What To Know
- Sylvester Stallone bluntly declined President Trump’s appointment as a ‘special ambassador’ to Hollywood.
- Stallone learned about the appointment through the media and expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of outsiders influencing Hollywood’s corporate structure.
- Stallone has publicly supported Trump, previously praising him and receiving a medal from him at the White House.
Sylvester Stallone issued a blunt, four-word response to President Donald Trump appointing him as a “special ambassador” to Hollywood in January 2025.
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, the Rocky star, 80, opened up about the POTUS, also 80, naming him as one of three ambassadors (alongside Mel Gibson and Jon Voight).
When asked if he had any hesitations about the role, Stallone admitted, “Yes. Yes, because Hollywood, I guess, it’s like feudal states. They have their little kingdoms. You don’t go in and tell six studios how to do things. And Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, we’re kind of do-our-own-thing people. No, it won’t work.”
The Rambo actor also revealed what he told Trump: “I said ‘thank you and ciao,’ because it’s impossible.
Stallone explained, “Hollywood works and it will evolve. It’s corporate and corporate people won’t want to hear me tell them about finance.”
Additionally, Stallone said the Trump appointment “just happened,” and he found out about it at the same time the rest of the nation did.
“I was watching TV one night and they go, ‘So Stallone and Mel Gibson and Jon Voight will be …’ And I went, ‘What?’” he recalled. “I said, ‘Excuse me? Really?’ Because if they had asked me in the beginning, I would have said, this is not possible.”
@apnews From @apnewsentertainment ♬ original sound – The Associated Press
In January 2025, Trump took to Truth Social to name the trio of men as ambassadors to Hollywood, which he called a “great but very troubled place,” per Fox 11 Los Angeles.
He explained, “They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”
Trump added, “These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”
Meanwhile, Stallone has seemingly remained a Trump supporter. After Stallone called Trump a “mythical character” and a “second George Washington” in November 2024, Trump presented Stallone with a medal at the Oval Office when he was named a Kennedy Center honoree.