Hollywood legend Whoopi Goldberg says President Donald Trump has no clue how the film industry works and his plan to place tariffs on movies produced outside the U.S. is a terrible idea.
On Sunday, May 4, Trump called for a 100 percent tariff on projects filmed overseas in a statement on his Truth Social platform.
“I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands,” Trump wrote.
He reasoned that the domestic film industry is facing a “very fast death” because of incentives offered by other countries.
On Tuesday’s episode of The View, EGOT winner Goldberg said Trump should focus on things that affect the average American, like egg prices.
“Okay, look, you can’t do that, because what that equates to is, you’re going to tell me how to write the story I want to write if it happens in Europe,” the Ghost star said. “Could you please lower the price of eggs before you start this?”
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Goldberg insisted Trump’s plan doesn’t make sense.
“Who are you going to put this tariff on? Is it on the production? Is it on the studio? What are you talking about?” she said.
“You can’t shoot Gladiator without going to Rome!” Goldberg added.
Former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin agreed with Goldberg’s assessment.
“I don’t think he knows what he’s talking about. The one thing I will mention is that the ten highest grossing movies in the world last year were all released by U.S. studios,” Hostin said.
She also cited the box office success of Sinners, which to date has earned $57.5 million overseas and $184 million domestically. The Ryan Coogler movie was filmed in Louisiana and hired many local actors and camera operators, according to Nola.com.
“It is part of what we do. Please stop,” Goldberg said. “The bottom line is tax incentives, if you want to change, you have to change it in the states and make it available for people to shoot here. Don’t stop us from going over and shooting overseas, because then you’re limiting us.”
But the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), a union representing production workers thinks Trump might be onto something.
The union issued a statement on Monday, May 5, saying competition from other countries is killing film and TV jobs here at home, as movie studios look to save money by filming abroad.
“Films intended for initial release in the U.S. are increasingly being shot overseas — and American workers and our economy are paying the price,” the union said.
“In just two years, IATSE members have lost tens of thousands of jobs across the United States,” the union added. “That’s thousands of families, small businesses, and communities across the country feeling the economic hardship of a shrinking industry.”
Trump has named Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, and Jon Voight as “special ambassadors” to the film industry.
Instead of tariffs, IATSE called on the administration to “implement a federal film production tax incentive and other domestic tax provisions to level the playing field.”
Watch the video below of Whoopi Goldberg commenting on Trump’s plan.
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