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Mel Gibson one of three Trump envoys to ‘troubled’ Hollywood

Donald Trump says Mel Gibson will be one of three "special envoys" to Hollywood.

Donald Trump says Mel Gibson will be one of three "special envoys" to Hollywood. Photo: Getty

US-born Australian actor Mel Gibson has been named as a “special envoy” by Donald Trump, as the incoming US president vows to make Hollywood “bigger, better and stronger”.

Trump also named Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as the stars of what he called his “Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California” on Wednesday (US time).

The president-elect said the trio would be his eyes and ears to the movie-making town.

“It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” he wrote on Truth Social.

He also described the stars as special envoys. Special ambassadors and envoys are typically chosen to respond to troubled hot spots like the Middle East, not California.

US film and television production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 and, in the past week, the catastrophic fires in the Los Angeles area. Overall production in the US was down 26 per cent from 2021, according to data from ProdPro.

It is unclear what exactly Gibson, Voight and Stallone will do in this effort to bring productions back to the US. Their representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The three actors aren’t Trump’s only entertainment appointment.s

In December, he named, Mark Burnett – the British television producer behind The Apprentice — as his special envoy to Britain.

At the time, Trump wrote that Burnett would “work to enhance diplomatic relations, focusing on areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment opportunities, and cultural exchanges.”

Trump’s latest announcement underscores his preoccupations with the 1980s and 1990s, when he was a rising tabloid star in New York, and Gibson and Stallone were among the biggest movie stars in the world.

Stallone, at 78, is the same age as Trump. He is also a frequent guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and introduced him at a gala in November shortly after the election.

“When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. Because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like,” Stallone told the crowd.

“Guess what? We got the second George Washington. Congratulations!”

The decision also reflects Trump’s willingness to overlook his supporters’ most controversial statements.

Gibson’s reputation has been tarnished in Hollywood since 2006, he went on an antisemitic rant while being arrested for allegedly driving under the influence. But the 69-year-old has also continued to work in mainstream movies and directed the upcoming Wahlberg thriller Flight Risk.

Voight, 86, is a long-time Trump supporter who has called Trump the greatest president since Lincoln.

Trump will be sworn in for his second term as US president in Washington DC on Monday (local time).

On Sunday, he will hold a “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” in Washington. The event, which he has called “a victory rally you’ll never forget”, will be his first in the US capital since the rally that led to the January 6 riots in 2021.

-with AAP

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