Trump campaign donor ‘blocking biopic release’

A major Donald Trump donor has been accused of using “catch and kill” tactics to block the release of a controversial film about the former president.

The Apprentice, a biopic about Trump’s years as a New York real estate mogul, made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May but has yet to be distributed in the United States.

The delay stems from Kinematics, a production company and one of the financial backers of the film, according to sources cited by The Washington Post.

Kinematics is largely funded by Daniel Snyder, the billionaire ex-owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, who donated $1.1 million (£870,000) to Trump’s 2016 presidential inaugural committee and Victory Fund, as well as $100,000 (£80,000) to his 2020 re-election campaign.

After a number of Hollywood studios declined to distribute The Apprentice, the Post reported that the film has finally secured an interested American partner, Briarcliff, an independent distributor.

Yet the deal has stalled because Mr Snyder does not like the film, according to the paper’s sources.

Ali Abbasi, director of The Apprentice, said: “The lesson is that if you are going to criticise a powerful person, you’d better have another powerful person who will protect you.

“Why is it that we’re not even given the chance to present this to the public so that they can decide?”

Efforts by the other producers to buy Kinematics out of its position have so far been unsuccessful and sources claim that Mr Snyder, 59, is holding up any deal.

One source told the paper that the delay “has all the makings of a catch and kill,” likening it to the media practice of buying a story to prevent its publication.

In May, Hollywood newspaper Variety reported that Mr Snyder, who is a friend of Trump, first saw a cut of the film in February and was said to be furious.

The Apprentice, which was praised by critics at Cannes, depicts Trump’s early years, when he was mentored by political fixer Roy Cohn, and his marriage to his first wife, Ivana.

Its most shocking moment depicts Trump raping Ivana during an argument.

According to the 1993 book “Lost Tycoon,” Ivana made the rape accusation in a 1990 sworn divorce court statement but later clarified her earlier words, noting that she did not mean them in “a literal or criminal sense.”

She added: “As a woman, I felt violated.”

Trump has denied the allegation. Ivana died in 2022.

The controversy surrounding the rape scene has been cited as one reason the film was swerved by major distributors such as Apple, Amazon, Disney and Netflix.

However, The Washington Post cites another anonymous source, close to Kinematics, who claims the delay is actually for financial reasons, rather than an opinion Mr Snyder may hold about the film.

“The film isn’t being held up by Kinematics, it’s being held up by economics,” says the source, who suggested the offer from Briarcliff might not be good enough to guarantee a profit.

“It’s being held up by Hollywood’s fear of angering Trump.”

Had offers been more abundant, the film would have a deal already, the source added.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-apprentice-review-sebastian-stan-jeremy-strong/