Actor Ben Stiller is asking the White House to remove a clip from “Tropic Thunder” from a war video that shows several films from “Superman” to “Top Gun” to “Bravehart” interspersed with clips of U.S. missiles hitting targets in Iran. Stiller is getting some push back for his comments but he joins a number of artists who have also complained about their work being used in White House videos, including Kesha, Sabrina Carpenter and even Pokémon.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
The folks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It is Saturday, March seventh, and Ben Stiller has gone
to war with the White House over a movie about
war that's being used as propaganda for an actual war.
And if you follow that, you're doing better than I am.
Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. I think
I got it right, But it seems silly that is
happening when people are actually dying. We are in the
middle of an actual war, and a Hollywood superstar in
(00:33):
the White House are going back and forth on X yes.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
On propaganda, war propaganda aganda.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Using movie clips to pump up the sentiment behind the
war with Iran.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Which is an odd choice.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
It feels, you know, it feels weird to watch it,
and it feels uncomfortable to be entertained.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
In any way by it.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
We'll get into what the videos actually are, but yeah,
this isn't new all we should say. By the way, there,
Ben still is just the latest start to have an
issue with what the White House is putting out.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Sometimes.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Look, I think anytime, we watched it this morning, and
we watched it a couple of times, and look, it
is tough because to have.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Entertainment clips of either.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Movies or you showed me one with football field to
create like war equating to a movie or a sport.
It's just it's tough because people are dying. This Americans
are putting their lives in harm's way, and this is
obviously we don't have to say this out loud.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
War is serious. War is life or death. So it
does feel icky a little bit.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
I think to have entertainment somehow mixed into all of that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So what we're talking about is a video the White
House put out yesterday. It's about forty five seconds long
and it just has several clips of Hollywood movies. Several
of them are Marvel movies. You see superheroes in there.
I think Christopher Reeve is in there with a line.
But they're putting these clips together and essentially promoting the war, frankly,
(02:05):
making it it's almost a hype video, would you know
it is.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Yeah, like a propaganda war video. It's called Justice the
American Way. And yes they use clips from Braveheart, Top Gun, Superman, Transformers,
Iron Man, two Star Wars, and yes, Tropic Thunder.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Then you get where we're going with this.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
But yes, a lot of are quick clips of tough talk,
the whatever the the from Braveheart.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
What's the line they're using there from Male Gifts?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It right, it's just these tough lines, these tough talking
lines from a lot of these movies. Okay, fine, And
it starts off with actually that scene you probably don't
recognize that. You don't watch the Marvel movies as much.
But it's Robert Downey Junior sitting there as Iron Man,
kind of setting up or launching his computer system, if
you will, and he says, Daddy's home. Okay, you know
(02:56):
where that comes from. Pant Trump is taken to being
called daddy by other world leaders at times.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
He likes when world leaders and the UN Secretary General
refers to him as death.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, so that is how the video starts. So it
was put out there. It has fifty million views at
this point. Ben Steelers's response has about twenty six million
views and roads he took issue with against the forty
five second clip. The clip from Tropic Thunder is a
split second in it.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Well, so I had to watch it a couple of
times because I have watched Tropic Thunder with you, and
I had to walk into the room you're in and
I said, where is the Tropic Thunder?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Clip.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I didn't see it. Saw a lot of bravehearts, saw
a lot of top Gun.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Did not see the Tropic thunderclip because it wasn't what
I was expecting. I was thinking it was going to
be when they were at war, but instead it was
Tom Cruise dancing.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
At the end, the very funny, cool scene. That was
the only clip they have in there. But we're looking
at this video again and we talked about these Hollywood
clips that are in here, but also interspersed with them
are clips of US bombs blowing.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Up sites and Ran and Pete Hegseth.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yes, he's in there as.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Well, sharing a line with Optimus Prime from a Transformers movie.
