Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump slammed the creators of the biopic The Apprentice after allegations that he violently sexually assaulted his ex-wife Ivana resurfaced.
The film, which stars Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Republican operative Roy Cohn, features a stomach-churning scene in which Trump throws Ivana, his first wife, to the ground and sexually assaults her while she yells at him to stop.
Although the scene has already caused controversy, Trump today broke his silence on the film, released in the US on Friday, stating that he and his ex-wife, who died in 2022, had a ‘great relationship… until the day that died.
He wrote in Truth Social: ‘A FAKE, CLASSLESS movie written about me, called The Apprentice (Do they even have the right to use that name without approval?), will hopefully be a “bombshell.”
‘It is a cheap, slanderous and politically disgusting hatchet, launched just before the 2024 presidential election, to attempt to damage the largest political movement in the history of our country, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
‘My ex-wife, Ivana, was a kind and wonderful person, and I had a great relationship with her until the day she died. The writer of this pile of garbage, Gabe Sherman, a talentless, low-life pirate who has long been widely discredited, knew this, but chose to ignore it.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (pictured, right) slammed the makers of biopic The Apprentice after claims he violently sexually assaulted his ex-wife Ivana (pictured, left) resurfaced.
The films star Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump (pictured, left) and Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump (pictured, right)
“It is very sad that HUMAN SCUM, like the people involved in this enterprise that we hope to fail, can say and do whatever they want to harm a political movement, which is much bigger than any of us.”
The Apprentice scene was taken from a court deposition Ivana gave during her divorce from Trump in 1990, which she later recanted in 2015 during her first presidential campaign.
According to Harry Hurt III, a journalist who covered the case, Trump was furious because a ‘scalp reduction’ he had requested to remove a bald spot was painful.
Furious with Ivana for recommending the surgeon, Hurt says, Trump ripped out a lock of his wife’s hair and began sexually attacking her.
The next morning, he asked her threateningly: ‘Does it hurt?’
According to the film’s screenwriter, Gabriel Sherman, ‘The scene he described in the divorce papers was actually much more graphic and brutal than the one we dramatized in the movie.
Both Trump and the film’s financier, Dan Snyder, a close billionaire friend of the Republican candidate, unsuccessfully filed cease-and-desist letters to have the film preserved.
Snyder financed the film with the expectation that it would portray Trump in a positive light.
But the couple may not have to worry about anyone seeing the film, given the disappointing box office performance in its opening weekend.
Sebastian Stan (left) plays the businessman-turned-politician, while Jeremy Strong plays his lawyer Roy Cohn and Maria Bakalova (right) plays Trump’s ex-wife Ivana.
Donald Trump’s biopic The Apprentice has received very positive reviews from critics who have praised it as a “light-hearted” and fast-paced story with strong performances.
Ivana (pictured, left) was married to Donald Trump (pictured, right) from 1977 to 1990.
Former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate, gestures at a campaign rally at the Findlay Toyota Arena on Sunday, October 13, 2024
It earned only $1.58 million despite a production budget of $16 million and a release in 1,750 theaters.
The opening day results were particularly disappointing: the film grossed around $150,000 on Thursday.
Despite these challenges, the film, which stars Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Republican operative Roy Cohn, has received mostly positive reviews.
Meanwhile, production company Briarcliff Entertainment is reportedly looking to position the film for awards consideration.
In a largely positive review, The New York Times called the film “cheerfully vulgar” and said there was a “striking” resemblance between protagonists Sebastian and Jeremy and the real-life men they portray.
Critic Manohla Dargis wrote: “Each actor has clearly made careful study of his character’s real-life counterpart, his mannerisms, how he moves and especially his voice.”
He added: “The film encourages you to laugh at its extremes, its vanity and bluster; the one thing the filmmakers don’t prepare you for, even if you knew better, is the magnitude of the American tragedy rapidly unfolding before you.” . .’
