Melania Producer Straight Up Called Director And Radiohead Guitarist’s Reason To Remove Music From The Film 'A Blatant Lie'

Melania, the documentary film about the first lady, has been a controversial topic since it was first announced. The film has been ripped to shreds by critics and has made little at the box office, although the film’s strong audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is apparently legitimate. Even though few are paying to see the movie, some people who have had their work associated with the film have asked for it to be edited, but now the producer of Melania is clapping back.

The backlash comes from a joint statement issued by Paul Thomas Anderson, director of Daniel Dan Lewis' would-be retirement movie Phantom Thread, and Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarist for the band Radiohead, who also composed the film’s music. The statement claimed that Greenwood was not consulted on the use of the music, which violated an agreement, and as such, wanted the music removed. Speaking with Breitbart, Melania producer Marc Beckman said…

It’s a pretty strong statement to say that Anderson and Greenwood are lying, but it’s certainly possible there’s a bit of a legal gray area here. The statement from the Phantom Thread team stated up front that Greenwood doesn’t own the music from the 2026 film release, that it belongs to Universal Pictures.

However, the composer agreement Greenwood had apparently said that he would be consulted on any use of the music. It’s entirely possible that the Melania team got the permission from Universal, but that permission also came without consulting the composer. If that were truly required, then we'd have a situation where nobody is lying, but the movie has every reason to believe they have the rights.

Music rights and the Trump Administration are no strangers. There are numerous instances of music being used at rallies for the President, both during his campaign and since, that have seen artists who don’t politically align with Trump request their music not be used, as they did not give permission.

If Anderson and Greenwood are truly hoping to see the music removed from the film, it will seemingly take legal action. Based on what Marc Bechkman says, he believes he has the full legal right to use the music. He continued…

It’s unclear if this issue will simply end here or if a legal battle could be on the way. Even if a lawsuit is filed its unlikely anything will impact the theatrical release of Meliana, as the doc will likely be out of theaters before any judgement was made.

It's rare, though not unheard of, for films to be changed while in theaters. It's far more common for a movie to be changed between its theatrical and home release. It's possible we could see the music changed before the movie hits streaming, if only to avoid any future legal issues. As an Amazon MGM project, you'll need a Prime Video subscription to watch it.