Ben Stiller Demands Removal of Tropic Thunder Clip from White House Video

Ben Stiller demanded on Friday that the White House remove a clip from his 2008 film Tropic Thunder that appeared in an official social media video promoting recent U.S. military actions in Iran. The video, posted on the White House's X account the previous day, intercut footage of drone strikes with scenes from various movies, television shows, and video games, and was captioned "Justice the American way."

The montage included excerpts from films such as Braveheart, Gladiator, Iron Man 2, John Wick, Superman, Top Gun: Maverick, Minority Report, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Transformers, and Deadpool, as well as clips from Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and the video game Halo. It featured multiple appearances by Tom Cruise, including his dancing scene as producer Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder, which Stiller directed and starred in alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black. The video concluded with a voiceover stating "Flawless victory" and a title card reading "The White House, President Donald J. Trump."

Stiller, who played the lead role of Tugg Speedman in the satirical comedy about actors caught in a real war zone, expressed his objection in a post on X. "Hey White House,...