Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Slam Use of ‘Air’ Speech in Trump Video – Rolling Stone

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“We do not grant such permission,” Artists Equity said in the statement

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company released a statement Saturday condemning the unauthorized use of a monologue from their recent film Air in a new campaign video seeking donations posted by Donald Trump.

The two-and-a-half-minute video, posted on Truth Social, features almost all of the audio from the speech delivered by Damon, who in the film is spoken in an effort to get Michael Jordan to sign with Nike, but is used by Trump to part the MAGA Nation with their money.

“We have no foreknowledge of, do not consent to and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from the Air that is reused by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use,” Affleck’s Artists Equity said and Damon in a statement Saturday after the campaign video was posted (via The Hollywood Reporter).

“Particularly in terms of any and all rights available to us under US copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air of the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not provide such consent.”

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Trump has a long, long history of using the art of others without approval on the campaign trail, as artists from Neil Young, the Rolling Stones and Queen to Pharrell Williams, Rihanna and the Village People have all are protesting (and stopping) their music being played at Trump rallies. The former president also ruffled Hollywood’s feathers, speaking of copyright, with the unauthorized use of clips from Game of Thrones and The Dark Knight Returns.

Despite disapproval by Artists Equity, Trump’s Air-stealing campaign video remained on Truth Social at press time; alas, given all his other, more pernicious legal troubles, what’s a bit of copyright infringement?

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