This is what we're talking about. I'm sure many of
you have seen it, probably by now, but it does
robes and at the White House.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
It says at the.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
End of it says the White House President Donald Trump
at the end of Donald J.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Trump.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
This is an official thing.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
But Ben Stilla took issue with it put out a
response that got a lot of attention.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Yes, he went on X and said, hey, White House,
please remove the Tropic thunderclip. We never gave you permission
and have no interest in being a part of your
propaganda machine.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
War is not a movie.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I think Robes that's fairly solid. He didn't.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, he's been an opponent, he's been an outspoken
critic of this White House, of this president. Supported Democratic
calls it.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Okay, fine.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I think it's no surprise people began to immediately go
after Ben Stiller or some reasons. He said War is
not a movie, and he's talking about a movie that
was literally made about war. Correct, That Tropic Thunder is
about some guys who go with the man in blackface.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yes, and the one or who was nominated.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Nominated for an Oscar for it, and a movie than
which they use the R word liberally in here.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So there are issues with the movie.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
At the time, someone would argue, you could never make
that movie today, But.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yes, could never make that movie today.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Robert Downey Jr. Is in blackface the entire movie, and
he did such a good job of playing a black
person that he was nominated for an Oscar. Saying that
out loud still makes me boil a little bit. But
this is the movie we're talking about. Should that Robes matter?
Do we need to take Ben Stiller to task for
being critical or saying take my clip out of it. Naturally,
(05:48):
people are gonna attack him in this movie, but it
is that fair.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
At this moment.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Look, I think anything's fair at this point, but I
think he has a right to say I don't want
my movie being a part of And this really is
war propaganda. I can't think of any other way to
put it. It seems so weird that in our country
we're talking about war propaganda. But it is a hype
video saying look what we can do as Americans, and
(06:13):
then interspersing famous war like movies in it to kind
of just show American power or Superman or you know,
Marvel characters who are larger than life. And it's just
I think the best word for me to say is icky, distasteful, and.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Maybe not in good taste, not in.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
And I just I think about, Look, maybe folks who
have sons and daughters and husbands and wives fighting over
there think this is great, This is like, you know,
hoorah all of that.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I don't know, but I would feel differently. I would
feel like, this isn't sport, this isn't entertainment, This isn't fun,
this isn't funny, this is serial and we want to
get in and out as quickly as possible. You want
to save as many lives as possible. You want to
we want more good in the world, and we don't
want to be romanticizing war. And that's kind of what
(07:13):
it felt like.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
And I guess there is a certain segment of the population,
a certain segment of maybe the President's supporters, who will
look at this, like you said, and think it's cool,
think it's good hype video, yet to promote American power.
Maybe there is a segment of the population. You just
said it that romanticizing. There's something. This isn't Hollywood, this
isn't a movie. We do have Tropic Thunder up just
(07:36):
in the background here. If you haven't seen the movie,
it's it's belly laugh and it's also politically incorrect as hell,
a lot of it is.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
But it is quite funny. It's vulgar, it's nasty, only shocking.
At times.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You were like, hey, you've ever seen Tropic Thunder. I
said no, and you said, let's watch. And you're laughing,
and you're almost kind of embarrassed that you're laughing, because
you feel like you shouldn't be laughing. But then you
can't help but lap it is a very funny, inappropriate
movie completely.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And we're looking at Robert Downey Junior spent the entire
movie in blackface.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
He played a character. He was an Australian actor who.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
To get a role in a movie, to play a
black character, he went through an actual surgery to change
the color of his skin. That is I mean, that's
also just ridiculous. That's part of the gag. But that
gag goes roads the entire movie. There is a white
man in black face the entire movie, talking about Gritson
(08:34):
doing all this.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Thing stereotypical like speech patterns, and it's that to me,
that's the that's the cringiest, like to be imitating an
older black man.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Woo.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So that's the movie. And again it got a lot
of flack at the time. I think it was two
thousand and eight. The R there's a scene in there
in which he uses the R word quite literally goes
back and forth. I remember the groups at the time
had big problems with it.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
So that is the movie. But it's Hollywood, Fine, it's
a movie. Do whatever you want there. But Robes, the
scene in question is not even about war. The clip
they used the clip they use if you haven't seen, folks,
it is the best you will ever see Tom Cruise
in a movie. That sounds crazy.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
This is actually the clip they used.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Funny enough, is one of your favorite clips ever because
you specifically have shown me that clip of Tom Cruise
dancing not controversial times not controversial.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's just Tom Cruise in like a body suit with
hair attached to.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
He's supposed to be this nasty executive, right yes, oh
his name is Grossman actually in the movie.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So he's supposed to be this big time executive.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
But he has a scene in which he's dancing to
a ludicrous song. Like you will Tom Cruise on his
own with a spotlight dancing to this ludicrous song. It
is the funniest thing. And if you don't love this
man already, it will endear you to him for like, like, wow,
he went there and did this.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
You can't believe it.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
To Tom Cruise actually features prominently in this video because
he's got the top gun part of it as well.
