“The Apprentice,” a new biopic about former President Trump’s rise in the real estate industry, did not clinch any awards at the Cannes Film Festival over the weekend.
The biopic is directed by Iranian Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi and stars actor Sebastian Stan playing the then-New York real estate developer Trump and Jeremy Strong as Trump’s real-life former attorney and mentor Roy Cohn. The movie reportedly received an eight-minute standing ovation after it premiered at the festival.
The film failed to take home any awards, with the top prize going to “Anora,” a romantic drama set in New York. Filmmaker Sean Baker became the first American to win the top award, the Palme d’Or, since 2011 with that film.
Some reports about “The Apprentice” said it depicted Trump’s relationships with Cohn and his first wife, Ivana, in a negative light. An attorney for the former president sent a cease-and-desist letter to the filmmakers behind the movie on Friday, alleging that the film is “a concoction of lies that repeatedly defames” Trump.
“If you do not immediately cease and desist all distribution and marketing of this libelous farce, we will be forced to pursue all appropriate legal remedies,” the letter stated.
The move comes after Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung warned last week that the campaign would sue those behind “The Apprentice” film, alleging that it has “blatantly false assertions.”
Read the full story from The Hill newspaper
