Sebastian Stan Said Donald Trump Is "Hypocritical" For Trying To "Censor" The Movie "The Apprentice"

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Sebastian Stan said Donald Trump is a hypocrite for trying to censor his new movie, The Apprentice.

The 42-year-old actor, who portrays Trump, talked to the Hollywood Reporter at the BFI London Film Festival premiere about the movie, which depicts Trump's ascension in the 1970s and '80s New York.

The film was released on Oct. 11, and with the US presidential election on Nov. 5 approaching, it begged the question of whether or not this film could actually affect Trump's presidential campaign.

Sebastian told THR, "I don't know, but what I do hope is that people, regardless of their opinion, are curious enough to try to dig deeper. Because I think we're living in a world where it's so easy to be handed an opinion everywhere you turn."

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Sebastian added, "And I know a lot of people love social media, and that's where they go for information and for things. You're being told what to think. You're being told what to do."

According to a synopsis, the film follows young Trump who "comes under the spell of Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong), the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today." So far, the film has received a 79% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 85% from the audience.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star suggested that people do their own research into Trump, hoping the film will inspire that curiosity. "If you have any inkling of interest, go and really ask yourself: 'Who is this man? Do you really know? Do you really trust this person to lead a country?'"

"He's been trying to censor this movie, and at the same time, he claims that he acknowledges free speech. … I can't think of anything more hypocritical," Sebastian said. "So, at the end of the day, it's about him as a character."

"Forget the politics and just go in there and use your instinct and ask yourself: Do you trust this man? That's what the movie is about."

For context, Sebastian is possibly referring to a statement issued by Trump's campaign after The Apprentice premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May. In a statement issued to Variety by Steven Cheung, the Trump team threatened to file a lawsuit addressing "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." 

Trump's team have yet to file a lawsuit.

As for the director of The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi, he responded to the threats of legal action at a Cannes Film Festival press conference back in May, stating, "I mean, everybody talks about him suing a lot of people — they don't talk about his success rate, though, you know?"

The Danish film director, Ali, is known for directing the last two Season 1 episodes of the hit HBO series The Last of Us, which starred Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

On Oct. 13, Trump posted on Truth Social that the film was a "fake and classless" film, hoping it would bomb at the box office. "It's a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, put out right before the 2024 Presidential Election, to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country, 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'"

Trump continued by disparaging the journalist and author who was responsible for writing the movie. "The writer of this pile of garbage, Gabe Sherman, a lowlife and talentless hack, who has long been widely discredited, knew that, but chose to ignore it. So sad that HUMAN SCUM, like the people involved in this hopefully unsuccessful enterprise, are allowed to say and do whatever they want in order to hurt a Political Movement, which is far bigger than any of us. MAGA2024!"

In response, Gabriel, the film's screenwriter, told THR, "It's not surprising [that Trump lashed out]… You've seen the film, the first lesson that Roy Cohn teaches him is: attack, attack, attack. So Trump hasn't seen the movie, but he's clearly following the rules that are in the movie."

Gabriel is known for publishing the New York Times bestselling biography on Roger Ailes, the Fox News Channel president, titled The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News — and Divided a Country.

The Apprentice premiered in theaters on Oct. 11. Here's a trailer:

Are you going to watch The Apprentice? Have you already seen it? I want to know your thoughts. Share them in the comments.

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