Cillian Murphy and producers denounced the video for using show footage in an anti-LGBTQ ad
In an ad rivaling Donald Trump’s pudding-gate attack, Ron DeSantis shared the latest bizarre campaign video to come from the GOP party. The anti-LGBTQ ad, which was rife with images of shirtless men and murderous cinema characters, was denounced by Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy and producers on Wednesday for using show footage that was “obtained without permission or official license.”
“On behalf of the partners of Peaky Blinders – Steven Knight, Cillian Murphy, Caryn Mandabach Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions and Baniay Rights – we confirm the footage of Tommy Shelby’s character used within the video posted by Ron DeSantis’ campaign was obtained without permission of official license,” the statement read. “We do not support nor endorse the vide’s narrative and strongly disapprove of the use of the content in this manner.”
The video released June 30 by DeSantis’s “Rapid response” twitter account, and contrasts Trump’s statements in support of the LGBTQ community with a string of headlines criticizing DeSantis for his legislative attacks on LGBTQ people. The footage is spliced with dramatic shots of murderous male characters in film including Murphy in Peaky Blinders, Christian Bale in American Psycho (seriously), and Brad Pitt in Troy. Images of bodybuilders and DeSantis shooting lighting out of his eyes are peppered in for effect.
During Sunday’s State of the Union on CNN, Buttigieg was asked about the ad, which drew condemnation from the Log Cabin Republicans for “ventur[ing] into homophobic territory.”
“I’m going to choose my words carefully — partly because I’m appearing as secretary — so I can’t talk about campaigns,” began Buttigieg, the first openly gay Cabinet member.
He added, “I’m going to leave aside the strangeness of trying to prove your manhood by putting up a video that splices images of you in between oiled-up, shirtless bodybuilders, and just get to the bigger issue that is on my mind whenever I see this stuff in the policy space, which is, again, who are you trying to help?”