First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary fails
Melania Trump earned more than $10 million from an Amazon documentary about her, even as the film struggled at the box office, according to newly released financial disclosures.US President Donald Trump’s latest annual financial disclosure report showed that the first lady earned $10.71 million from the Amazon-MGM documentary bearing her name. The filing also reveals that Melania Trump earned about $521,000 from her memoir, which was released a month before the 2024 presidential election, and just over $6 million from NFTs and other digital collectibles.The documentary cost $75 million to produce and promote. It failed to meet expectations at the box office.
It earned only $16 million in ticket sales and saw low audience demand in many markets. In South Africa, the film was withdrawn from cinemas.Critics were equally unimpressed. On Rotten Tomatoes, the documentary has an approval rating of 10 percent based on 61 critic reviews. Kevin Fallon of The Daily Beast called it “a level of uninteresting propaganda that almost resists review; it’s so predictable it makes absolutely no sense.”
The film’s poor commercial performance also sparked political scrutiny in Washington. Several members of Congress wrote to Amazon Chairman and CEO Andy Jassy, questioning whether Melania Trump was a “box office gamble or bribery” or whether the project formed part of a “pay-to-play arrangement” with the Trump administration.Questions about Amazon’s relationship with the Trump family also emerged during the documentary’s January premiere.
Donald Trump was asked if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was “trying to make peace with you,” and how “Americans called him corporate corruption.”Trump responded: “No, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t really know. I’m not involved in that. It happened to my wife.”Bezos also denied suggestions that the documentary was intended to influence the administration.“We have denied it. Melania’s office has denied it. It is not true.
“I had nothing to do with it,” he told CNBC last month.Bezos was accused of “buying influence” through the document, but said the allegations were untrue, adding: “I can see why people say that.”Amazon could continue to work with the Trump family on future TV projects. The company was considering reviving The Apprentice, with Donald Trump Jr. possibly taking over the role made famous by his father.
However, Amazon has not reached out to the Trump family about the idea.The Apprentice aired on NBC from 2004 to 2017 before Amazon acquired the rights in 2022. According to Donald Trump’s financial disclosure forms, the show continues to generate significant income for him, generating between $100,000 and $1 million in revenue through 2024.In response to questions about the family’s financial interests, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: “Neither the president nor his family has or will ever engage in any conflict of interest.”
