Director Ali Abbasi didn’t shy away from addressing the Trump campaign’s threat to sue over his film “The Apprentice,” which features a controversial Trump rape scene, during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival.
When asked about the lawsuit threat, Abbasi responded with a witty remark, pointing out Trump’s frequent legal actions and questioning their success rate. This garnered laughter and applause from the audience. He further suggested that Trump might not dislike the film if he actually watched it.
Gabe Sherman, one of the film’s creators, encouraged the Trump campaign to see the film before passing judgment.
Abbasi expressed a willingness to discuss the film with Trump himself, proposing a screening followed by a conversation about its context. He implied that Trump might be surprised by the film’s content and suggested openness to dialogue with members of the Trump campaign.
GUNNAR REHLIN: Fantastic. Thank you. Just. Yes. In the front. Hi, Gunnar Rhelin from Sweden. I am, it’s all over the news today that the Trump Organization is threatening with a lawsuit against the film. Could anyone comment on that?
ALI ABBASI: I mean, it’s with you. You’re news. I’m the filmmaker.
GUNNAR REHLIN: Are you scared of that?
ALI ABBASI: I mean, everybody talks about, him suing a lot of people. They don’t talk about his success rate though, you know. (laughter and applause)
GABE SHERMAN: We encourage them to actually see the film. Clearly they haven’t yet.
ALI ABBASI: And also I think it is — if I was him, I would be sitting in, New Jersey, Florida or wherever he is now, or New York, and I would thinking, “Oh, this like crazy random guy and some like, liberal cunts 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, as you say, I really think that — I don’t necessarily think that this is a movie that, you know, he would dislike.
I don’t necessarily think he would like it. I think that he — I think he would be surprised. You know, and I, you know, like I said before, like I would be happy —
I would offer him to go and meet him wherever he wants and then talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards. You know, if if that’s, interesting for anyone you know, of Trump campaign people here.
