Moviegoers who caught Melania Trump’s documentary heard music by Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears and the Rolling Stones — but they didn’t hear anything from Guns N’ Roses, despite the best efforts of the film’s creators.
“There was music that we tried to get, but sadly, there were politics to it,” producer Mark Beckman told Variety this week.
According to Beckman, the band responsible for hits including “November Rain” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” were divided on whether their songs could be used in his movie.
“There was a beautiful song we wanted to use, and one of the guys — I don’t want to name, it’s not fair — said, ‘You got it. Go.’ And the other one was basically like, ‘There’s just no way,’” Beckman claimed.
It’s not clear what song or songs the producers wanted to use, though Beckman said they needed consent from all of the band’s members and didn’t receive it.
“Guns N’ Roses was definitely a disappointment for us,” he confessed.
It’s also unclear which bandmates were in support of the documentary using their music and which opposed it, though lead singer Axl Rose has been openly critical of the president and first lady in the past.
Guns N’ Roses didn’t comment on Variety’s story.
Beckman said “Melania” producers were also unsuccessful in getting the rights to music from Grace Jones and the Prince estate.
“It’s disappointing when people put politics so far ahead, and that happened a little bit with the film,” he said.
Beckman also accused Radiohead guitarist and composer Jonny Greenwood of being politically motivated after he recently requested that a piece of music he composed for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” be removed from “Melania.”
Beckman assured Variety that producers properly licensed the orchestral cue, saying the song will remain in the film “forever.”
Amazon MGM Studios purchased the “Melania” movie for $40 million and is said to have spent an additional $35 million promoting it.
The documentary, which was co-produced by the first lady, exceeded expectations by making back $8 million on its opening weekend. It has since cooled off and is expected to gross around $15 million, according to the Daily Beast.
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