Jeff Bezos' Amazon gives Melania Trump $40 million for documentary on her life

[Anonymous]

It's amazing to me that this Trump family grift is not attracting more attention. This is orders of magnitude larger than corruption scandals that used to be big scandals back in the days when ethics rules existed.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/melania-trump-documentary-amazon.html[list]

[Melania] was looking for a buyer for a documentary about her transition back to first lady. Her agent had pitched the film, which she would executive produce, to a number of studios, including the one owned by Amazon. As the meeting approached, Melania consulted with director Brett Ratner on how to sell her idea to the world’s third-richest man. Melania regaled Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, with the project’s details at dinner.

Just over two weeks later, Amazon, a company that prides itself on frugality and sharp negotiating, agreed to pay $40 million to license the film — the most Amazon had ever spent on a documentary and nearly three times the next-closest offer.

Netflix and Apple declined even to bid. Paramount made a lowball $4 million distribution-rights offer. Disney, the most interested studio besides Amazon, offered $14 million.

I know it’s 2025, nothing matters anymore, and even The Walt Disney Co. is kissing Donald Trump’s ring. But I’ve also learned that Amazon is paying a cool $40 million to license the film, per three sources familiar with the deal. That price includes the Ratner documentary, which will get a small theatrical release and then appear on Prime Video, plus a previously undisclosed two-to-three-episode follow-up docuseries on the first lady. Melania will participate in both projects. (Amazon declined to comment.)

How much of that will go to Melania? According to The Wall Street Journal, she’s set to make $28 million, and as of February she was still looking for additional ways to monetize the project:

The first lady’s cut is more than 70% of the $40 million, according to people familiar with the matter. And they’re still looking for more: Melania’s agent has been trying to sell “sponsorships” for the film — starting at $10 million — to prominent CEOs and billionaires who were at the inauguration, according to people familiar with the matter. Buyers would get thanked at the end of the credits and be invited to the premiere. These overtures were made independently of the deal with Amazon, which was unaware of the outreach, according to a person familiar with the matter.

[Anonymous]

Yep. Disgusting.

[Anonymous]

It all gets noticed but unless you find a State prosecutor at this point who is willing to test the waters, Trump has paralyzed the Federal judicial, ethics, and congressional oversight systems of checks and balances. He is essentially free to do what he pleases until someone grows some balls. “This is what we voted for.”

[Anonymous]

"The Real Lives of Trophy Wives" S1E1 - Melania Trump

Who cares? If Bezos wants to waste his money, fine, but I'm not watching this dreck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"The Real Lives of Trophy Wives" S1E1 - Melania Trump

Who cares? If Bezos wants to waste his money, fine, but I'm not watching this dreck.

You should care if Melania is gaining $40 mn so that people can cozy up to her husband. There's a whole lot of conflict of interest and ethics violations there.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/melania-trump-documentary-amazon.html
And in March a “person close to Bezos” told the Financial Times that the Melania documentary “is patently ridiculous, but is very pragmatic”. They added, “He is doing a deal, offering money to buy the Trump family’s affection and flattering the president. If you think about it in terms of costs versus benefit, it is pretty low. It’s a smart investment.”

An Amazon spokesman downplayed the suggestion that the deal was part of Bezos’s effort to kiss up to the new administration, telling the WSJ, “We licensed the upcoming Melania Trump documentary film and series for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"The Real Lives of Trophy Wives" S1E1 - Melania Trump

Who cares? If Bezos wants to waste his money, fine, but I'm not watching this dreck.

You should care if Melania is gaining $40 mn so that people can cozy up to her husband. There's a whole lot of conflict of interest and ethics violations there.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/melania-trump-documentary-amazon.html
And in March a “person close to Bezos” told the Financial Times that the Melania documentary “is patently ridiculous, but is very pragmatic”. They added, “He is doing a deal, offering money to buy the Trump family’s affection and flattering the president. If you think about it in terms of costs versus benefit, it is pretty low. It’s a smart investment.”

An Amazon spokesman downplayed the suggestion that the deal was part of Bezos’s effort to kiss up to the new administration, telling the WSJ, “We licensed the upcoming Melania Trump documentary film and series for one reason and one reason only — because we think customers are going to love it.”

Sounds like companies are pricing in bribes to Trump as a cost of doing business in America. We've become a banana republic...

[Anonymous]

Is she is posing naked again?

[Anonymous]

Melania's documentary sends Hollywood into a tizzy
Melania Trump's whopping $40 million deal with Amazon has sent Hollywood into a meltdown. The project is gaining traction with a director attached -- Brett Ratner -- bystanders are going into meltdown mode.

First things first, that is a lot of dollars, and if you're wondering why Amazon is so keen to give it to the First Lady, it's to turn her life story into a documentary.

The sheer amount of money involved is staggering—but perhaps even more surprising is Melania Trump’s decision to appoint Brett as the lead on this project. Brett was ousted from Hollywood nearly eight years ago following allegations of sexual misconduct made by six actresses. Yet, according to an insider, the Trumps “don’t care.”

[Anonymous]

Will the documentary cover her overstaying her visa and her experience as an illegal immigrant?

[Anonymous]

According to the White House it's not corruption if it's done out in the open.

[Anonymous]

We knew this months ago, def before the inauguration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We knew this months ago, def before the inauguration

It's been pointed out how many extremely good documentaries have been made at a small fraction of what she's being paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will the documentary cover her overstaying her visa and her experience as an illegal immigrant?

Or the chain migration she engaged in for to bring over her parents and sister and get them green cards and eventually citizenship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"The Real Lives of Trophy Wives" S1E1 - Melania Trump

Who cares? If Bezos wants to waste his money, fine, but I'm not watching this dreck.

Then, presumably, you did not care when Hunter (not Joe) received a few million. Here, paying Melania means paying the Small Man. And $40M is certainly above market value.

[Anonymous]

Still doesn't mean Bezos is going to get any government AI contracts for Amazon. What a tool.