Oh yeah, so you actually see quite a bit of
Tom Cruise in this white House dot Gov video that's
been released.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
But robes the back and forth.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Now what the White House hasn't responded specifically right to
not to this to.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Other artists complaining this week, and there have been plenty
of artists, folks he has this week, but there have
been plenty over time complaining about this White House, this president,
even his campaign using songs, using videos without getting an okay.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
And the list is getting longer. And would you believe
it even includes Pokemon. I continuing here on this Saturday,
March seventh, Pokemon robes. You gotta explain this to me.
Even the Pokemon has a problem with the President has
(11:02):
a problem with the White House.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Here we are on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
The White House and Ben still are in a bit
of a back and forth on social media. They used
a clip of one of his movies, Tropic Thunder and
a war propaganda video another way to put it, and
he asked them to take it down, and he got
people really talking online at least. But like we said,
there's a long list of I guess most of us
been singers who take issue with the President using their songs.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Yes, they keep using several singers songs in these propaganda videos,
and they've been choosing singers who are very notably to
the left of center.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
But the Pokemon thing actually wasn't even used in any
kind of a themed or a war.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
It wasn't linked to Iran or anything. They just said
make America great again over the new Pokemon video game
that's out, and so they put the acronym maga over
it with a lightning bold emoji to try and link
it to the Pokemon character Pikachu Pokemon. They didn't like
it so much, so they put out a statement, we
(12:04):
are aware of recent social content that includes imagery associated
with our brand. We were not involved in its creation
or distribution, and no permission was granted for the use
of our intellectual property. Our mission is to bring the
world together, and that mission is not affiliated with any
political viewpoint or agenda. So they didn't they didn't come
after the White House, but they just wanted to distance
(12:26):
themselves from the White House.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
They didn't even say they didn't say take it down right, Nope.
They just wanted their people to know, we ain't have
none to do with this.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
We didn't have anything to do with this now, I thought.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
One of the more interesting back and forths from the
White House and artist was the.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
One between Kesha and the White House.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
She's been screaming.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
She was very upset because they used her song blow
when in this video that showed military strikes that is tough.
So she was upset and she said, it's come to
my attention that the White House has used one of
my songs on TikTok to incite violence and but war.
Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane.
(13:04):
So the White House responds on x with the White
House Communications director writing this.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, say his name, his name is Stephen Chunk. Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Now, if you when they really need to get something
nasty out, this is the guy they send in over.
There have been several stories, like some really strong responses.
They don't come from Carolyn Levitt, they don't come from it.
That's the guy they send out on social media.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And he's like they're bulldog.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, let's send Stephen Chus on social media and eviscerate.
So this is I mean, this is really he went.
He went hard on cash shot. He wrote all these
singers and he puts singers in quotes. All these singers
keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention
(13:48):
and more view counts to our videos because people want
to see what they're bitching about.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Oh, have there been lawsuits?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I don't know if there have been lawsuits that Sabrina
Carpenter was complaining about the administration using her song Juno.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Do they have a rite? I can't figure out. Do
they have a legal way to get them to take
it down? Or that video has been viewed fifty million times?
Damage is done. Sure, we'll take it down.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
What I have seen happen because we did the story
on Sabrina Carpenter, and I believed there were a couple.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Others Kenny Loggins.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Kenny Loggins was upset about danger Zone being used.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
From top Gun.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
That one was nasty, that was really tough those protesters.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
He was dumping poop on protesters in that radio.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yes, so I have noticed that in at least with
the Sabrina Carpenter, they would eventually let it go and
then they'll just take the quisical. But it's already been
seeing many many times, like millions and millions of times,
and they'll wait a little bit and then they'll just
remove the song from the video.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
But they've gotten the attention they wanted.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yes, this thing has fifty million views, and.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
It sounds like these singers and artists are whining and
so it they're getting exactly what.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
They want out of it.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Not only do they have more people looking at the videos,
they also are making the artists look like they're complaining
and whining about things.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
They're poking their opponents, they're gaslighting their opponents with their
own intellectual property. Honestly, that is exactly what they're doing,
and it's working, and they're laughing about our look. Ben
Stiller's note I thought was fairly kind. Could you please
take this now, just letting folks know we didn't have
anything to do with it. That's fine, and that's okay. Still,
(15:31):
the videos ropes, I don't know how many more we're
going to see. Now we're talking about the one with
Ben Stiller. I was letting you see another one we
still have up here just on our computer screen.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
But ropes.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's showing like really hard hits in football. And some
of these videos go back to when ray Lewis played.
