Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company has issued a statement saying it didn’t give the Trump campaign permission to use audio from the movie Air in a recent fundraising video that the campaign posted on Truth Social.
The Trump video excerpts Matt Damon’s climactic monologue in Air to mirror the former president’s own rise to political power and the establishment’s subsequent and ongoing efforts to destroy him.
“We hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent,” said the statement from Artists Equity, the company founded by Affleck and Damon that produced Air.
Specifically in terms of any & all rights available to us under US copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent.
— Artists Equity (@artists_equity) June 10, 2023
The Trump video features a montage of President Trump’s life and career set to Damon’s voice.
Watch below:
Trump is now cutting web videos w/ Matt Damon’s Air monologue as narration… pic.twitter.com/cBMBOaUr0Q
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 10, 2023
“I’m going to look you in the eyes and I’m gonna tell you the future. It’s an American story and that’s why Americans are gonna love it,” Damon’s character says. “People are going to build you up. God, are they going to. Because when you’re great and new, we love you…”
“But you know what? Once they’ve built you as high as they possibly can, they’re going to tear you back down. It’s the most predictable pattern…. You’re going to be attacked, betrayed, exposed, and humiliated. And you’ll survive that. A lot of people can climb that mountain. It’s the way down that breaks them. Because that’s the moment you are truly alone. And what will you do then? Can you summon the will to fight on through all the pain and rise again? That will be defining question of your life.”
In the movie, Damon plays Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro who successfully signed Michael Jordan for the Air Jordan sneaker, which became the company’s top-selling shoe. The movie was distributed by Amazon Studios.
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