Ben Stiller Criticizes White House for Using ‘Tropic Thunder’ to Promote War

Ben Stiller Demands White House Remove ‘Tropic Thunder’ Clip from Promotional Video

Acclaimed director and actor Ben Stiller publicly criticized the White House for using footage from his 2007 film “Tropic Thunder” without permission in an official promotional video shared on X (formerly Twitter).

“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,” Stiller wrote on the social media platform. The 60-year-old filmmaker pointedly added, “War is not a movie.”

The controversy centers around a 42-second video posted Friday by the official White House X account with the caption “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY. 🇺🇸🔥” The video, which has garnered over 26 million views, features a compilation of unclassified footage showing missile firings in Iran interspersed with clips from various Hollywood productions.

Among these clips was a brief one-second segment from “Tropic Thunder” showing Tom Cruise’s character Les Grossman dancing during the film’s credits. While Stiller directed, wrote, and starred in the film, the copyright is held by Paramount Pictures, which is owned by David Ellison, a known Trump supporter who recently attended the president’s State of the Union address. Ellison is currently seeking regulatory approval for his proposed $111 billion merger between his company and Warner Bros. Discovery.

The White House video also incorporated footage from other major Hollywood productions including “Gladiator,” “Braveheart,” “Transformers,” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” raising questions about potential copyright infringements across multiple studios.

This marks the second high-profile dispute this week between the White House social media team and entertainment figures. On Monday, pop star Kesha publicly condemned the administration for using her song “Lethality” in a TikTok video that featured military imagery, including a fighter jet destroying a ship with a missile.

“Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane. I absolutely do NOT approve of my music being used to promote violence of any kind. Love always trumps hate,” the 39-year-old Grammy-nominated singer stated on X.

The White House communications team appeared dismissive of these complaints. Communications director Steven Cheung responded to Kesha’s post by suggesting that such objections actually benefit their messaging: “All these ‘singers’ keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they’re bitching about.”

Kesha quickly fired back with a direct message: “Stop using my music, perverts @WhiteHouse.”

These incidents highlight the increasingly contentious relationship between the entertainment industry and the current administration, as well as the complex issues surrounding intellectual property rights in political messaging. The unauthorized use of copyrighted content raises legal questions about fair use in political contexts and the rights of creators to control how their work is presented.

The practice of incorporating popular culture into political messaging has become increasingly common in the digital age, but these recent disputes demonstrate the potential backlash when content creators feel their work is being misappropriated or used to promote messages they don’t support.

Neither the White House nor Paramount Pictures has publicly responded to Stiller’s demand for removal of the “Tropic Thunder” clip as of this reporting. Media analysts note that such unauthorized use of copyrighted material could potentially lead to formal legal action if not addressed.