Dinesh D’Souza attends the premiere of his film, “Death of a Nation,” at E Street Cinema on August 1, 2018 in Washington, DC.
Shannon Finney | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Conservative gadfly Dinesh D’Souza’s film and book “2000 Mules,” which promote false conspiracies about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, have been pulled from distribution by its executive producer and publisher, according to a press release published Friday.
Salem Media GroupThe announcement of the removal of D’Souza’s film and book also apologized to Mark Andrews, a Georgian falsely accused in “2000 Mules” of ballot stuffing.
Andrews filed a federal defamation lawsuit in late 2022 against D’Souza’s company and the nonprofit advocacy group True The Vote, which contributed to the “2000 Mules” project.
D’Souza and True The Vote did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on Salem Media’s decision to remove “2000 Mules.”
Salem Media released the film in 2022.
The company claimed at the time that “2000 Mules” was “the most successful political documentary in a decade” and that it had grossed $10 million in its first weeks of release.
The film quickly became part of a media canon produced by far-right figures aimed at discrediting the results of the 2020 presidential election, won by President Joe Biden.
Former President Donald Trump, who lost to Biden, embraced “2000 Mules,” screening the film at his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago.
But since then, the claims in the film and book, published by Regnery Publishing, a subsidiary of Salem Media, have been consistently denied by journalists and law enforcement officials.
Late last year, True the Vote lawyers admitted in a Georgia court that they could produce no documents to support allegations of ballot stuffing in that state’s 2020 presidential election , which Biden won. »
“2000 Mules” shows Andrews placing five ballots in a box, as D’Souza says in voiceover: “What you’re seeing is a crime. These are fraudulent votes.”
Andrews’ case is pending in court.
The suit seeks unspecified damages, royalties for use of his name and likeness, and a court order requiring D’Souza, Salem Media, True the Vote and others to remove their statements on Andrews.
In its Friday statement announcing it would stop distributing the film and book, Salem Media said, “It was never our intention that the release of the 2000 Mules film and book would harm Mr. Andrews.”
“We apologize for the harm caused to Mr. Andrews and his family by the inclusion of Mr. Andrews’ image in the film, book and promotional materials,” the statement said. “
“We have removed the film from Salem platforms, and there will be no future distribution of the Salem film or book.”
“In releasing the film and book, we have relied on the statements of Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote, Inc….that the individuals depicted in the videos provided to us by TTV, including M Andrews, have illegally cast ballots,” Salem Media said.
Salem Media sold Regnery Publishing, the brand behind the book “2000 Mules,” in late 2023.
The conservative publisher was acquired by Skyhorse Publishing, an independent publisher that has published the works of a wide range of controversial authors, including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Last year, Fox Corp. paid $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle an unrelated defamation lawsuit based on Fox News’ claims about the 2020 election.
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