I see him in one of these videos. He's been
retired for a decade plus, right, and after you see
this big hit on the field, it immediately cuts to
a clip of a missile striking a target in Iran
(16:01):
and blowing up.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I'm sorry, I just that actually makes me feel physically
ill to see that, because this is literally equating American football,
which is as American as you can get as a sport,
showing hard sacks and then showing us blowing up installations
in Iran. It's just again, it's sport. It's making light
of it. I just I think this is a horrific
(16:25):
taste and if I were one of these football players,
I wouldn't like.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
That at all.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Well, I thought about the parents of those six family
members of the six who've died, right this is promoting
a I don't know, Robes, I don't know. It's not
what we're used to seeing. Obviously, you can feel how
about it however you want to feel. And maybe the
families don't, aren't upset, haven't seen I don't know how.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
They would feel about it.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But my goodness, there are men and women we all
love who are in harm's way right now, and quite frankly,
there are people in the United States who have been
injured and killed. Some argue, giving what happened in Austin Robes,
that's directly linked to war.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes, I haven't thought about that, but you're.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Right but we're all under threat.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And I'm looking at a video here hyping up what
we're doing and how we're blowing stuff up.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
What's the song on this one? I don't want to
play because that one we don't have.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Right, it's thunder it's ACDC.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's yes, what's that the name of that one?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
But yeah, is that ac DC song that's playing under it?
Speaker 4 (17:30):
So thunderstruck, Sorry, thunderstruck ACDC, And look, yeah, I love
that song.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I don't know how ACDC.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Feels about this song being played with that and look, thunderstruck.
I also think about, and I hate to bring this up,
but when I see the military strike also in the
headlines right now, did we did we inadvertently end up
striking that school where one hundred and fifty plus girls
who were at school died, Like I think about our
strike that hits something potentially that we didn't intend. Like,
(18:01):
I'm thinking about all of that as I'm looking at
this video, and it just it makes me feel ill.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Look, you stand up there.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It's fine, you stand up there and say, we have
the strongest military, we are most impressive, we can do
what we are just the ultimate power on earth. You say,
that that's fine promoting it in a in this type
of way, though, Robes feels like it's funning games like
look how much of a badass we are? We can
(18:28):
blow up, we can kill, we can destroy, Look how
much of a badass we are? Ac DC is playing
the soundtrack to War for us.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
It just Robes. I don't know what to do with this,
but it feels wrong. It does feel it feels wrong.
It's okay. We can have that opinion. Other people can
feel differently.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Ye, and folks, if you're out there and you've probably
seen it by now, if not, we encourage you to.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Check it out.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Feel however you want to feel about it. But it
is certainly in the headlines. And then the conversation now
in Robes is very import to the point you just
made that right now. There are agencies New York Times
USA Today among them, and other major organizations who have
looked at those satellite images of the strikes near that
girls school and have made the determination that it is
(19:17):
likely that the United States it was in fact a
United States missile that caused the explosion the destruction at
that girls school that resulted in one hundred and fifty
plus deaths that is not confirmed yet, they are looking
into it, the Pentagon says, but robes in the context
of that, I am looking at a University of Florida
(19:38):
football player hit a University of Oklahoma football player on
the field, and that is promoting how much of a
badass we are at blowing stuff up. I'm looking at
ray Lewis knocked the hell out of somebody, and that
is promoting a war in which Americans are dying.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Yes, and Iranians are dying, and there are more deaths
to come, and so yes, to make sport of this,
to make light of this is it's tough to watch,
but yes, we encourage we should see this. We should
know what our government is putting out and this is
representative of America right.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Now, you know.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
So this is I think we need to know what's
being put out there and how we're being viewed. It's
an important thing to educate ourselves on.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
And there's more to come.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Unfortunately, this isn't going away anytime soon. Of course, we
will continue to monitor what's happening in Iran and certainly
here at home. We thank you as always for listening
to us.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Everyone. I made me roboch alongside t J. Holmes. We'll
talk to you soon.
