not.
Speaker Well, first of all, I think a couple of times people have told me he wanted to meet or talk to President then Governor Clinton and for some reason had never connected or kept getting dropped between the cracks. So I just said I’m going to take it upon myself. And we started talking and I ended up we talked more than he did with the then Governor Clinton or President Clinton.
Speaker How did that meeting go? And what was there?
Speaker What was successful? I wasn’t there, but. Well, except for at the restaurant. But there was, you know, by that point that was, you know, 14 or 15 people in the restaurant.
Speaker I mean, they hit it off. Did Bill Clinton ever say anything to you afterwards? I mean, what do you think that impression was at that right at that point?
Speaker If he did? I mean, you know, I mean, he thought, look, I mean, David is kind of the man, the myth, the legend right there in full living color.
Speaker We had a good relationship and developed with this bill.
Speaker And did they become close? You know, here’s the deal. You should really go get him and have him answer all these questions. I can tell you about my relationship and stuff like that. David was supportive of the president.
Speaker The president has had David over, I think, a couple of times at the White House to say he’d been there a number of times. They talked on a regular basis. So I don’t know.
Speaker I mean, it’s self-evident. I mean, David supported the president. Now, President Obama, they were he was close to both the president and the first lady Clintons when they were there. But he made another choice. So I don’t know how you describe Close. The only two people who describe their relationship are either David Geffen or President Clinton. And I would just be commenting on it. And I don’t think that’s appropriate.
Speaker I understand that. I think there’s a very clear answer. Thank you.
Speaker But from your perspective, I’m not answering this. What do you think that. What did what did Bill, obviously, Bill Clinton obviously relied on him, President Clinton. OK, let’s do this right. President Clinton obviously relied on David for some. But can I say that he could just.
Speaker David comes right at you.
Speaker OK, you meet him and he’s right at you. I mean, there’s not a lot of and he can be in your in a in your face in a great way. Not a joke. He doesn’t mind telling you what he thinks and doesn’t mind telling you when he thinks you’re a schmuck, OK? And he is very smart and people. Smart on business, smart on relations and negotiations. And you know, when he loves you, he loves you and what he thinks, you’re acting like an idiot. He’ll tell you.
Speaker So I can’t you know, I can only I can’t tell you how their relationship developed, how what they felt to each other. I can tell you how I felt, why David and I have been friends since nineteen ninety one and why he’s close to I mean Amy and I have traveled with him, traveled with him and Jeremy. He has been I’ve been to his house on the beach Malibu many times. Stayed there many times. Also true about the house in the city and then on the boat with him and friends. But one thing I think is great, and I’m just going to take this because I’m not going to comment on him and the president’s friendship, is it? What I love about Dave is he loves bringing people together for an interesting I mean, we’ve done it on the boat. We’ve done it at the house for dinner. And he has a, you know, a great vitality to him. And when you get David, you get about one hundred and fifty percent of David of it. And that’s what I want. I think people want to him.
Speaker Well, I think that’s that’s true.
Speaker I mean, everybody says that and he has a lot of really. Did you like being on the boat, huh.
Speaker I’m going. Well, we we yes. We love the boat. I haven’t been back and I’m desperate to get back. But I intend until this job ends, I’m not sure when I’ll get back.
Speaker Yeah, actually, I want to first I should say thank you so much for fitting this in. And I know this must have been a tough day.
Speaker You know, I mean, David, I mean, I think it’s great that you guys are doing this for David. I mean, anybody I don’t know who else is on the the list in the sense of people you guys recognize.
Speaker But there’s anybody I mean, when you think about it, you know, the guy from the old country, you know New York City and, uh, in public housing.
Speaker You know, this son of a single mother and you look at, you know, here’s a guy who I wouldn’t say come out of the projects, but it was clearly public housing. He lived and his mother was a working middle class Franklin Roosevelt, Democrat, one generation away from the old country, Europe.
Speaker And he’s at one of the most important entertainers, businessmen, wealthiest people, generous with his not his, not only his money, but his time. And I think they would say this only in America could that happen. And he’s never you know, he’s committed to the state of Israel. He’s committed to his values. He puts his money where his mouth is. But here’s a guy who grew up in New York City, public schools, public housing and one of the pinnacles of American business.
