The film’s director Ali Abbasi hit back at Trump’s brutal assessment of his film during an interview with LBC. The director was not hesitant in taking a few digs while responding to Trump’s outburst. Trump criticized the film The Apprentice, which depicts the story of his early years as a young businessman and not the former President of the United States. He termed the film as “fake” and “classless” in a post on the Truth social platform at midnight on 14 October.
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Ali Abbasi hits back at Trump
The former president criticized the film as he called it a “pile of garbage”, “filth” and a “cheap, defamatory and politically disgusting piece of work” in his recent post. Abbasi responded to Trump in an interview on LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr show.
He hit back, claiming that it was interesting that his film was being considered a flop when “the movie’s weekly ratings are higher than all the people who went to Trump’s rallies this week.”
In the film, Trump’s former lawyer, Roy Cohn, who worked as an advisor to him in his early days, mentioned that there are three things you need to do to achieve success in life—attack, attack, attack—anything. Don’t accept, deny everything – and always claim victory. Referring to this scene, Abbasi indicated that Trump is still following this advice.
The director said, “It’s part of denying everything, accepting nothing. The first part, ‘You’re a badass, blah, blah, blah’ was attack, attack…this is the third rule [of Roy Cohn] Now playing. No matter how vicious you are, always claim victory,” as reported by Daily Express US.
Speaking to host Amar, Abasi felt that the former president “got under his skin” and that he should be grateful to the film crew who spent six years “trying to understand him on a human level”.
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Trump promoted the film more than anyone
Abbasi revealed that his initial reaction to Trump’s post was, “I wish I could retain him for my marketing team, but I know he’s busy.” The film had a weak opening, earning just over $1.5 million and finishing tenth at the box office. Office, as reported by Forbes.
However, the film received praise from critics as it received a 78% score and 86% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The man behind Best Picture winner Spotlight, Tom Ortenberg, who also heads Briarcliff, believed the film would continue to be a hit. The opening weekend will not decide the fate of the film yet, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
The director insisted on the show that he was willing to meet the presidential candidate anytime and anywhere, and offered to talk to him and explain whatever he wanted to know regarding the film. He also revealed how he thought it was Cohn who taught Trump the art of “crafting reality as you see fit for your own purpose”, “and he was very good at it.”
He further said that he believed Cohn was a “PR genius” because “he was one of the few people who understood that when you want to talk to people, you have to talk at their level, in their language.” It has to be done, not like this.” At that time there was a heated discussion going on in the media…”
Netizens react to The Apprentice controversy
Netizens were divided on the film following Abbasi’s response to Trump as some believed that the film was propaganda while others felt that parts of the film must be true given Trump’s reaction to the film. “Makes me want to buy a ticket even if I don’t go to see it in the theater,” wrote one user on X. “It would have to be a true unfair account of Donald Trump to trigger this reaction,” another user wrote. He gets angry only when the truth is revealed. A third user wrote, “All they have to do is turn their post into a billboard and the marketing of this film is complete.”
Others who considered the film propaganda wrote, “Definitely, this is another attempt to stop the movement. The Democrats are doing everything possible to harm President Trump. It will not succeed, that is certain.” Another user wrote, “We all know this was a disgusting act. We’ve got your support, Mr. President.”