The folks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It is Saturday, March seventh, and Ben Stiller has gone
to war with the White House over a movie about
war that's being used as propaganda for an actual war.
And if you follow that, you're doing better than I am.
Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. I think
I got it right, But it seems silly that is
happening when people are actually dying. We are in the
middle of an actual war, and a Hollywood superstar in
(00:33):
the White House are going back and forth on X yes.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
On propaganda, war propaganda aganda.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Using movie clips to pump up the sentiment behind the
war with Iran.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Which is an odd choice.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
It feels, you know, it feels weird to watch it,
and it feels uncomfortable to be entertained.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
In any way by it.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
We'll get into what the videos actually are, but yeah,
this isn't new all we should say. By the way, there,
Ben still is just the latest start to have an
issue with what the White House is putting out.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Sometimes.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Look, I think anytime, we watched it this morning, and
we watched it a couple of times, and look, it
is tough because to have.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Entertainment clips of either.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Movies or you showed me one with football field to
create like war equating to a movie or a sport.
It's just it's tough because people are dying. This Americans
are putting their lives in harm's way, and this is
obviously we don't have to say this out loud.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
War is serious. War is life or death. So it
does feel icky a little bit.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
I think to have entertainment somehow mixed into all of that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So what we're talking about is a video the White
House put out yesterday. It's about forty five seconds long
and it just has several clips of Hollywood movies. Several
of them are Marvel movies. You see superheroes in there.
I think Christopher Reeve is in there with a line.
But they're putting these clips together and essentially promoting the war, frankly,
(02:05):
making it it's almost a hype video, would you know
it is.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Yeah, like a propaganda war video. It's called Justice the
American Way. And yes they use clips from Braveheart, Top Gun, Superman, Transformers,
Iron Man, two Star Wars, and yes, Tropic Thunder.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Then you get where we're going with this.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
But yes, a lot of are quick clips of tough talk,
the whatever the the from Braveheart.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
What's the line they're using there from Male Gifts?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
It right, it's just these tough lines, these tough talking
lines from a lot of these movies. Okay, fine, And
it starts off with actually that scene you probably don't
recognize that. You don't watch the Marvel movies as much.
But it's Robert Downey Junior sitting there as Iron Man,
kind of setting up or launching his computer system, if
you will, and he says, Daddy's home. Okay, you know
(02:56):
where that comes from. Pant Trump is taken to being
called daddy by other world leaders at times.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
He likes when world leaders and the UN Secretary General
refers to him as death.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, so that is how the video starts. So it
was put out there. It has fifty million views at
this point. Ben Steelers's response has about twenty six million
views and roads he took issue with against the forty
five second clip. The clip from Tropic Thunder is a
split second in it.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Well, so I had to watch it a couple of
times because I have watched Tropic Thunder with you, and
I had to walk into the room you're in and
I said, where is the Tropic Thunder?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Clip.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I didn't see it. Saw a lot of bravehearts, saw
a lot of top Gun.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
Did not see the Tropic thunderclip because it wasn't what
I was expecting. I was thinking it was going to
be when they were at war, but instead it was
Tom Cruise dancing.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
At the end, the very funny, cool scene. That was
the only clip they have in there. But we're looking
at this video again and we talked about these Hollywood
clips that are in here, but also interspersed with them
are clips of US bombs blowing.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Up sites and Ran and Pete Hegseth.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yes, he's in there as.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Well, sharing a line with Optimus Prime from a Transformers movie.
This is what we're talking about. I'm sure many of
you have seen it, probably by now, but it does
robes and at the White House.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
It says at the.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
End of it says the White House President Donald Trump
at the end of Donald J.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Trump.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
This is an official thing.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
But Ben Stilla took issue with it put out a
response that got a lot of attention.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Yes, he went on X and said, hey, White House,
please remove the Tropic thunderclip. We never gave you permission
and have no interest in being a part of your
propaganda machine.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
War is not a movie.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I think Robes that's fairly solid. He didn't.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, he's been an opponent, he's been an outspoken
critic of this White House, of this president. Supported Democratic
calls it.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Okay, fine.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
I think it's no surprise people began to immediately go
after Ben Stiller or some reasons. He said War is
not a movie, and he's talking about a movie that
was literally made about war. Correct, That Tropic Thunder is
about some guys who go with the man in blackface.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yes, and the one or who was nominated.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Nominated for an Oscar for it, and a movie than
which they use the R word liberally in here.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So there are issues with the movie.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
At the time, someone would argue, you could never make
that movie today, But.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yes, could never make that movie today.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Robert Downey Jr. Is in blackface the entire movie, and
he did such a good job of playing a black
person that he was nominated for an Oscar. Saying that
out loud still makes me boil a little bit. But
this is the movie we're talking about. Should that Robes matter?
