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Melania may have included tracks by iconic artists like the Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson in her documentary, but as producer Marc Beckman revealed, some big-name musicians declined to allow their music to be featured.
Beckman, who also advises the first lady, discussed the licensing challenges with Variety, noting the political complications involved in securing certain tracks. He recounted that “there was music we aimed to acquire, but unfortunately, politics came into play.”
He elaborated with an example involving Guns N’ Roses, a band divided by political views. “We wanted to include a wonderful song,” he said, “but while one member agreed, saying, ‘You got it. Go,’ another member was adamant against it. We needed unanimous consent to feature it in the film, which was disappointing given our admiration for Guns N’ Roses.”
Beckman also mentioned their interest in a track by Grace Jones, expressing their “tremendous respect” for her artistry.
“Unfortunately, the political aspect was a barrier for her, despite the film’s non-political nature,” he explained. “It’s disheartening when politics overshadow art, and this was certainly a challenge we faced with the documentary.”
DECIDER reached out to representatives for Guns N’ Roses and Jones, but did not hear back by time of publication.
According to Beckman, they also were unable to secure rights to Prince‘s music, claiming that they were “ready to go” before the lawyer managing the late artist’s estate “was like, ‘Prince would never want his song associated with Donald Trump.’”
“And we’re like, ‘But it’s not a Donald Trump film! He comes into the movie once in a while, but this is all about Melania. It’s not political.’ And that guy blocked it. It’s so ridiculous,” Beckman told Variety.
The controversial documentary from director Brett Ratner did not receive the warmest of reviews from critics, including DECIDER’s own Jesse Hassenger, who deemed the film “a disingenuous documentary that misfires by mistaking the First Lady’s fame for star power.”
As for when the documentary, which was distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, may arrive on Prime Video, Beckman said that they are “still working out the date with Amazon as far as the launch goes.”
“We’re pretty much almost done with it on the post-production side now,” he added. “I think, conservatively predicting, mid-summer we’ll launch. We haven’t definitively picked a date yet, but it should be around then.”