Producer Marc Beckman revealed that some major artists in the industry refused permission for their music to appear in the documentary Melania, which follows former First Lady Melania Trump.
In an interview with Variety, Marc addressed the difficulties faced behind the scenes of the soundtrack. He explained that, despite the entire team believing that the film "is not a political film," artists refused to participate for reasons related to the current political climate of Donald Trump's government.
The producer cited the band Guns N' Roses, not reaching an internal agreement. “We tried to use some songs, but unfortunately, there were political issues involved. For example, the guys from Guns N' Roses were politically divided. There was a beautiful song we wanted to use, and one of the guys—I don't want to name names, it wouldn't be fair—said, 'Go ahead and use it. Go for it.' And the other basically said, 'No way.' We needed everyone's approval to include it in the film. So, Guns N' Roses was definitely a disappointment for us; we all have a lot of respect for Guns N' Roses,” confessed Marc Beckman.
However, although Beckman did not reveal which band member denied permission, Axl Rose has publicly stated his disapproval of the Trump administration, calling it a threat to our "democracy."
Other artists have denied the use of their music
Jonny Greenwood, guitarist for Radiohead, requested that a song by the band, written for the film Phantom Thread (2017), be removed from the documentary. But Beckman insists there is no chance of the song being erased from the film. "That song will be in the film forever," he stated.
Another case cited was that of Prince, which blocked the inclusion of one of his works. Beckman stated that representatives of the artist had said that Prince "would never want his music associated with Donald Trump." Beckman then argued: "It's not a film about Donald Trump! He appears in the film occasionally, but the film is about Melania. It has nothing to do with politics. And the guy vetoed it. It's ridiculous."
Beckman also lamented that some artists chose not to release their music due to personal political views or fanbase concerns. “It’s disappointing when people put politics first. And that happened a bit with the film, for sure,” he confessed.
Despite this, the Rolling Stones allowed the use of their song "Gimme Shelter," approved by Mick Jagger, according to Beckman. "He gave us his blessing and we were very happy about that," he said.
According to Variety, the documentary Melania cost more than virtually any other documentary in history and received overwhelmingly negative reviews upon its release.
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