In the lead up to his secondary term of office, the incoming president, Donald Trump, is in the process of bringing together a group of seasoned Caucasian male figures to turn Hollywood’s fortunes around. Trump broadcasted over his platform, Truth Social, that he has reached out to Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone, and Mel Gibson, asking them to assume the roles ‘special ambassadors’ in his forthcoming administration. ‘I am proud to reveal that Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, have been named Special Ambassadors to a location of great importance yet enduring difficulties – Hollywood, California,’ expressed Trump. ‘Their responsibilities will include acting as my personal emissaries, with a mission to revitalize Hollywood, which has been losing substantial business to international competitors over the past four years; their objective is to bring it BACK—GREATER, MORE EFFECTIVE, AND MORE POWERFUL THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME!’
A representative of Gibson responded to the news, saying that Gibson learned about his new role the same way everyone else did – via Trump’s Truth Social post. ‘The news came to me just when it did to everyone else and I was equally shocked,’ he mentioned. ‘Despite that, I recognize the challenge. As a dutiful citizen, my obligation is to offer every bit of assistance and knowledge I have. Is there any chance this post comes with an official residence for the ambassador?’ Gibson, alongside Voight and Stallone, have been increasingly forthcoming about their support of Trump in recent years. Despite their age, these three individuals have managed to stay partially involved in the entertainment scene.
Gibson, 69, most notably participated as the director of Flight Risk, an action-packed film that starred Mark Wahlberg and is due to premiere on January 24th. As for Stallone, he was up for an Oscar for his supporting role in 2016’s Creed, but came up short to Mark Rylance from Bridge of Spies. Post that period, the 78-year-old has kept busy, starring in the Paramount+ drama Tulsa King, co-authoring and producing the soon-to-air action film A Working Man that stars Jason Statham, and taking the lead in a reality TV show about his near ones titled The Family Stallone, also on Paramount+. Voight, at 86, also had a busy year back in 2024, making appearances in several movies, most notably Francis Ford Coppola’s not-so-successful venture, Megalopolis, and the biographical film Reagan, with fellow Trump enthusiast Dennis Quaid in the main role as the 40th USA President.
These three men are stepping into their roles at a challenging juncture for Hollywood. Recent wildfires have wreaked havoc across Los Angeles, causing at least 25 casualties and incinerating a large number of properties, all while throwing the entertainment industry into pandemonium. Even before these scourges of flames, Hollywood had been battling issues on multiple fronts: Variety highlighted that the domestic box office takings in 2024 showed a decrease from the prior year, as the industry still grapples with the adverse effects of the recent writers and actors strikes, in addition to a pandemic.
According to the same Variety report, the box office haul for 2024 took a hit, charting at $8.7 billion – a drop of 3.3% from the previous year and a significantly larger 23.5% dip from the figures of 2019 — a pre-pandemic year, when the earnings peaked to $11.3 billion. If Trump is to be trusted, the answer to Hollywood’s woes lies in a task force made up of three men who, combined, average to an age of 77. Their task? To help Hollywood regain the prestige and success it once enjoyed.
To conclude his Truth Social post, Trump declared that this trio would, in essence, act as his personal liaisons, keeping him informed about Hollywood’s happenings and using their insights to report back to him. ‘This group of immensely skilled individuals will serve as my field officers, and I am committed to executing the measures they recommend,’ he assured. ‘We will work towards making Hollywood what it once was in its heyday, just like The United States of America itself, recalling the Golden Age of Hollywood.’