Trump Didn’t Bother Telling Mel Gibson About His New Job

Actor Mel Gibson attends the Los Angeles Special Preview Screening of
Amanda Edwards / Amanda Edwards/Getty Images

Mel Gibson is just as surprised as you are.

The controversial Hollywood star apparently found out about his new diplomatic posting at the same time as the rest of the world when President-elect Donald Trump announced he would be appointing actors Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Gibson as his “special ambassadors” to Hollywood.

In true Trump fashion, he said the new roles were part of his effort to the American film industry “bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”

In a statement to Variety, however, Gibson disclosed that he had no idea he would be tasked with saving Hollywood until Trump’s public announcement.

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“I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised. Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can,” shared the Braveheart star, who lost his $14.5 million Malibu mansion in the Palisades fire. “Any chance the position comes with an Ambassador’s residence?”

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets actor Sylvester Stallone onstage at the America First Policy Institute Gala held at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. / Joe Raedle/Getty Images
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets actor Sylvester Stallone onstage at the America First Policy Institute Gala held at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. / Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Trump announced the new roles in a Truth Social post Thursday, writing: “It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.

“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood,” he concluded.

Stallone, Gibson and Voight have all publicly endorsed Trump over recent years.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) presents actor Jon Voight with the National Medal of Arts during a ceremony in the East Room of the Whit House on November 21, 2019 in Washington, DC. / Mark Wilson / Mark Wilson/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) presents actor Jon Voight with the National Medal of Arts during a ceremony in the East Room of the Whit House on November 21, 2019 in Washington, DC. / Mark Wilson / Mark Wilson/Getty Images

At a Mar-a-Lago gala in November, Stallone introduced Trump on stage by likening him to George Washington and describing him as a “mythical character.”

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“We are in the presence of a really mythical character. I love mythology,” Stallone said at the time. “Nobody in the world could’ve pulled off what he pulled off. So I’m in awe.”

“I’ll just say this—and I mean it,” he continued. “When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. Because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like. Guess what? We got the second George Washington. Congratulations!”

Voight has also similarly praised Trump by likening him to a legendary former U.S. president. In 2019, the Oscar-winning actor (and Angelina Jolie’s father) claimed Trump was “the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln” in a slew of videos posted to what was then Twitter. That same year, Trump awarded Voight, one of his longest supporters, with a National Medal of Arts.

Meanwhile, Gibson made his intention to vote for Trump during the 2024 presidential election abundantly clear, telling TMZ that Vice President Kamala Harris had the “IQ of a fence post.”