“Melania” producer Marc Beckman lashed out after Radiohead’s lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and “Phantom Thread” director Paul Thomas Anderson said they didn’t approve the use of their music in the documentary.
“It’s a blatant lie,” Beckman told Breitbart News on Monday. “We have a legal right and permission to use every song and piece of music in the film. We have the legal rights to use it. We’ve done everything the right way. We followed protocol. We respect artists. We compensated everyone for their music.”
The documentary following first lady Melania Trump during the 20 days leading up to her husband’s 2025 inauguration features the song “Barbara Rose,” which Greenwood originally composed for Anderson’s movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the ‘Melania‘ documentary,” the two said in a statement, obtained by Variety.
“While Jonny Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use which is a breach of his composer agreement,” the statement continued. “As a result Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”
Beckman disputed the allegations in the request, telling Breitbart “this is just ridiculous.”
“We have legally binding, fully executed contracts in place to use every song in ‘Melania,’” he said.
The producer then railed on news outlets that reported on the request, claiming they never contacted anyone involved in the documentary’s production before publishing.
“It’s time for journalists to report the news as opposed to making it up,” Beckman said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for journalism and its role in American society, but if it continues to head in this direction, it will lose its impact and importance in our democracy.”
The documentary has a low 11% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes but received high viewer praise. The Guardian reports that the film, which Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million to license, made $13.35 million domestically over two weeks in theaters, partly powered by organized groups of Republican women.
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