The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has warned that thousands of active-duty military personnel may have been coerced into attending screenings of the Melania documentary.
The $75 million Amazon film generated $7 million during its opening week despite receiving universally negative critical reviews. But the foundation claims the box office figures were artificially inflated through pressure from officers aligned with the Trump administration who told troops to purchase tickets, Business Insider reported.
Mikey Weinstein, the group’s president and founder, stated, “People are scared. They were pressured to see the movie. Your military superior, that’s not your shift manager at Taco Bell or Starbucks. They have complete and total control over you.”
The foundation has received complaints from service members at eight military facilities worldwide. One soldier wrote, “Nobody that I know wanted to go except for those that did not want to get jacked up by our unit commander for not attending.”
The commander in question allegedly wore red MAGA hats and “made it very clear” his position regarding those who do not support the administration. He reportedly designated the documentary screening as one of three mandatory monthly unit activity events designed to strengthen military unit cohesion.
According to the service member’s account, “When he said ‘advised,’ we know what that meant. We feel helpless to try to fight against what he is doing here.”
Weinstein characterized the practice as destructive to military effectiveness. “It tears it down,” she said. “It’s like injecting cancer into the body of the military unit.”
The Department of Defense responded to Insider, “There is no Department of War directive requiring service members to see this film, though the film is fantastic.”
Amazon’s investment totaled $75 million for production and distribution. Marketing consumed $35 million, while $40 million was paid to Melania Trump’s production company for image rights. Melania personally receives approximately $27 million from the arrangement, prompting assertions that the project constitutes a substantial bribe from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to maintain favor with the Trump administration.
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