Biden’s Pentagon poured money into Kelly Clarkson and Guy Fieri shows in desperate bid to recruit Gen Z

Joe Biden’s Pentagon tried to avert a military recruitment crisis by offering deals to celebrities including Gen Z YouTube star MrBeast.

Other agreements have been made with talk shows hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson, and TV chef Guy Fieri, documents show obtained by Rolling Stone.

Such deals are known as Production Assistance Agreements (PAAs) and include support in the form of equipment and expertise.

They have often been used in the past for Hollywood action films, including Top Gun, to boost the military’s image.

Earlier this year, it emerged that the Pentagon also engaged in a recruitment drive involving social media posts from The Rock, which ultimately failed.

A government recruitment report published in November described the ‘strategic target’ for all sites as ‘Generation Z’.

The report states, “Favorable views of the military are declining among Generation Z — the generation born in 1997 through 2012 — who today’s military recruiters are trying to reach.”

It said that only 35 percent of Generation Z had a positive view of the military and that this was due to “young people’s general distrust of institutions and their limited knowledge of military service.”

Young people “are increasingly viewing the real world through social media discussions, videos and memes,” the report said.

In 2023, the Navy, Army, and Air Force all failed to meet their recruitment goals, while the Marine Corps and Small Space Force met their goals.

The Army brought in just over 50,000 recruits, falling far short of the publicly stated goal of 65,000.

The Defense Department has been involved in Hollywood for a century, mainly by lending military hardware for filming, saving movie producers money.

Films that have benefited from this include Armageddon, Black Hawk Down, the Transformers and James Bond franchises, Top Gun and its sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

However, with big-screen audiences dwindling due to the popularity of streaming, military promoters are looking elsewhere to reach potential young recruits.

A deal was being explored with Jimmy Donaldson, 26, the YouTube star known as “MrBeast,” for a possible filming trip to Puerto Rico, Rolling Stone reported.

“We did complete a PAA for social influencer Mr. Beast, but ultimately did not support the production because he did not go to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief, so PAA was canceled,” according to an email obtained by the outlet.

Other shows with PAAs included The Price Is Right and America’s Got Talent.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Army struck a separate $11 million deal with the United Football League (UFL) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

It featured promotional social media posts for the star’s 396 million Instagram followers.

However, according to internal documents from Military.com, the campaign failed to secure a single recruit.

In response to the lack of 2023 recruitment targets, the military launched a major overhaul to focus more on youth

In September 2024, it was revealed that the Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force were all ready to meet their recruitment goals, and that the Navy was close.

The results represented a slight increase in the number of young people joining the military, reversing the dismal trend.

This trend was influenced by severe restrictions on in-person recruitment due to the pandemic and the low unemployment rate.

Army leaders are concerned that an expected decline in the youth population could be a sign of tougher times ahead.

The projected decline of about 10 percent in the number of college-age youth by 2026 comes 18 years after the 2008 financial recession, which caused a decline in the number of children born.

Military leaders have also noted that only about 23 percent of young adults are physically, mentally and morally qualified to serve without some form of exemption.