Trump campaign calls ‘The Apprentice’ ‘blatantly false,’ director offers to screen it for him

But director Ali Abbasi is offering to privately screen the film for Trump. Following its premiere Monday in Cannes, Steven Cheung, Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement that the Trump team will file a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers. This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked, Cheung said. Sebastian Stan, from left, director Ali Abbasi, and Maria Bakalova pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film The Apprentice at the 77th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 20, 2024. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP) The Apprentice stars Sebastian Stan as Trump. The central relationship of the movie is between Trump and Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who was chief counsel to Joseph McCarthys 1950s Senate investigations of suspected communists. Asked about the Trump campaigns statement Tuesday in Cannes, Abbasi told reporters Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people they dont talk about his success rate though, you know? But the Iranian Danish director also struck a less combative tone as he discussed the film at its festival press conference. He offered to screen The Apprentice for Trump and talk it over. I dont necessarily think that this is a movie he would dislike, said Abbasi. I dont necessarily think he would like it. I think he would be surprised, you know? And like Ive said before, I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if thats interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign. In the film, Cohn is depicted as a longtime mentor to Trump, coaching him in the ruthlessness of New York City politics and business. Early on, Cohn aided the Trump Organization when it was being sued by the federal government for racial discrimination in housing. The Apprentice, which is labeled as inspired by true events, portrays Trumps dealings with Cohn as a Faustian bargain that guided his rise as a businessman and, later, as a politician. Stans Trump is initially a more naive real estate striver, soon transformed by Cohns education. The film notably contains a scene depicting Trump raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova ). In Ivana Trumps 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Trump raped her. Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didnt mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated. That scene and others make The Apprentice a potentially explosive bigscreen drama in the midst of the U.S. presidential election. The film is for sale in Cannes, so it doesnt yet have a release date. Gabriel Sherman, Maria Bakalova, director Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Stan, and Martin Donovan pose in Cannes. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP) Maria Bakalova and director Ali Abbasi pose in Cannes. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP) After the premiere, Abbasi addressed the Cannes audience, saying there is no nice metaphorical way to deal with the rising wave of fascism. The good people have been quiet for too long, he said. So I think its time to make movies relevant. Its time to make movies political again. Listing wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, Abbasi, whose previous film " Holy Spider " depicted a serial killer murdering women in Iran, warned of trouble ahead. In the time of turmoil, theres this tendency to look inwards, to bury your head deep in the sand, look inside and hope for the best hope for the best, hope for the storm to get away, Abbasi said. But the storm is not going to get away. The storm is coming.