Ben Stiller Slams Trump Administration For Including His Film In 'Propaganda' Clip
Ben Stiller has slammed the Donald Trump administration for using footage from one of his films in what he described as the US leader’s “propaganda machine”.
Last week, the official White House TikTok page shared a provocative montage titled “justice the American way”, which included short clips of hit movies like Iron Man, Top Gun, Braveheart and Gladiator.
The clip also included shots from Tropic Thunder, a satirical action comedy that Ben starred in alongside Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black and Tom Cruise almost 20 years ago.
Reacting to the clip on Friday night, the Severance director wrote 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 Emmy winner added.
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. https://t.co/dMQqRxxVCa
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) March 6, 2026
Ben is far from the only public figure upset by the White House’s social media output in recent history.
Just last week, the Grammy-nominated musician Kesha fired back at the Trump administration over a similar video using one of her songs.
“It’s come to my attention that The White House has used one of my songs on TikTok to incite violence and threaten war,” she told her followers.
“Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane. I absolutely do not approve of my music being used to promote violence of any kind.”
Steven Cheung, the White House’s director of communications, wrote back on his own X account: “All these ‘singers’ keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they’re bitching about.”
Days earlier, Radiohead had taken issue with the White House after ICE agents used a choral cover of the group’s song Let Down in a social media video.
Last year, Sabrina Carpenter was also upset to find her music being used in social media posts by the administration, firing back: “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”