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Today's rumor from the Land of the Agencies: Paradigm is getting ready to buy the struggling Writers & Artists to form...well, a somewhat larger second-tier agency. In the words of one spy, the sale is "not exactly Ford buying Jaguar, but for the bozos at Paradigm, this should get them better placement for their ads in Variety."

UPDATE: Now we're hearing that it's a done deal, with announcements and layoffs/firings coming tomorrow. Hey, at least Agent Dance mascot Ari Emanuel (see below) is still smiling!

We also introduce a new icon/mascot for our Agent Dance feature, replacing the tired Jerry Maguire one: Ari Emanuel of Endeavor, who is at least part of the inspiration for Jeremy Piven's excellent-yet-evil agent character Ari Jacobs on Entourage. After the NYT gave Ari a vigorous handjob on Sunday, we thought it would be nice to see his smiling face cross the virtual pages of Defamer once in a while.