President-elect Donald Trump has added Hollywood to his fix-it list, saying in a social media post Thursday that Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight would be his “eyes and ears” in the entertainment capital. He said the goal was “bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last 4 years to foreign countries, back, bigger, better, and stronger than ever before!”
“It will again be…the Golden Age of Hollywood!” he wrote on Truth Social. Trump’s decision to select the actors as his chosen “ambassadors” underscores his preoccupations with the 1980s and ’90s, when he was a rising tabloid star in New York, and Gibson and Stallone were among the biggest movie stars.
The initiative came as a surprise, even to one of the participants. In a statement, Gibson said: “I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised. Nevertheless, I heed the call.” He added, “Any chance the position comes with an ambassador’s residence?” (Gibson’s home in Malibu burned down in the LA wildfires.)
US production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the pandemic, the guild strikes of 2023 and, in the past week, the ongoing wildfires. Overall production in the US was down 26% from 2021.
Trump referred to the three actors – all of whom have been enthusiastic supporters of the president-elect – as “special ambassadors” and “special envoys”, who are typically chosen to respond to troubled hot spots like West Asia, not California.
The move also reflects Trump’s willingness to overlook his supporters’ controversies. Voight made headlines in 2020 when fellow actor accused the star of slapping him. Gibson has been plagued by accusations of anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism and domestic violence. Stallone – who called Trump the “second George Washington”- has faced sexual assault allegations, all of which he has denied. NYT, AP & AFP
