A producer for the documentary about Melania Trump has named three artists whose music the first lady wanted to include in the film, but was denied.
Marc Beckman, Trump’s manager and the CEO of New York advertising agency DMA United, claimed that he was unable to get permission from Guns N’ Roses, Grace Jones, and Prince’s estate for their music. The reason, he said, was political.
“For example, the guys from Guns N’ Roses split down the middle politically. There was a beautiful song we wanted to use, and one of the guys — I don’t want to name, it’s not fair —said, ‘You got it. Go.’ And the other one was basically like, ‘There’s just no way.’ We needed everybody’s approval to get it in the film. So Guns N’ Roses was definitely a disappointment for us; we all have a lot of respect for Guns N’ Roses.“
Jones, whom Beckman said he also respected greatly, “apparently couldn’t get over the political hurdle” either.
“It’s disappointing when people put politics so far ahead, and that happened a little bit with the film, for sure,” he said.
Prince’s estate also denied use of his music.
“Literally we were ready to go, and this lawyer that manages the estate was like, ‘Prince would never want his song associated with Donald Trump.’ And we’re like, ‘But it’s not a Donald Trump film! He comes into the movie once in a while, but this is all about Melania. It’s not political,’” Beckman claimed. “And that guy blocked it. It’s so ridiculous.