HBO has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Betr, the sports betting company co-founded by Jake Paul, over a commercial reuniting former “Entourage” stars Jeremy Piven and Adrian Grenier in a scene that closely mirrors their roles as Ari Gold and Vincent Chase, according to a Y! Entertainment report. The letter reportedly demands the ad’s removal and seeks information on its spending, viewership, and profits, citing copyright infringement.

The ad places Piven and Grenier at a party, where Piven, playing a version of himself, pitches Paul on signing Grenier as a Betr spokesperson before telling him, “We’re in, baby. You’re gonna have to pay us.” Neither actor refers to their “Entourage” characters by name, but HBO says the spot’s setting, dialogue, and character dynamic recreate protected elements of the show regardless.

“Entourage” creator Doug Ellin criticized the ad publicly before HBO’s letter was reported. “This is trash and theft. Period,” he wrote on X. In a video posted to Instagram, Ellin said, “I watch it, and I wanna throw up,” and argued the commercial traded on work “a lot of people worked really hard” to make. He also said Piven had initially resisted joining “Entourage” and later tried to distance himself from the show.

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A Betr spokesperson responded to Ellin’s criticism in a statement to Entertainment Weekly: “We had a lot of fun making it, they had a lot of fun making it, and people seem to be having a lot of fun watching it. We appreciate Doug watching the ad and helping promote it.” Representatives for Grenier and Piven had not commented as of Entertainment Weekly’s report.

Betr has built its marketing around Paul’s public profile since it launched in 2022, when Paul said sportsbooks needed influencers like him to draw users. The company raised $15 million in a 2024 round led by Harmony Partners and 10X Capital that valued it at $375 million, funding it described at the time as earmarked for user acquisition and product development. The “Entourage”-adjacent spot extends that approach into borrowed cultural recognition rather than paid creator endorsement, using two actors’ association with a specific HBO franchise to generate attention for a gambling product.

No lawsuit, injunction request, or ruling has been reported.

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