Hollywood too scared of Donald Trump to back controversial biopic, actor claims

Jeremy Strong says producers struggled to find a US distributor for the Apprentice because of its negative portrayal of ex-president

Hollywood steered away from a biopic about Donald Trump, fearing retribution from the former president, one of the film’s stars has claimed.
Jeremy Strong, who is tipped for an Oscar for his portrayal of Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn, said the film struggled to find a US distributor for The Apprentice.
“I found it profoundly disturbing and a dark harbinger of things to come,” Strong told the Sunday Times.
“Frankly, everyone in Hollywood passed on it because they were afraid of litigation or repercussions. I don’t think Hollywood has ever been a bastion of bravery, but that was disappointing.”
The actor, best known for his depiction of Kendall Roy in Succession, defended the controversial scenes in the film, including one where the Trump character rapes his first wife, Ivana.
“It is in historical record,” Strong said. “It was given in a testimony under oath at risk of perjury. And then rolled back many years later, no longer under oath. So I guess let everybody else be the judge of the veracity of that.”
Trump denied the allegation, which Ivana Trump later withdrew. She died in 2022.
The film, which has gone on release weeks before the presidential election, gives an unflattering depiction of Trump’s early career as a property developer.
It has outraged his campaign team who has said it will sue the filmmakers.
“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” the Trump campaign’s chief spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked. As with the illegal Biden trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked.”
The row reflects the ill-feeling between Trump and Hollywood, where major figures have contributed generously to the Kamala Harris campaign.
Strong was not surprised by the Trump campaign’s reaction.
“It’s exactly what Roy would have counselled them to do. Attack, deny everything, never admit defeat. Their tactic is a campaign of misinformation. Without seeing the movie, they assumed it could be damaging. But there’s nothing in it that Trump himself hasn’t touted or bragged about.”