Do we need to take Ben Stiller to task for
being critical or saying take my clip out of it. Naturally,
(05:48):
people are gonna attack him in this movie, but it
is that fair.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
At this moment.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
Look, I think anything's fair at this point, but I
think he has a right to say I don't want
my movie being a part of And this really is
war propaganda. I can't think of any other way to
put it. It seems so weird that in our country
we're talking about war propaganda. But it is a hype
video saying look what we can do as Americans, and
(06:13):
then interspersing famous war like movies in it to kind
of just show American power or Superman or you know,
Marvel characters who are larger than life. And it's just
I think the best word for me to say is icky, distasteful, and.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Maybe not in good taste, not in.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
And I just I think about, Look, maybe folks who
have sons and daughters and husbands and wives fighting over
there think this is great, This is like, you know,
hoorah all of that.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
I don't know, but I would feel differently. I would
feel like, this isn't sport, this isn't entertainment, This isn't fun,
this isn't funny, this is serial and we want to
get in and out as quickly as possible. You want
to save as many lives as possible. You want to
we want more good in the world, and we don't
want to be romanticizing war. And that's kind of what
(07:13):
it felt like.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
And I guess there is a certain segment of the population,
a certain segment of maybe the President's supporters, who will
look at this, like you said, and think it's cool,
think it's good hype video, yet to promote American power.
Maybe there is a segment of the population. You just
said it that romanticizing. There's something. This isn't Hollywood, this
isn't a movie. We do have Tropic Thunder up just
(07:36):
in the background here. If you haven't seen the movie,
it's it's belly laugh and it's also politically incorrect as hell,
a lot of it is.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
But it is quite funny. It's vulgar, it's nasty, only shocking.
At times.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
You were like, hey, you've ever seen Tropic Thunder. I
said no, and you said, let's watch. And you're laughing,
and you're almost kind of embarrassed that you're laughing, because
you feel like you shouldn't be laughing. But then you
can't help but lap it is a very funny, inappropriate
movie completely.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
And we're looking at Robert Downey Junior spent the entire
movie in blackface.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
He played a character. He was an Australian actor who.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
To get a role in a movie, to play a
black character, he went through an actual surgery to change
the color of his skin. That is I mean, that's
also just ridiculous. That's part of the gag. But that
gag goes roads the entire movie. There is a white
man in black face the entire movie, talking about Gritson
(08:34):
doing all this.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Thing stereotypical like speech patterns, and it's that to me,
that's the that's the cringiest, like to be imitating an
older black man.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Woo.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So that's the movie. And again it got a lot
of flack at the time. I think it was two
thousand and eight. The R there's a scene in there
in which he uses the R word quite literally goes
back and forth. I remember the groups at the time
had big problems with it.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
So that is the movie. But it's Hollywood, Fine, it's
a movie. Do whatever you want there. But Robes, the
scene in question is not even about war. The clip
they used the clip they use if you haven't seen, folks,
it is the best you will ever see Tom Cruise
in a movie. That sounds crazy.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
This is actually the clip they used.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Funny enough, is one of your favorite clips ever because
you specifically have shown me that clip of Tom Cruise
dancing not controversial times not controversial.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's just Tom Cruise in like a body suit with
hair attached to.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
He's supposed to be this nasty executive, right yes, oh
his name is Grossman actually in the movie.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So he's supposed to be this big time executive.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
But he has a scene in which he's dancing to
a ludicrous song. Like you will Tom Cruise on his
own with a spotlight dancing to this ludicrous song. It
is the funniest thing. And if you don't love this
man already, it will endear you to him for like, like, wow,
he went there and did this.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
You can't believe it.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
To Tom Cruise actually features prominently in this video because
he's got the top gun part of it as well.
