The producer of First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary is speaking out about the political roadblocks he faced while trying to secure music rights for the film, claiming several iconic artists refused to license their songs due to their opposition to President Donald Trump.
Marc Beckman, CEO of New York advertising agency DMA United and senior adviser to First Lady Melania Trump for more than two decades, revealed that Guns N’ Roses, Grace Jones, and Prince’s estate all declined to allow their music in the documentary, which premiered at The Kennedy Center on January 29, 2026.
The documentary, titled “Melania,” chronicles the 20 days leading up to President Trump’s second presidential inauguration. Amazon paid $40 million to license the film—the highest price ever paid for a commissioned documentary—and reportedly spent an additional $35 million on marketing. Brett Ratner directed the film, which follows the 55-year-old First Lady’s transition from private citizen back to the White House. Disney, Netflix, and Paramount Pictures also bid for the streaming rights before Amazon won the deal.
Beckman detailed the Guns N’ Roses situation, explaining that the legendary rock band split down the middle politically over whether to allow their music in the film. One member approved the request while another refused, and since producers needed unanimous approval, the deal fell through.
“For example, the guys from Guns N’ Roses split down the middle politically,” Beckman told Variety. “There was a beautiful song we wanted to use, and one of the guys said, ‘You got it. Go.’ And the other one was basically like, ‘There’s just no way.'”
The producer said Grace Jones “couldn’t get over the political hurdle” despite his insistence that the documentary focused on Melania Trump rather than politics. Prince’s estate also rejected the request at the last minute, with Beckman claiming a lawyer managing the estate stated that Prince would never want his music associated with Donald Trump.
The music licensing challenges represent just one controversy surrounding the documentary, which has earned a critics’ score in the single digits on Rotten Tomatoes—creating the largest disparity between critic and audience scores in the website’s history. Audiences who verified they purchased tickets gave the film a 99% approval rating. The film earned $7 million during its opening weekend, the best debut for a non-concert documentary in over a decade, and has grossed more than $16 million domestically.
Beckman also faces allegations that the production used music from the 2017 film “Phantom Thread” without proper permission. Director Paul Thomas Anderson and Radiohead guitarist-composer Jonny Greenwood demanded the removal of their composition “Barbara Rose” from the documentary, claiming Universal failed to consult Greenwood on the third-party use in breach of his composer agreement.
Beckman strongly denied those accusations, calling the claim “a blatant lie” in comments to Breitbart News. He insisted producers have legal rights and fully executed contracts to use every song in the film, and that they compensated all artists and followed proper protocol.
The producer did celebrate some music licensing victories, noting that producers successfully secured rights to songs by Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Tears for Fears, and the Rolling Stones. Beckman said the Rolling Stones were able to look past political concerns, viewing the project as a story about a woman returning to the White House rather than a political film. ABKCO owns the specific song used in the documentary.
Beckman hinted that some classic rock artists who publicly opposed Trump privately supported the project, but he refused to name them. He claimed several artists expressed enthusiasm for contributing to the film but were overruled by companies that own the rights to their music catalogs, noting that many artists have sold their catalogs in recent years.
The documentary’s director Brett Ratner carries his own controversies. His Hollywood career was derailed by multiple accusations of sexual misconduct in 2017, and his name appears in a recent batch of Jeffrey Epstein case files released by the Department of Justice. Photos released in January 2026 showed Ratner sitting on a couch with Epstein and two women. Ratner told Fox News he didn’t have a personal relationship with Epstein and that the woman beside him in the photo was his former fiancée from roughly 20 years ago. There is no indication of wrongdoing from Ratner in the files.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended the documentary’s screening at The Kennedy Center, marking a high-profile debut for a film that has generated significant attention for both its content and the behind-the-scenes battles over its soundtrack. The audience at the premiere included members of the Trump Cabinet, conservative commentators, and celebrities, with viewers skewing heavily toward women over 55 and Republican supporters.