JD Vance Denies Inking $8M Deal for ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Sequel

Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) reportedly lined up an $8 million book deal with the Hollywood talent agency, William Morris Endeavor, to write a sequel to Hillbilly Elegy, according to sources close to the matter who spoke to Variety. Sources say, way back in 2017, a year after Vance released Hillbilly Elegy, the then-venture capitalist negotiated an $8 million deal for another book. Both Vance and former President Donald Trump have been represented by WME in the past. Vance raked in royalties worth $823,132 in 2020 and 2021 according to financial disclosures. In 2023, his numbers tanked, only bringing in around $50,000 but likely have shot back up in 2024, as it made the New York Times bestseller list again upon Trump’s announcement that Vance would be his running mate. Vance has certainly milked the Hillbilly Elegy cow, banking $45 million from the Netflix adapted movie directed by Ron Howard. “This report is false. No new deal has been signed between Senator Vance and WME. They are working off a years old existing deal,” Luke Schroeder, a spokesperson for Vance, told the Daily Beast in an emailed statement.