Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed three film stars to be special ambassadors tasked with promoting business opportunities in Hollywood, media reports said.
“It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, the BBC reported on Friday.
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”
All three celebrity figures have recently been associated with Trump and his election campaign. It is unclear what their roles will involve, a BBC report said.
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 heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give and help and insight I can.”
Mel Gibson, Jeff Bridges and other LA celebrities lose homes to wildfires.
Stallone, 78, best known for playing the titular character in the Rocky franchise, introduced Trump at Mar-a-Lago for his post-election victory speech, the report said.
He compared the president-elect to America’s first leader, calling him the “second George Washington”.
According to reports, Voight, 86, who starred in Midnight Cowboy and Pearl Harbor, is a long-time supporter of Trump and has called him the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.
It’s been a difficult few years for Hollywood with the Covid pandemic, multiple labour strikes, and competition with streaming services.
Trump’s relationship with Hollywood has been fraught with tension and controversy. Trump’s ascent to the White House changed the dynamic, putting him at odds with the politics of much of the industry, the report said.
Speaking outside the White House, he said that Hollywood was doing a “tremendous disservice to the country” by producing content that incites violence and division.
The following year, Trump took aim at the Academy Awards for selecting South Korean film Parasite as best picture.
Some of his policies have also targeted Hollywood, including a push to end tax breaks for film production in certain states.
According to media reports, the announcement of his special ambassadors for Hollywood comes just four days before his inauguration in Washington DC on 20 January.
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 recover.
Damages are estimated at approximately $250bn (£204bn).
