Jeff Bezos called the Melania Trump documentary a success and defended it as a good business decision. However, the dismal box office numbers tell a different story altogether. Amazon MGM Studios shelled out roughly $75 million to acquire and promote the documentary about the FLOTUS. Notably, it failed to break even, grossing $16 million worldwide.
Jeff Bezos calls Melania Trump documentary a success despite low box office numbers
Jeff Bezos hails the Melania Trump documentary as a success despite low box office numbers. Bezos addressed the matter during a Wednesday interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s Squawk Box. He defended his decision to back the Melania Trump documentary after it was alleged that he did it to pander to the Trump administration.
He also clarified that the FLOTUS did not herself pitch the idea during a 2024 dinner at her husband’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Bezos said, “The Melania thing is a falsehood that will not die. I see it reported all the time that somehow I was involved in this, that we did this at this Mar-a-Lago dinner. It’s not true” (via Entertainment Weekly).
Bezos continued, “We have denied it, Melania’s office has denied it. It’s not true, I had nothing to do with that. By the way, it appears it was a good business decision.”
Furthermore, Bezos declared that Melania “did very well in theatres.” “It’s done very well on streaming. People are very curious about Melania. So even though I had nothing to do with it, it appears that the Amazon team made a very wise business decision,” he added.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Bezos explained that he does not make every major MGM decision, citing Project Hail Mary as an example. He said, “I wish I had greenlit that, but I didn’t. Amazon’s a big company that makes a lot of decisions, but this idea that [Melania] is somehow a way of buying influence, it’s just not correct.”
For those unversed, the Melania documentary was directed by Brett Ratner. The documentary garnered just over $16 million at the global box office after a four-week run in theaters. Notably, it did not even cover half of the $35 million Amazon paid to license the film. The company spent an additional $40 million on marketing and promotion.
Originally reported by Anwaya Mane for Mandatory.
