Melania Trump’s documentary needed more than just good content to generate interest. Unusual reviews, nearly empty theaters and a poor opening night were clear signs that the project struggled to gain traction.
The first lady and her producers have been attempting new ways to sustain interest in the project. For example, one producer shared a list of artists who would not allow Melania Trump to use their music in the documentary. The filmmakers had hoped to tell her story with a soundtrack featuring legendary artists.
Since that did not materialize, Melania Trump’s manager and the head of the New York ad agency DMA United shared a list of artists who declined to license their music. These included Guns N’ Roses, Grace Jones and Prince’s estate, all of whom reportedly said no. According to the producer, the reasons were political, even though the film was not intended to be political.
In his statement, the producer remarked, “There was music that we tried to get, but sadly, there were politics to it.” He then criticized Guns N’ Roses, adding that internal differences of opinion led the band to back out.
Melania Trump’s flopumentary has hit another MAJOR controversy, this time involving its music. Johnny Greenwood, the acclaimed Radiohead guitarist, and director Paul Thomas Anderson discovered that a track from their Oscar-nominated film Phantom Thread! https://t.co/8FL2BX7Nrh
— Shoes4Industry (@Shoes_4Industry) February 18, 2026
Marc said, “For example, the guys from Guns N’ Roses split down the middle politically. 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.”
Marc Beckman said the same thing happened with Grace Jones, who could not get past the political issues. Prince’s estate refused to allow any of his music to be used in connection with Donald Trump. When approached again, they blocked the request.
Marc added, “Literally, we were ready to go, and this lawyer that manages the estate was like, ‘Prince would never want his song associated with Donald Trump.’ And we’re like, ‘But it’s not a Donald Trump film! He comes into the movie once in a while, but this is all about Melania. It’s not political.’ And that guy blocked it. It’s so ridiculous.”
Even when music labels were not the issue, Melania Trump still had trouble securing songs for her documentary. Producer Marc Beckman told Variety that while some artists were willing to work with the Trumps, the companies that owned the rights to their songs prevented it from happening.
Radiohead #guitarist Jonny Greenwood is demanding that his music be removed from Amazon’s new Melania Trump documentary. Greenwood has written music for 12 films, but did not contribute music to the Melania doc. #Music pic.twitter.com/yb4mKR75HX
— Music Beat (@MusicBeat5) February 13, 2026
Beckman explained, “So, at least on a personal level, it was kind of surprising to hear some of these artists say, ‘Oh, I actually really like him. You don’t have to come and show me the film or anything. I would be happy to do it.’ But then, as you know, these guys are selling their catalogues, and the rights holders are like, ‘Not a chance.’”
The only artists who stayed on Melania Trump’s good side were Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin.
At the start of February, Radiohead’s lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson publicly asked for the song Phantom Thread to be taken out of Melania Trump’s documentary. They said Universal Pictures broke the composer agreement. But Marc Beckman said the song would stay in the movie for good.
