Legendary “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone recently revealed to The Sunday Times the shock that overcame him when President Donald Trump named him special ambassador to Hollywood last year.
“I was watching TV one night, and they go, ‘So Stallone and Mel Gibson and Jon Voight will be …’ and I went, ‘What?’” he recalled to The Sunday Times. “I said, ‘Excuse me? Really?’ Because if they had asked me in the beginning, I would have said, ‘This is not possible.'”
When Trump made the announcement on Jan. 16, 2025, he also made a point of naming actors Mel Gibson and Jon Voight to the post as well.
Trump appoints Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone as Special Ambassador to Hollywood.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/veU3wC7G6L
— AF Post (@AFpost) January 16, 2025
Trump made the January 2025 announcement in a Truth Social post.
“It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” he wrote.
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” he added.
Stallone continued his remarks to The Sunday Times by admitting he’d been hesitant about accepting the role because of his perception oh Hollywood.
“Because Hollywood, I guess, it’s like feudal states,” he said. “They have their little kingdoms. You don’t go in and tell six studios how to do things. And Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, we’re kind of do-our-own-thing people. No, it won’t work.”
Stallone also recalled explaining his position directly to the president.
“I said thank you and ciao, because it’s impossible,” he said. “Hollywood works, and it will evolve. It’s corporate, and corporate people won’t want to hear me tell them about finance.”
Despite his concerns, he did ultimately accept the post.
“I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised,” he told Variety magazine at the time. “Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can.”
Plus, he’s been a Trump fan since day one when he likened Trump to Founding Father George Washington while introducing him at an event days after the 2024 presidential election.
Sylvester Stallone (@theslystallone) introduces President-elect Trump at the @A1Policy Gala. pic.twitter.com/mZQNXrSxm8
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 15, 2024
“I’m very, very proud to be here,” he began. “I didn’t expect this. When I did ‘Rocky,’ if you remember, the first image was a picture of Jesus that says ‘Resurrection A.C. Club.’ I found a church that had been converted to a boxing ring. So the image pans out from Jesus onto Rocky being hit, and at that moment he was the chosen person, and that’s how I began the journey.”
“Something was going to happen,” he added. “This man was going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives, just like President Trump. We are in the presence of a really mythical character. I love mythology. And this individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could have pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe.”
“When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was gonna change the world,” Stallone concluded. “Because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like. Guess what? We got the 2nd George Washington.”
After he finished speaking, Trump walked on stage, the two men shared a long handshake, and then the then-president-elect delivered a speech of his own in which he proposed starting his term in office early.
“Things are happening to our country that we didn’t see happening for years,” he began. “Almost every single day we set new records in the stock market.”
“Mr. Speaker,” he added, turning his attention to House Speaker Mike Johnson, “I think it’s important maybe you should pass a bill. You have to start my term from November 5, because the market’s gone through the roof and enthusiasm has doubled.”
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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