The film,titledThe Apprentice,charts the former president’s rise to wealth and power in the 1970s and 80s,under the tutelage of his ruthless lawyer,Roy Cohn.
The Apprentice:Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova plays Ivana,Sebastian Stan plays Trump.Supplied
It was revealed at the film’s Cannes premiere that it contains a scene in which Trump rapes his then-wife Ivana.
This reflects claims made by Ivana,who died in 2022,during her divorce from Trump. She later denied that she had been sexually assaulted.
In the new biopic Trump,played by Sebastian Stan,is presented with a book on sexual technique by his wife,who he then mocks for her breast implants,stating that he no longer finds her attractive.
Ivana,played by Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova,responds by mocking Trump’s paunch,hair,and increasingly orange complexion.
Trump is then shown wrestling his wife to the ground and forcing himself onto her.
The scene strays from allegations made by Ivana in a deposition made during divorce proceedings from Trump in 1990,and later included in the bookLost Tycoon:The Many Lives of Donald Trump.
In the book,it is alleged that Trump was upset that a scalp treatment to remove a bald spot was extremely painful,and forced himself onto his wife. However,Ivana later rejected any suggestion that she had been raped,and in 2015 issued another public rejection of the claims and called Trump her “best friend”.
The tycoon-turned-politician always denied the allegation,and his lawyer ensured that a clarifying statement from Ivana was included in theLost Tycoon,which stated that while she used the word “rape” in divorce proceedings,no criminal act actually took place.
Succession’s Jeremy Strong (left) plays Roy Cohn.Supplied
The statement said:“On one occasion during 1989,Mr Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage.
“As a woman,I felt violated,as the love and tenderness,which he normally exhibited towards me,was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape’,but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”
Critics in Cannes have suggested that the film is not a polemical portrayal of Trump,and remains broadly balanced.
It follows the rise of Trump long before his career in politics,when he is taken under the wing of Cohn,played by Succession star Jeremy Strong,while pursuing his business ambitions as a real estate mogul.
Maria Bakalova and director Ali Abbasi on the red carpet at Cannes.Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP
Cohn was a prosecutor who became a leading political fixer in New York,and represented Trump,while passing on his philosophy of going on the attack politically,never apologising,and always claiming victory.
The film,in contention for the Palme d’Or prize,was directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi,who appeared on the red carpet in Cannes alongside Stan,Bakalova,and other stars including Cate Blanchett.
The Telegraph,London
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