Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Slam Donald Trump's Use of 'Air' Footage in Campaign Video: 'We Do Not Endorse or Approve'
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon do not approve of this message.
On Saturday, June 10, the award winning actors' co-founded production company, Artists Equity, released a statement against Donald Trump after the ex-POTUS used audio footage from their recent film Air in a campaign video for the 2024 presidential election.
"We had no foreknowledge of, did not consent to and do not endorse or approve any footage or audio from Air being repurposed by the Trump campaign as a political advertisement or for any other use," the independently capitalized studio wrote via Twitter after the video made it seem as though Damon and Affleck possibly had a planned partnership, alliance or endorsement of Trump.
The co-founders proceeded to condemn any future use of their work by the Trump Administration.
"Specifically in terms of any & all rights available to us under US copyright and intellectual property law, we hereby, expressly give notice that in the case of any use of material from Air by the Trump campaign where approval or consent is required, we do not grant such consent," the statement concluded.
The audio used by Trump — without permission — featured a voiceover of Damon as the character of sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro. The film highlights Vaccaro's real-life work signing basketball legend Michael Jordan with Nike.
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"Money can buy you almost anything, it can’t buy you immortality. That, you have to earn," Damon's voice from a scene in the movie said in Trump's campaign video. "You’re gonna be remembered forever, because some things are eternal."
Though the former president's video had nothing to do with sneakers, the 76-year-old even felt the need to use Damon's inspirational words from the film that stated: "A shoe is just a shoe until somebody steps into it. Then it has meaning."
Damon and Affleck quickly shut down possible public ties to Trump as the controversial Republican faces two separate indictments in the last three months.
Trump was arrested in April for falsifying documents after allegedly paying Stormy Daniels a $130,000 "hush money" payment to keep her quiet about their affair prior to the 2016 presidential election. He recently was indicted in connection to the DOJ and FBI's investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.