Sylvester Stallone\u00a0revealed that he was blindsided when President Donald Trump announced his appointment as a special ambassador to Hollywood.<\/p>\n
Days before his second inauguration in January 2025, Trump shared a post on his platform Truth Social in which he named Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as \u201cSpecial Envoys,\u201d describing the role as a way for the three actors to serve as his \u201ceyes and ears\u201d in Hollywood and advise him on efforts to bring film and television production back to the US.<\/p>\n
During a recent interview with\u00a0The Sunday Times<\/a>, the 80-year-old \u201cRocky\u201d star recalled that he found out about the appointment while watching television.<\/p>\n \u201cI was watching TV one night, and they go, \u2018So Stallone and Mel Gibson and Jon Voight will be \u2026\u2019 And I went, \u2018What?\u2019 I said, \u2018Excuse me? Really?\u2019 Because if they had asked me in the beginning, I would have said, \u2018This is not possible,’\u201d Stallone said.<\/p>\n Stallone told the outlet that he was hesitant about taking on the role because he didn\u2019t believe it was feasible. When asked if he had reservations after Trump\u2019s announcement, Stallone said, \u201cYes. Yes, because Hollywood, I guess it\u2019s like feudal states.\u201d<\/p>\n Sylvester Stallone says he rejected Donald Trump\u2019s surprise appointment as a Hollywood envoy, telling him \u201cthank you and ciao.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cThey have their little kingdoms,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou don\u2019t go in and tell six studios how to do things. And Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, we\u2019re kind of do-our-own-thing people. No, it won\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cTulsa King\u201d star recalled that he later explained his reasoning to Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cI said thank you and ciao, because it\u2019s impossible,\u201d Stallone said. \u201cHollywood works, and it will evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s corporate, and corporate people won\u2019t want to hear me tell them about finance,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n In his original post on Jan. 16, 2025, Trump wrote, \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Stallone and President Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 24, 1997. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cThey 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\u2014BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!\u201d he continued. \u201cThese three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, Gibson, 70, shared that he was caught off-guard by Trump\u2019s announcement and did not have previous knowledge about his presidential appointment.<\/p>\n