Trump campaign threatens to sue over 'garbage' biopic 'The Apprentice,' director responds

The Trump campaign issued a fiery response to the buzzy biopic "The Apprentice," which debuted at Cannes, but the director of the film isn't fazed.

Following the Cannes Film Festival premiere of the movie "The Apprentice" on Monday, a spokesperson for the 45th president's campaign declared its intention to sue the filmmakers in a statement issued to multiple outlets.

"We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers," Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, told Variety and Deadline. "This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked."

Cheung added that the movie is "pure malicious defamation" and "should not see the light of day."

USA TODAY has reached out to the Trump campaign and to representatives for "The Apprentice" director Ali Abbasi and screenwriter Gabriel Sherman for comment.

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Sebastian Stan stars in "The Apprentice" as Donald Trump, while Jeremy Strong plays Roy Cohn and Maria Bakalova plays Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump. The film includes a scene where Trump rapes Ivana Trump, according to The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Ivana Trump once accused Donald Trump of rape during a divorce deposition but later walked her comments back. According to The Daily Beast, she said in a statement included in the 1993 book "Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump" that in 1989, "Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage. As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a 'rape,' but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense."

On Tuesday, the director of "The Apprentice" shrugged off the Trump campaign's lawsuit threat during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival.

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"Everybody talks about (Trump) suing a lot of people," director Ali Abbasi said. "They don't talk about his success rate, though."

Abbasi went on to say he understands why the former president might assume the movie is "demeaning" and a "conspiracy" but that he should watch it for himself.

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"I don't necessarily think that this is a movie that he would dislike," the filmmaker said. "I don't necessarily think he would like it. I think he would be surprised. ... 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."

He added, "Donald's team should wait (until) they watch the movie before they start suing us."

During the press conference, Abbasi also said the film was motivated by a "humanist ideology," and he intended to evoke "understanding" and "sympathy" for people "who are icons, who are hated (and) loved."

No release date for "The Apprentice" has been announced, but Abbasi jokingly described the November presidential election as a "promotional event" that will "help us with the movie," adding that he hopes it will come out around the time of Trump's September debate with President Joe Biden.

Though Strong did not attend the Cannes press conference, Abbasi read a statement from the "Succession" actor describing "The Apprentice" as a "monster movie."

"Obviously, we are completely non-partisan, so that's Jeremy's own soul," the director added to laughs.