Oh yeah, so you actually see quite a bit of
Tom Cruise in this white House dot Gov video that's
been released.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
But robes the back and forth.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Now what the White House hasn't responded specifically right to
not to this to.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Other artists complaining this week, and there have been plenty
of artists, folks he has this week, but there have
been plenty over time complaining about this White House, this president,
even his campaign using songs, using videos without getting an okay.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
And the list is getting longer. And would you believe
it even includes Pokemon. I continuing here on this Saturday,
March seventh, Pokemon robes. You gotta explain this to me.
Even the Pokemon has a problem with the President has
(11:02):
a problem with the White House.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Here we are on Saturday.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
The White House and Ben still are in a bit
of a back and forth on social media. They used
a clip of one of his movies, Tropic Thunder and
a war propaganda video another way to put it, and
he asked them to take it down, and he got
people really talking online at least. But like we said,
there's a long list of I guess most of us
been singers who take issue with the President using their songs.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
Yes, they keep using several singers songs in these propaganda videos,
and they've been choosing singers who are very notably to
the left of center.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
But the Pokemon thing actually wasn't even used in any
kind of a themed or a war.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
It wasn't linked to Iran or anything. They just said
make America great again over the new Pokemon video game
that's out, and so they put the acronym maga over
it with a lightning bold emoji to try and link
it to the Pokemon character Pikachu Pokemon. They didn't like
it so much, so they put out a statement, we
(12:04):
are aware of recent social content that includes imagery associated
with our brand. We were not involved in its creation
or distribution, and no permission was granted for the use
of our intellectual property. Our mission is to bring the
world together, and that mission is not affiliated with any
political viewpoint or agenda. So they didn't they didn't come
after the White House, but they just wanted to distance
(12:26):
themselves from the White House.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
They didn't even say they didn't say take it down right, Nope.
They just wanted their people to know, we ain't have
none to do with this.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
We didn't have anything to do with this now, I thought.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
One of the more interesting back and forths from the
White House and artist was the.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
One between Kesha and the White House.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
She's been screaming.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
She was very upset because they used her song blow
when in this video that showed military strikes that is tough.
So she was upset and she said, it's come to
my attention that the White House has used one of
my songs on TikTok to incite violence and but war.
Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane.
(13:04):
So the White House responds on x with the White
House Communications director writing this.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, say his name, his name is Stephen Chunk. Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Now, if you when they really need to get something
nasty out, this is the guy they send in over.
There have been several stories, like some really strong responses.
They don't come from Carolyn Levitt, they don't come from it.
That's the guy they send out on social media.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And he's like they're bulldog.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, let's send Stephen Chus on social media and eviscerate.
So this is I mean, this is really he went.
He went hard on cash shot. He wrote all these
singers and he puts singers in quotes. All these singers
keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention
(13:48):
and more view counts to our videos because people want
to see what they're bitching about.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Oh, have there been lawsuits?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I don't know if there have been lawsuits that Sabrina
Carpenter was complaining about the administration using her song Juno.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Do they have a rite? I can't figure out. Do
they have a legal way to get them to take
it down? Or that video has been viewed fifty million times?
Damage is done. Sure, we'll take it down.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
What I have seen happen because we did the story
on Sabrina Carpenter, and I believed there were a couple.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Others Kenny Loggins.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
Kenny Loggins was upset about danger Zone being used.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
From top Gun.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
That one was nasty, that was really tough those protesters.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
He was dumping poop on protesters in that radio.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Yes, so I have noticed that in at least with
the Sabrina Carpenter, they would eventually let it go and
then they'll just take the quisical. But it's already been
seeing many many times, like millions and millions of times,
and they'll wait a little bit and then they'll just
remove the song from the video.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
But they've gotten the attention they wanted.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yes, this thing has fifty million views, and.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
It sounds like these singers and artists are whining and
so it they're getting exactly what.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
They want out of it.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Not only do they have more people looking at the videos,
they also are making the artists look like they're complaining
and whining about things.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
They're poking their opponents, they're gaslighting their opponents with their
own intellectual property. Honestly, that is exactly what they're doing,
and it's working, and they're laughing about our look. Ben
Stiller's note I thought was fairly kind. Could you please
take this now, just letting folks know we didn't have
anything to do with it. That's fine, and that's okay. Still,
(15:31):
the videos ropes, I don't know how many more we're
going to see. Now we're talking about the one with
Ben Stiller. I was letting you see another one we
still have up here just on our computer screen.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
But ropes.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
It's showing like really hard hits in football. And some
of these videos go back to when ray Lewis played.
