The stars of The Apprentice are running around spreading a conspiracy theory about their speech being stifled and their movie blacklisted.
The Apprentice is an independent movie starring Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn. The far-left Hollywood Reporter decided to go to bat for the movie and describes the plot this way: “The film shows how Cohn’s bare-knuckle approach shaped a young Trump.”
Except, uhm…
Left out of that description is the fact that the film also shows Trump raping his first wife Ivana, something Ivana herself retracted and said never happened before she died in 2022.
Can you say, defamation?
I’m all in favor of artistic freedom, but defamation is defamation, not artistic freedom.
Something else the THR leaves out is that less than three months ago, The Apprentice enjoyed a wide release in 1,740 domestic theaters and then tanked, earning just $4 million.
Nevertheless, here are the stars crybabying about free speech:
“When it comes to artistry and creativity, we have to be able to protect free speech. It shouldn’t be selective free speech,” said Sebastian Stan. “It should be free speech on all fronts. We can’t get normalized about what we can and can’t talk about.”
“People have been afraid to touch this film, to be seen as complicit in the film, to support the film, to publicly endorse the film, and certainly to show the film on a streaming platform,” said Jeremy Strong. “But the role of storytelling is to hold up a mirror. It’s not to make people feel comfortable. It’s not simply to entertain. It is to hold feet to the fire.”
He added this: “I can’t think of a subject more relevant to what all of us are living through. Not to be embraced by the industry has been really hard.”
No free speech? Not embraced by the industry? This movie cost $16 million to produce; meaning someone invested $16 million in your free speech. On top of that, The Apprentice earned a wide release in 1,740 domestic theaters. It was also released in over 50(!) foreign countries.
This is a real beauty from THR right there:
The truest comment about Trump of late is from the man no one is listening to: [Sebastian] Stan’s “we can’t get normalized about what we can and can’t talk about.”
But you did talk about it. Good heavens, you talked about it with a $16 million budget. You talked about it in 1,740 domestic theaters. You talked about it in over 50 countries. It was nominated for two Golden Globes. And now, through THR, Penske Media (which also owns Deadline, Variety, IndieWire, and Rolling Stone — and therefore a near-monopoly on the entertainment media) is talking about it.
The Apprentice has enjoyed every privileged form of left-wing affirmative action available — $16 million budget (not including promotion), a wide domestic release, a worldwide release, glowing reviews, and award affirmation.
So if you look at it, everyone’s crybabying for only one reason: no streaming service has offered to buy their speech.
Well, there is no First Amendment right to make money off of your speech. Not purchasing your speech is not censorship or blacklisting. You spoke in theaters all around the world. A total of 238 critics published reviews about your movie, and that doesn’t include all the other media publicity. You had millions of dollars as a megaphone, and now you have Big Brother Penske beating a drum for you.
My guess is that streaming services are worried about Trump filing a defamation suit. Look at what happened after ABC News and George Stephanopoulos falsely claimed Trump is a rapist.
The Apprentice had its say and then some, and some streaming platform will likely pick it up eventually. But falsely accusing a man of rape (especially when the “victim” herself says it didn’t happen) should come with consequences.
I will and for years I have fought for unencumbered artistic freedom for artists on the right and left. Defamation is indefensible.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
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