Ben Stiller demands White House remove ‘Trop Thunder’ clip from propaganda video
Ben Stiller has hit out at the White House after it used a clip of his 2008 movie Tropic Thunder to support its war initiative in a new social media video.
The actor took to X to publicly call out the White House, which had posted the video along with the caption “Justice the American way.” The accompanying video included clips of shows like Braveheart, Top Gun: Maverick, and Better Call Saul.
Stiller shared the video with his own comment, which began: “Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine.”
The 60-year-old, who stars as the lead character Tugg Speedman in the comedy, added succinctly: “War is not a movie.”
Stiller also took to the comments of his post to respond to dissenting fans. In one case, he responded to an X user who called him out for “getting upset over one second of footage […] we know that war is not a movie, but yet we keep making movies about war.”
Stiller retaliated simply that movies are made about war, “Usually to protest war.”
The 2008 movie, which also stars Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr., follows a group of actors who believe they’re in a war movie who go on to accidentally become soldiers. The film was a box office success. Downey was nominated for an Oscar in the ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role’ category.
The video shared by the White House pertains to the efforts of the United States and Israel, which continue to shower Iran with bombs that have already resulted in over 1,000 deaths.
Trump, who had not sought approval from Congress, claimed with the news of the new initiative, “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
In response, the Iranian regime launched retaliatory attacks across Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.