A bombastic White House video that’s seemingly designed to promote the Trump administration’s war in Iran and featuring clips from several major Hollywood films is causing an uproar on social media — and at least one celebrity is speaking out.
The manic supercut video (below) features clips from movies and TV shows like Gladiator, Braveheart, Iron Man, Breaking Bad, Deadpool and Top Gun, and intercuts them with real-life drone strike footage. The video concludes with a voiceover declaring “flawless victory.”
Ben Stiller, whose 2008 hit Tropic Thunder is included in the montage, posted on X: “Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie.”
The video almost seems designed to intentionally try and get a rise out of Hollywood, anyone who might not agree with President Trump’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury against Iran’s leadership and military, and those who might prefer the White House maintain some standard of respectfulness.
Journalist Séamus Malekafzali wrote, “I don’t think a more embarrassing and humiliating thing has ever been produced before by any government in human history. I somehow might be underselling it.” ABC Saturday Extra host Nick Bryant posted, “Are there any grown ups in the White House? Is there any understanding of the seriousness and horror of war? This is frat house not White House.” The popular satirical Evan Loves Worf account quipped, “This is the most ‘everyone is 12’ shit I’ve ever seen.” Meanwhile, podcaster Vince Mancini made an Iraq War comparison: “Why bother putting Colin Powell in front of congress as a justification when you can just slap together a shitty supercut of old movies?”
The celebration of aerial strike footage seems particularly in poor taste given that yesterday Reuters reported that U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls’ school that killed scores of children on Saturday.
This marks the most recent example of celebrities asking the Trump White House to not use their material. In December, Sabrina Carpenter asked the White House to remove her song “Juno” from a video promoting ICE deportations. The month before, Olivia Rodrigo asked for her song “All-American Bitch” to be removed for a similar deportations video. Previously, Kenny Loggins asked for his Top Gun hit “Danger Zone” to be removed from an October video showing a fighter jet attacking protesters.