I see him in one of these videos. He's been
retired for a decade plus, right, and after you see
this big hit on the field, it immediately cuts to
a clip of a missile striking a target in Iran
(16:01):
and blowing up.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I'm sorry, I just that actually makes me feel physically
ill to see that, because this is literally equating American football,
which is as American as you can get as a sport,
showing hard sacks and then showing us blowing up installations
in Iran. It's just again, it's sport. It's making light
of it. I just I think this is a horrific
(16:25):
taste and if I were one of these football players,
I wouldn't like.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
That at all.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Well, I thought about the parents of those six family
members of the six who've died, right this is promoting
a I don't know, Robes, I don't know. It's not
what we're used to seeing. Obviously, you can feel how
about it however you want to feel. And maybe the
families don't, aren't upset, haven't seen I don't know how.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
They would feel about it.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But my goodness, there are men and women we all
love who are in harm's way right now, and quite frankly,
there are people in the United States who have been
injured and killed. Some argue, giving what happened in Austin Robes,
that's directly linked to war.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yes, I haven't thought about that, but you're.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Right but we're all under threat.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And I'm looking at a video here hyping up what
we're doing and how we're blowing stuff up.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
What's the song on this one? I don't want to
play because that one we don't have.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Right, it's thunder it's ACDC.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's yes, what's that the name of that one?
Speaker 1 (17:27):
But yeah, is that ac DC song that's playing under it?
Speaker 4 (17:30):
So thunderstruck, Sorry, thunderstruck ACDC, And look, yeah, I love
that song.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I don't know how ACDC.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
Feels about this song being played with that and look, thunderstruck.
I also think about, and I hate to bring this up,
but when I see the military strike also in the
headlines right now, did we did we inadvertently end up
striking that school where one hundred and fifty plus girls
who were at school died, Like I think about our
strike that hits something potentially that we didn't intend. Like,
(18:01):
I'm thinking about all of that as I'm looking at
this video, and it just it makes me feel ill.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Look, you stand up there.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It's fine, you stand up there and say, we have
the strongest military, we are most impressive, we can do
what we are just the ultimate power on earth. You say,
that that's fine promoting it in a in this type
of way, though, Robes feels like it's funning games like
look how much of a badass we are? We can
(18:28):
blow up, we can kill, we can destroy, Look how
much of a badass we are? Ac DC is playing
the soundtrack to War for us.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
It just Robes. I don't know what to do with this,
but it feels wrong. It does feel it feels wrong.
It's okay. We can have that opinion. Other people can
feel differently.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Ye, and folks, if you're out there and you've probably
seen it by now, if not, we encourage you to.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Check it out.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Feel however you want to feel about it. But it
is certainly in the headlines. And then the conversation now
in Robes is very import to the point you just
made that right now. There are agencies New York Times
USA Today among them, and other major organizations who have
looked at those satellite images of the strikes near that
girls school and have made the determination that it is
(19:17):
likely that the United States it was in fact a
United States missile that caused the explosion the destruction at
that girls school that resulted in one hundred and fifty
plus deaths that is not confirmed yet, they are looking
into it, the Pentagon says, but robes in the context
of that, I am looking at a University of Florida
(19:38):
football player hit a University of Oklahoma football player on
the field, and that is promoting how much of a
badass we are at blowing stuff up. I'm looking at
ray Lewis knocked the hell out of somebody, and that
is promoting a war in which Americans are dying.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
Yes, and Iranians are dying, and there are more deaths
to come, and so yes, to make sport of this,
to make light of this is it's tough to watch,
but yes, we encourage we should see this. We should
know what our government is putting out and this is
representative of America right.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Now, you know.
Speaker 4 (20:19):
So this is I think we need to know what's
being put out there and how we're being viewed. It's
an important thing to educate ourselves on.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
And there's more to come.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Unfortunately, this isn't going away anytime soon. Of course, we
will continue to monitor what's happening in Iran and certainly
here at home. We thank you as always for listening
to us.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
Everyone. I made me roboch alongside t J. Holmes. We'll
talk to you soon.
Hosts And Creators
Amy Robach
T.J. Holmes
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