Trump’s “Apprentice” Film Legal Threats Prove False News, US Release Looms
EXCLUSIVE : When the film The Apprentice screens tonight at Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, Donald Trump once again proves to be all talk and no bite.
They may have sent a scathing cease and desist notice earlier this year, and threatened legal action on the Ali Abbasi-directed and Gabriel Sherman-written film that premiered at Cannes. But they’ve not done anything since.
In late May, Trump’s Dhillon Law Group lawyers gave the Apprentice film makers until the 27th day of the month to effectively shut down any American viewers. The Alexandra, VA based lawyers called the Canadian, Irish, and American funded film “a concoction that defames Trump repeatedly and constitutes foreign interference in America’s elections.” If Abbasi’s movie didn’t “immediately cease and desist any distribution and marketing of the libelous parody,” Team Trump “would be forced to pursue all legal remedies.”
Sources close to the situation say that the Trump team is deciding to leave the matter alone and let it fade away. The Apprentice will be released in the U.S. on or around October 11, likely by Briarcliff Entertainment (ex-Open Road CEO Tom Ortenberg).
There is still a possibility that this Trumpland with its lack of impulse control could change and lead to a lawsuit. The First Amendment is looking good for The Apprentice’s filmmakers. So much for Trump’s legal efforts.
After Labor Day, the race for the presidential election against Kamalah Harris will move into its fourth quarter.
The biopic of Trump (Sebastian Stan), as the protégé of noxious lawyer Roy Cohn, (Jeremy Strong), is playing now in front of a packed audience for a screening that was announced at the prestigious Colorado film festival. Those empty ultimatums from May seem like silly saber rattling on the part of the former Celebrity Apprentice host.
What is new?
Trump, still using Cohn’s dirty tricks, often threatens legal retribution and fails to carry out his threats or has them thrown out of court. Abbasi pointed out a fact about Trump during a press conference in Cannes on May 21: “Everyone talks about him suing many people, but they don’t speak about his success rate.”
Abbasi, Stan Strong, Sherman, and Amy Baer, the producer/Golden Media boss, are all at Telluride’s Galaxy Theater for tonight’s screening, which began at 10pm MDT/9pm PT. Abbasi said to the 500 people in attendance that The Apprentice was not a “political hit piece.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a Deadline inquiry today regarding the distribution agreement for The Apprentice and the Telluride film screening. Instead, they rehashed their previous statement about the film’s opening at the Cannes Film Festival in March.
The Apprentice features Trump’s sexual assault of his first wife Ivana, played by Borat actress Bakalova.
This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should never see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a soon to be closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire.” This ‘film,’ which is malicious defamation and should never be seen, belongs in a dumpster.
This statement is the exact same as the one the Trump campaign released on May 20, when they first threatened the lawsuit against the Apprentice filmmakers.
Or, to quote Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent comment about Trump’s election campaign – “Same tired playbook.”
