Billionaire and Donald Trump supporter Dan Snyder helped pay for a Donald Trump movie, but is now furious after realizing the film isn’t exactly flattering to Trump, according to a new report from Variety.
“The Apprentice,” directed by Ali Abbasi, makes its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. Starring Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, the film follows Trump’s early years in business in the 1970s and ’80s, according to IMDB.
Sources told Variety that Snyder — a major GOP donor and former owner of the Washington Redskins — invested money in the new film through a film company called Kinematics, thinking the biopic would be favorable to the former president.
But Snyder was furious with the film’s portrayal of Trump when he first saw a cut of the film in February, sources told Variety.
Although little is known about the film and few people have seen it before its Cannes premiere, Variety cited an insider who said the current edit features a scene in which Stan’s Trump becomes violent with his ex-wife, Ivana Trump.
Ivana Trump accused Trump of rape during a divorce filing in 1989, but later walked back her accusation in 2015.
After Snyder previewed the film, Kinematics’ lawyers launched an intense legal battle with the filmmakers to prevent its release, Variety reported.
However, Kinematics president Emanuel Nuñez told Variety that Snyder was not involved in the creative differences surrounding the film and that everything “creative and commercial decisions” regarding the film are “only achieved by kinematics.
Regardless, Kinematics does not have the power to stop the film’s release because it does not own the copyright, Variety reported.
Representatives for Snyder, Kinematics and Ali Abbasi did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Other investors in the film include the governments of Canada, Ireland and Denmark, according to Variety.
Trump has yet to comment on the film.
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