A source close to Mick Jagger has denied that he gave the producers of Melania permission to use The Rolling Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’ in the documentary.
Producer Marc Beckman said earlier this week that the band’s frontman approved of the song’s use, in contrast to Guns N’ Roses, Grace Jones and Prince’s estate, who all refused.
He told Variety that Jagger “was actually involved” and “gave his blessing”, but a source close to the rock icon said, per The Guardian, that he felt scepticism was required as the producer was attempting to promote the documentary.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for The Rolling Stones also told the newspaper that the band did not liaise with Beckman over the use of the track in the film – the deal was made between the producers and music company ABKCO, which owns the rights to the band’s pre-1971 material.
The film, which follows First Lady Melania Trump in the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, opens in his Mar-a-Lago resort using ‘Gimme Shelter’ as the soundtrack.
Beckman claimed about The Rolling Stones, “We worked very close with them on that. And that wasn’t a political thing. With the Stones, they were just like, ‘Oh, you’re making a nice movie.’ They were able to get over the hurdle. It’s not politics – it’s just some story about some woman that is going from being a civilian back into the White House, and this movie looks cool and Brett [Ratner, director] is doing a cool job and Melania Trump is focused, and let’s do it. We showed it to them and they were impressed.”
The Stones have previously objected to the use of their music in Trump rallies, too, alongside Guns N’ Roses, Jones, Prince’s estate, Foo Fighters, ABBA, Adele, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, R.E.M, Jack White and Celine Dion.
About Guns N’ Roses, Jones and Prince, Beckman told Variety: “I’ll tell you on the record, if you want to know. There was music that we tried to get, but sadly, there were politics to it.”
“For example, the guys from Guns N’ Roses split down the middle politically,” he added. “There was a beautiful song we wanted to use, and one of the guys – I don’t want to name, it’s not fair – said, ‘You got it. Go.’ And the other one was basically like, ‘There’s just no way.’
“We needed everybody’s approval to get 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.”
He added: “There was a song that we wanted to use from Grace Jones; obviously, also a tremendous amount of respect for her. She apparently couldn’t get over the political hurdle, notwithstanding the fact that the film is not a political film. So that was disappointing, too.”
And, of Prince’s estate, producers were told by a lawyer that “Prince would never want his song associated with Donald Trump.”
Meanwhile, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and director Paul Thomas Anderson asked for their Phantom Thread music to be removed – a request that was shut down by the producer.
The film opened at Number 29 at the UK box office – making just under £33,000 in its first week.
However, around that same time, figures emerged that it had earned $9.5million (£7million) globally at the box office from a budget of $40million, plus a reported $35million (£25.6million) extra in marketing. It is a particularly high figure for a documentary, and some have contested the legitimacy of the stats, with The Daily Beast reporting accusations of “fake tickets sales” made to boost the movie’s fortunes.