First lady Melania Trump’s non-documentary documentary was already a public relations nightmare—thanks to her unpopular husband—before its release, but now that it’s fully settled in theaters the team behind the self-titled flick has a usage battle on its hands.
Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and film director Paul Thomas Anderson requested that the Brett Ratner-directed “Melania” remove Greenwood’s song from the film Monday.
According to the two, the track “Barbara Rose,” which appeared in Anderson’s 2017 film “Phantom Thread,” was used in “Melania” without their permission.
In a statement to Variety, Greenwood and Anderson’s attorney said that while usage rights are controlled by Universal, the company must consult them before handing over tracks for use in any other creative works.
“It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the ‘Melania‘ documentary,” they said in a statement. “While Jonny Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use which is a breach of his composer agreement. As a result Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”
Firing back on the far-right Breitbart website, the first lady’s senior adviser and “Melania” producer Marc Beckman said that the claims were “ridiculous.”
“We have a legal right and permission to use every song and piece of music in the film. We have the legal rights to use it,” he claimed. “We’ve done everything the right way. We followed protocol. We respect artists. We compensated everyone for their music.”
The former fashion model’s flick pulled in $13.35 million after two weeks at the box office and $7 million during its opening week—but that’s just a fraction of what it cost to produce the film.
Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Studios coughed up a collective $75 million for the aspiring film creator (yes, really) to create and promote a film critics have called terrible and labeled as “propaganda.”
And while getting people across the nation to buy tickets to her film was a tough sell, Republicans looking to get on the Trump administration’s good side seemingly used the opportunity to their advantage.
Related | 'Melania' tickets are the latest way to bribe Trump
GOP Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky, who is running to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, gave away free tickets to a showing. It’s unclear, given the promotional method, if campaign funds were used to purchase the tickets.
As for the music, it remains to be seen if “Melania” will have to make some major post-release edits.
Then again, it’s not unheard of for someone in the Trump family to be accused of plagiarizing or using someone’s work without their permission.
Alix Breeden February 11, 2026 at 12:11AM From Daily Kos
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