Donald Trump Vows to Help ‘Troubled’ Hollywood with Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone

This combination of pictures created on January 16, 2025 shows US actor Jon Voight in Hollywood, California, August 20, 2024, US actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson in Los Angeles on September 24, 2024, and US actor Sylvester Stallone in New York City on November 9, 2022. (AFP)
This combination of pictures created on January 16, 2025 shows US actor Jon Voight in Hollywood, California, August 20, 2024, US actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson in Los Angeles on September 24, 2024, and US actor Sylvester Stallone in New York City on November 9, 2022. (AFP)
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Donald Trump Vows to Help ‘Troubled’ Hollywood with Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone

This combination of pictures created on January 16, 2025 shows US actor Jon Voight in Hollywood, California, August 20, 2024, US actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson in Los Angeles on September 24, 2024, and US actor Sylvester Stallone in New York City on November 9, 2022. (AFP)
This combination of pictures created on January 16, 2025 shows US actor Jon Voight in Hollywood, California, August 20, 2024, US actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson in Los Angeles on September 24, 2024, and US actor Sylvester Stallone in New York City on November 9, 2022. (AFP)

Donald Trump wants to make Hollywood "bigger, better and stronger" and has cast Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as stars of what he is calling his "Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California."

On Wednesday, the President-elect announced on his social media site that the three actors would be his eyes and ears to the moviemaking town.

"It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!" he wrote on Truth Social.

He also called the trio special envoys. Special ambassadors and envoys are typically chosen to respond to troubled hot spots like the Middle East, not California.

Gibson said in a statement that he got 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 any help and insight I can."

Gibson, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, added, "Any chance the position comes with an Ambassador’s residence?"

US film and television production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 and, in the past week, the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Overall production in the US was down 26% from 2021, according to data from ProdPro.

In the greater Los Angeles area, productions were down 5.6% from 2023 according to FilmLA, the lowest since 2020. This past October, Governor Gavin Newsom proposed expanding California’s Film & Television Tax Credit program to $750 million annually (up from $330 million). Other US cities like Atlanta, New York, Chicago and San Francisco have used tax incentives to lure film and TV productions to their cities. Actor Mark Wahlberg is even making plans for a Las Vegas production hub.

"I’m old enough to have touched some years of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and I’ve seen its slow deterioration since. Today, we are in pretty bad shape," Voight said. "Very few films are made here now, but we are fortunate to have an incoming President, who wants to restore Hollywood to its former glory, and with his help, I feel we can get done."

It’s unclear what exactly Gibson, Voight and Stallone will be doing in this effort to bring productions back to the US Representatives for Stallone did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Trump’s decision to select the actors as his chosen "ambassadors" underscores his preoccupations with the 1980s and '90s, when he was a rising tabloid star in New York, and Gibson and Stallone were among the biggest movie stars in the world.

Stallone is a frequent guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and introduced him at a gala in November shortly after the election.

"When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. Because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like," Stallone told the crowd. "Guess what? We got the second George Washington. Congratulations!"

The decision also reflects Trump’s willingness to overlook his supporters’ most controversial statements.

Gibson’s reputation has been altered in Hollywood since 2006, when he went on an antisemitic rant while being arrested for allegedly driving under the influence. But he’s also continued to work in mainstream movies and directed the upcoming Wahlberg thriller "Flight Risk."

Voight is a longtime Trump supporter who has called Trump the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.



Australia Says it Cancelled Kanye West's Visa over 'Heil Hitler' Song

FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020.  REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020. REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo
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Australia Says it Cancelled Kanye West's Visa over 'Heil Hitler' Song

FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020.  REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020. REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo

Kanye West, also known as Ye, has had his Australian visa cancelled after he released “Heil Hitler”, a song promoting Nazism, the country’s home affairs minister said on Wednesday.

The US rapper released the song that praised the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler across social media and music streaming platforms in May this year.

The song came a few months after West made a string of antisemitic posts on X, which included comments such as "I love Hitler" and "I'm a Nazi".

According to Reuters, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said that while previous offensive comments made by West had not affected his visa status, officials “looked at it again” after the song’s release.

“It was a lower level (visa) and the officials still looked at the law and said you're going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don't need that in Australia," he told national broadcaster ABC on Wednesday.

"We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry."

Burke added that West had family in Australia and had been a longtime visitor prior to the visa cancellation. The singer married his wife Bianca Censori, an Australian architect, in December 2022.

Burke's office declined to comment on the exact date of the visa cancellation. West's management did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside U.S. business hours.

In October 2024, US conservative influencer Candace Owens was also barred from entry into Australia. Burke said “Australia's national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else”.