A legal expert said Donald Trump faces an "uphill battle" if he files a lawsuit against the people behind the new biopic about the former president—but not an impossible one.
The Apprentice, which premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, follows a young Donald Trump's rise to power in America, focusing on when he was a real estate mogul in New York. Starring Sebastian Stan as Trump, it depicts his early years under the mentorship of lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong. It also portrays his relationship with his first wife, Ivana Trump (Maria Bakalova), and features his father, Fred Trump (Martin Donovan).
In one scene, The Apprentice depicts Donald Trump raping Ivana Trump during an argument, The Washington Post reported. In her 1990 divorce deposition, his ex-wife alleged she was sexually assaulted by Trump, but she disavowed the allegation in 2015, when Donald Trump was running for president.
In response, Trump's campaign communications director, Steven Cheung, told Newsweek that Trump and his team plan on filing a lawsuit against the people behind the film to "address the blatantly false assertions." Speaking to Newsweek, Ethan Krasnoo, a partner at Reavis Page Jump LLP, said Trump has a basis for a defamation claim if the filmmakers have "made misrepresentations of the truth."
"Filmmakers generally have lots of wiggle room legally speaking to depict a real-life celebrity in their movies ... If the movie opens with a disclaimer that some events are fictionalized it could potentially provide some protection, but may not have much impact here where the filmmakers have made it clear that the film is about Donald Trump," he explained.
"A reasonable person is going to presume that the depictions of him in the movie are truthful, which could give rise to a claim for defamation if Trump alleges that they are in fact false. The public is going to interpret the film and main character to be that of Donald Trump, as named, which could make the filmmakers liable if they defame him."
That being said, Krasnoo, who practices in a variety of areas, including commercial litigation, intellectual property and entertainment and media, said a defamation case could be more difficult than Trump may think.
He stated that in order to bring a defamation claim in court, Trump must demonstrate the filmmakers acted with "actual malice" by purposefully misrepresenting facts about him.
Krasnoo continued: "Some courts have made clear that publishing a fictitious work about a real person is insufficient to show that the filmmakers have acted with actual malice, and so, under such reasoning, Trump will be required to show that the filmmakers intended to convey a false or defamatory impression of him, which may be a daunting task.
"If Trump succeeds in doing so, he will also have to show what damages resulted from the depiction, separate and apart from everything else in the public eye that could or has caused him damage, such as the facts alleged in numerous civil and criminal lawsuits against him. In all, Trump has an uphill battle, but not an impossible one."
Elsewhere in Trump's statement, Cheung said the movie is "election interference by Hollywood elites." He claims that the filmmakers are trying to negatively impact Trump because they "know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice."
However, Krasnoo said there doesn't appear to be a basis for Trump and his team to allege that a private filmmaker's depiction of the former president constitutes election interference.
"Typically, election interference includes efforts to change an election through fraud, such as buying or changing votes, voting twice, replacing votes, or foreign governments attempting to influence an election," Krasnoo said. "There does not appear to be support here that the film constitutes 'election interference.'"
First Amendment Protections
According to the attorney, even though they represent Trump's likeness in the biopic, filmmakers have various rights under First Amendment protections for portrayals of public figures in artistic works.
However, Krasnoo told Newsweek that in addition to defamation claims, Trump could also try to invoke claims under state privacy and right of publicity statutes. This can protect a public person from false light or false fictionalized publication if the material was made with actual malice.
He added: "Although filmmakers obtain many First Amendment protections, as with defamation, if the filmmakers knew that they were creating harmful fiction about a living celebrity, they could open themselves to such claims as well.
"Often filmmakers obtain life rights from a celebrity that they are depicting in film to avoid legal issues, though obtaining such rights is not always feasible, nor a requirement or necessity."
Adding another complex layer to the situation is the fact that Krasnoo believes those involved in The Apprentice could make their own defamation claims against Trump if he makes factual misstatements about them.
"Already he has called the filmmakers 'pretend filmmakers,' but that would likely be deemed to be an opinion rather than a false statement, and thus Trump would likely maintain a defense to a claim of defamation by the filmmakers for such a statement," he said, referring to Trump's statement.
Newsweek emailed Cheung for further comment on Tuesday.
Ivana Trump, who died in 2022, denied that in 1993 that Trump had raped her, when a book revealing the allegations in the deposition was about to be published, according to ABC News. "I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald," she said in a statement in 2015. "The story is totally without merit. Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised 3 children that we love and are very proud of."
The Apprentice reportedly includes a scene where the businessman receives oral sex from a woman while he is married to Ivana Trump and a moment where he slips on ice while courting his ex-wife. The movie also depicts him getting liposuction and scalp reduction surgery.
While the film does allude to Trump's political ambitions, it doesn't include his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, his four years as president, or the NBC reality TV series of the same name, according to The Washington Post.
Cheung's previous statement shared with Newsweek reads in full: "We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.
"This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked. As with the illegal Biden Trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice because nothing they have done has worked.
"This 'film' is pure malicious defamation, should not see the light of day, and doesn't even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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