Trump names Gibson, Stallone and Voight ambassadors to Hollywood

United States President-elect Donald Trump has appointed three movie stars as special ambassadors to promote business opportunities in Hollywood.

“It is my honor to announce that Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone will be special ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“They will serve as my special envoys in an effort to bring Hollywood, which has lost a lot of business over the past four years to foreign countries, BACK – BIGGER, BETTER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”

All three famous personalities have recently been associated with Trump and his election campaign. It is not clear what their roles will be.

In a statement, Gibson, 69, said he received the news “at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised.”

“Nevertheless, I answer the call. My duty as a citizen is to give, to help and to give the ideas that I can.”

Gibson, who recently lost his home in the Los Angeles wildfires, added: “Is there any chance the position will come with an ambassadorial residency?”

The Braveheart and Mad Max star publicly supported Trump in a video posted shortly before the November election. He also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, who was Trump’s Democratic rival in the presidential race.

Stallone, 78, best known for playing the title character in the Rocky franchise, introduced Trump at Mar-a-Lago for his post-election victory speech.

He compared the president-elect to America’s first leader, calling him “the second George Washington.”

“Without him, can you imagine what the world would be like? he said.

He added that Washington – who was president from 1789 to 1797 – did not realize he would change the world by defending his country.

Voight, 86, who starred in Midnight Cowboy and Pearl Harbor, is a longtime Trump supporter and has called him the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.

The last few years have been difficult for Hollywood with the Covid pandemic, multiple strikes and competition from streaming services.

Lucas Shaw, a longtime Hollywood analyst, doesn’t believe the new envoys can do much to help the struggling industry.

“He (Trump) sees them as allies, and he can use them to talk about change in Hollywood, but I don’t imagine that John Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson will try to find a way to restore balance.” , he said.

Trump’s relationship with Hollywood has been fraught with tension and controversy.

The entertainment industry is partly responsible for Trump’s return to prominence with his reality show, The Apprentice, because it has reinforced his image as a savvy businessman, Mr Shaw told the BBC .

Trump’s arrival in the White House changed the dynamic, putting him at odds with the politics of much of the industry.

“Hollywood tends to donate to and support Democrats more than Republicans, which allows it to criticize effectively,” Mr. Shaw said.

It’s also easy to “portray like these rich, fat cats who don’t have your best interests in mind.”

In August 2019, during his first term, Trump criticized the film industry as “racist” and accused it of creating “very dangerous” films.

His comments stem from controversy preceding the release of the film The Hunt, an action-horror about a group of elites who hunt people for sport.

Speaking outside the White House, he said Hollywood was doing “a great disservice to the country” by producing content that incites violence and division.

The following year, Trump took aim at the Oscars for selecting the South Korean film Parasite as best picture.

He questioned how a foreign film could win the top honor and suggested it didn’t deserve it.

Trump’s stance on immigration, climate change and social justice has drawn harsh criticism from major celebrities, and he has faced the ire of stars like Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro.

Some of his policies have also targeted Hollywood, including aiming to end tax breaks for film production in some states.

The announcement of his special ambassadors for Hollywood comes just four days before his inauguration in Washington DC on January 20.

Los Angeles – the heart of the entertainment industry – is currently struggling to contain deadly wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and buildings and left many businesses struggling to get back on their feet.

Damage is estimated at around $250 billion (£204 billion).