Artists Equity by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon ‘Did Not Opt In’ to Trump Campaign Ad Using ‘Air’ Audio

On Saturday, former President Donald Trump posted a fundraising video to his Truth Social account combining a monologue from Matt Damon’s character in the film Airalong with photos and videos of Trump.

In a statement on Saturday, Artists Equity, the production company that produced Air and was co-founded by Damon and Ben Affleck, he said he didn’t approve of the use of monologue for Trump’s announcement.

“We were unaware of, have not consented to, and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from Air be repurposed by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use,” the statement said. “Specifically in terms of all rights available to us under U.S. copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby expressly advise that in case of use of material from Air from the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant that consent.

Air, which was released earlier this year by Amazon Studios, tells the story of Nike executives pursuing an endorsement deal with Michael Jordan. Affleck directed the film, which stars Damon as Sonny Vaccaro, the key Nike executive in question.

The Trump campaign of almost two and a half minutes clip is entirely based on a critical monologue from the film.

“Money can buy you almost anything, but it can’t buy you immortality,” Damon’s voice says, as Trump walks from his helicopter toward the camera. The Trump campaign also used the ad to ask supporters for donations.

The Trump campaign has already abused Hollywood intellectual property. While he was president he used pictures, music and videos from HBO game of Thrones AND The dark Knight in tweets and other content. However, the Air commercial is the first time it has taken an entire monologue from a film and repurposed it for an advertising campaign.