Speaker And if you were and he would say this about himself, if you looked at him growing up, would he a bit longer short on the guy and you probably what he would have said. People would have bet. A lot of people bet short and look what he’s done.
Speaker And it says something about what do you think it says? Well, first of all, I think he would say he was lucky to be born in America.
Speaker He loves this country. And second, his drive and his ability to, as I said earlier, identify people. People identify a genuineness to him. He’s a shrewd businessman. And I say that with admiration, not because shrewd. And somehow he’s, you know, cutting caught. He’s a shrewd businessman, a great negotiator, a person that people will trust. And because he has friends and friendships that are, you know, have a bond to them, I think that’s probably gone. I would disagree with and Steven Spielberg is smarter than me, but I think the quality of David that his greatest this is the loyalty of his friends.
Speaker And I’m I really do. I think that you feel that.
Speaker I mean, I feel it and, you know, I mean, David and I were emailing the other day to each other and stuff like that, but I think his greatest contribution is loyalty. Friends feel from him and the loyalty he gets back from the his friends.
Speaker He’s a very powerful guy. And one of the things that is fascinating to me is how he got that.
Speaker Hmm. And here’s one thing I’d love to talk about a little bit.
Speaker I mean, because clearly his shifting his allegiance from the Clintons to Obama was a huge, huge thing.
Speaker Why, why why did Maureen Dowd’s column had such an impact on so many people?
Speaker You got to ask David why it had an impact on him. Look, I think that, you know, he thought I mean, I think he thought that President Obama, then Senator Obama, was the future. And that’s I think that’s what he expressed to me. But you got to he only he can put it in his own words, no one but the his power. And I went, well, everybody would naturally point towards money and its capacity to put resources together. I would say sell short his ideas and his the force that in which when he embraces something, he tries to get it done. And I think that power is more than just that. He writes a check. It’s much more than that. I know that for a fact.
Speaker I would agree with that. But that I was actually talking more about the effect it had on others.
Speaker His endorsement? Well, it was a vote of confidence from a very influential person in the Democratic Party.
Speaker And how much influence do you think you had?
Speaker I think, you know, when you’re a upstart campaign trying to build credibility, a support from a person like David Geffen, short circuits a long road to earn credibility in a very quick way.
Speaker You get to more questions and I’m got to make them count, man. I know. Yeah. So my question is really, because right now I’m not doing what would you characterize?
Speaker I mean, you know, about David’s movies. Do you think he has a lasting legacy there?
Speaker And how would you describe it? I mean, you look at all the talent that he has promote the arts.
Speaker He’s first of all, he created DreamWorks multiple labels, discovered and promoted a great deal of talent. He’s done movies.
Speaker There isn’t, I think, musicals. I mean I mean, incredible sense of our form and an eye for talent.
Speaker B, that books that he has bought the rights to me.
Speaker I mean, I there’s a Chris an incredible cross section and then is a capacity to move that, as in both either individuals or others, a different art forms. I mean, so the institutions of whether it’s DreamWorks that he’s created, the labels he’s created and then the individuals he’s helped advance, I mean, there’s no doubt and then the artwork he’s collected and put together, I mean, you could do a whole show just on his art.
Speaker It’s phenomenal.
Speaker One more question that I’m going to ask you. The three words that David, why do you think that so many.
Speaker Influential people today, because you get a heads up, the unvarnished truth be it’s heartfelt and said and done with a commitment that you sense the commitment he has to his own views.
Speaker And you’ve seen enough times on how more right than he is and wrong that you it’s a pretty good bet that if it’s not right, he’s he hasn’t just given some off the cuff. He’s thought about it. I mean, one of the things I would say I mean that I mean, going back original, the original question that I love about him also is fight.
Speaker You know, he can’t sit still. There’s a great Yiddish word called shpilkes. You can’t sit still. He can’t sit still. And since I have the same disease and he has adult ADHD like I do, you know, going from one subject to the other, there was a we were going to love each other or hate each other. We ended up loving each other. So that’s to also answer your first question that you originally asked.
Speaker But David is, you know, I mean, he’s very thoughtful, strategic in its thinking, sincere and about what advice he’s giving you. And he’s willing to back it up.
