‘The Apprentice’ Director Taunts Donald Trump Over Biopic Lawsuit Threat
Ali Abbasi pointed out an awkward truth for the former president.
Ali Abbasi, the Iranian-Danish director of the new Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice,” had a mocking response when a journalist asked if he was “scared” of the Trump 2024 campaign’s threat to sue over the movie.
“I mean, everybody talks about him suing a lot of people,” Abassi replied during a press conference after a screening at the Cannes Film Festival this week.
Then he added: “They don’t talk about his success rate though, you know?”
The remark prompted applause and laughter from the audience.
Watch the exchange here:
Gabe Sherman, the film’s writer, suggested Trump’s team “clearly” hasn’t watched the film, which earned an 8-minute standing ovation in Cannes, and encouraged them to do so.
Abbasi acknowledged Trump, who is portrayed by Sebastian Stan in the movie, may think, “Oh, this like crazy random guy and some like, liberal c***s in Cannes, they gathered and they, they did this movie and it’s like fucked up and, you know, it’s like, you know, the meaning and it’s a conspiracy.”
But Abbasi didn’t think Trump would necessarily like or dislike the film.
In fact, the preumptive GOP nominee may actually be surprised, he said.
Abassi offered to host a screening for the four-times-indicted ex-POTUS and afterward “talk about the context” with him.
The film centers on Trump’s mentorship by lawyer Roh Cohn, who is played by Jeremy Strong, and the future president’s real estate business in 1980s and 1990s New York.
One scene in particular that’s garnered attention depicts a young Trump sexually assaulting his then-wife Ivana Trump, who is played by “Borat 2” star Maria Bakalova (who found international fame following that scene with former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani in the “Borat” sequel).
Ivana Trump alleged in her divorce deposition that she had been raped by her former husband. She later walked that claim back and said she’d just felt violated. Trump denied the rape allegation.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said a lawsuit would be filed against the movie’s makers “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”
“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked,” Cheung said. “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.”
