Ali Abbasi isn’t taking Donald Trump’s criticisms of his movie “The Apprentice” lying down. The director posted a screenshot of the former President’s Truth Social post about the movie on his own X account and assured Trump that he would be available to chat over the phone.
In the original post, Trump called “The Apprentice” “A FAKE and CLASSLESS Movie” as well as a “cheap, defamatory and politically disgusting hatchet job.” Trump also questioned whether Abbasi and the production had the right to use the name “The Apprentice” and noted that he hopes it will “bomb.”
“My former wife, Ivana, was a kind and wonderful person, and I had a great relationship with her until the day she died,” Trump continued. “So sad that HUMAN SCUM, like the people involved in this hopefully unsuccessful enterprise, are allowed to say and do whatever they want to hurt a Political Movement, which is far bigger than any of us.”
On Monday, Abbasi responded to Trump’s comments on X. “Thanks for getting back to us,” Abbasi wrote, tagging Trump. Then he cheekily added, “I am available to talk further if you want. Today is a tight day w a lot of press for #TheApprentice but i might be able to give you a call tomorrow.”
This is fare from the first time Trump and his team have butted heads with “The Apprentice” movie. Back in May, Trump threatened legal action over the film. At the time the chief spokesman for the Trump campaign, Steven Cheung, told TheWrap they will “be filing a lawsuit.” And as late as June, the movie struggled to find theatrical distribution in the U.S. for fear of retaliation by Trump. Briarcliff Entertainment eventually bough the rights to the movie, which is premiered theatrically on Oct. 11.
Starring Sebastian Stan as Trump, the movie zooms in on Trump’s relationship with lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) in the 1970s and 1980s. The movie has received generally positive reviews and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
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