Jeff Bezos was not responsible for Amazon’s decision to acquire Melania Trump’s eponymous documentary, but he’s definitely on board.
“The Melania thing is a falsehood that will not die,” Bezos, 62, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Pod” on Wednesday, May 20. “I see reported all the time that somehow I was involved in this.”
He added, “I had nothing to do with that. By the way, it appears it was a good business decision. It did very well in theaters. It’s done very well on streaming.”
It was previously alleged that Amazon spent $75 million to license and promote the Melania documentary, released earlier this year, as a favor to President Donald Trump.
“Even though I had nothing to do with it, it appears that the Amazon team made a very wise business decision,” he added. “Amazon’s a big company. It makes a lot of decisions.”
Bezos continued, “This idea that somehow that is a way of buying influence is just not correct. I can see why people say this.”
It was initially reported that Melania, 56, pitched Bezos during a 2024 dinner hosted by President Trump, 79, at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Melania producer and her senior advisor Marc Beckman previously denied reports of Bezos’ involvement as well.
“Bezos wasn’t involved in the contract negotiations at all, ever,” Beckman told Page Six in a January statement. “He never had a conversation with me about anything surrounding the film — ever.”
Beckman clarified “what actually happened” regarding Bezos.
“The only interaction during that family meal between Melania and Jeff — with regards to the film — was that when Melania commented to Jeff that I was in talks with Amazon’s executive leadership, Bezos had no idea about the film or the contract negotiation,” he explained. “He wasn’t aware that I was already in talks with his team, and didn’t know about the film itself. It was a friendly meal with family members present, and definitely not a setting for a contract negotiation.”
Beckman said he reached out to someone in an “executive leadership” position at Amazon and not Bezos.
“During the process, I became very impressed with Amazon’s team, their vision, and experience in the film industry,” Beckman added. “It was definitely one of the key determining factors in making the deal.”
The movie, released in January, reportedly made just over $16 million globally. It follows Melania in the 20 days leading up to her husband’s inauguration last year.
