In Cannes, “The Apprentice” received a standing ovation and controversy. For Donald Trump, it only received the latter – and possibly a lawsuit.
The film “The Apprentice” has just celebrated its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. A reaction from the USA to the film, in which Marvel star Sebastian Stan (41) plays the young Donald Trump (77), was not long in coming: As the US website “Variety” reports, Trump's legal team is already planning to take legal action against the film by director Ali Abbasi (43).
Steven Cheung, spokesman for Trump's presidential campaign, is quoted as saying: “We will file a lawsuit to address the blatantly false claims made by these alleged filmmakers.” According to Cheung, the content of the alleged biopic is “pure fiction that sensationalizes lies that have been proven to have been disproven.” Since “The Apprentice” is a defamatory work from Trump's perspective, it should “never see the light of day.”
“The Apprentice” has the same title as Trump's former reality TV format, in which he was a juror looking for the titular trainee for his real estate company. In addition to Stan, the film also stars “Borat” star Maria Bakalova (27) as Trump's ex-wife Ivana Trump, who died in 2022, and “Succession” star Jeremy Strong (45) as Trump's lawyer Roy Cohn.
Applause and controversy
According to Variety, the film received a standing ovation from the audience for over eight minutes at its premiere in Cannes. At the same time, however, the site also reports that one scene in particular caused great controversy among viewers. According to the site, it features non-consensual sex between Donald and Ivana Trump, during which he violently pushes his wife to the ground.
It is therefore not surprising that Trump, in the middle of the election campaign for a second presidential election, is keen to keep the controversial film out of cinemas. Especially since “The Apprentice”, which is in competition for the Palme d'Or, apparently puts him in a bad light in many other ways – for example by depicting pill addiction and liposuction.
An official cinema release date for “The Apprentice” has not yet been set.
