Producers of the hit show Peaky Blinders distanced themselves from an apparently anti-LGBT campaign ad by Ron DeSantis, claiming that the footage had been used without permission.
The “definitely homophobic” ad attempted to use the show’s main character, Tommy Shelby, to project a sense of masculinity and attribute it to DeSantis.
In a statement posted Wednesday, the “Peaky Blinders’ partners” — including star Cillian Murphy — not only pointed out that the material was being used without a license, but also condemned DeSantis’ post.
The video used Murphy’s character Tommy Shelby and was uploaded to Twitter at the end of Pride month on June 30 via a DeSantis campaign Twitter page.
It was broadly intended to brand Donald Trump as LGBT-friendly in an effort to win over conservative voters ahead of the Republican primary in which the two are expected to face off.
Producers of the hit show Peaky Blinders distanced themselves from an anti-LGBT Ron DeSantis campaign ad, claiming the footage had been used without permission
The controversial DeSantis ad was posted to Twitter on June 30 at the end of Pride month and attempted to portray Donald Trump as LGBT-friendly and DeSantis as macho using images from Peaky Blinders
The video’s caption labeled Trump as “the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate Pride,” and began a compilation of several clips of the former president expressing solidarity with the LGBT community.
Halfway through the minute-long video, the tone changes and several aggressive measures DeSantis has taken against LGBT people flash across the screen.
The headlines describe how DeSantis signed the “most extreme anti-trans laws in modern history,” banned a school drag show and forced the cancellation of a Pride show.
Throbbing music and plays and photos by DeSantis are interspersed with various stoic and quintessentially masculine pop culture figures – including Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders and Brad Pitt as he appeared in the movie Troy.
A clip of Shelby shows him smoking a cigarette and standing ominously in what is believed to be an attempt to attribute powerful masculinity to DeSantis.
The video was very poorly received on Twitter with a person describing himself as a “conservative dem” posting in response to the ad, “Well you had my vote – no more”.
Another person joked, “Will Ron Desantis become president of Iran?” presumably referring to an extremely hardline stance he took against homosexuality and transgenderism.
Images of the show’s main character, Tommy Shelby, were used in the ad to project a sense of masculinity
A clip of Shelby shows him smoking a cigarette and standing ominously in what is believed to be an attempt to attribute powerful masculinity to DeSantis
“This is the worst video I have ever seen in my life and whoever is ever responsible should be fired immediately,” another wrote.
The video also interspersed clips of a laughing DeSantis with footage of Christian Bale in American Psycho and references to The Wolf of Wall Street.
The video comes as DeSantis polls remain stubbornly low and Trump is significantly ahead among primary voters.
A YouGov poll for The Economist conducted June 24-27 gave Trump a 27-point lead over the Florida governor.
Trump sat at 52 percent and DeSantis at 25 percent.
On Friday, Trump and DeSantis were both in Philadelphia trying to outflank each other on the right.
Trump told the crowd at the Moms for Liberty group that he would “eliminate all diversity, justice and inclusion programs across the entire federal government.”
DeSantis vowed to enforce his Florida policy on LGBTQ discussions in schools and restrooms at the federal level.
“What we’ve seen in this country in recent years has awakened the most powerful political force in this country: mama bears,” he said to the crowd of hundreds.
“We’ve done so much on these issues in Florida, and I will do all of this as the next president.”
DeSantis recently vowed to enforce its Florida policy on LGBTQ discussions in schools and restrooms at the federal level. Pictured, he is speaking Friday at the Moms for Liberty rally in Philadelphia
Trump-DeSantis Republican primary by YouGov for The Economist, June 24-27
Alexis Spiegelman, who directs the Moms for Liberty chapter in Sarasota, Florida, told me The New York Times“I just don’t see why we would want a knockoff when we have the real, authentic Trump.”
DeSantis’ strategy of positioning himself to Trump’s right has also been questioned by Republican strategists.
“The consultants who think this kind of ‘running to Trump’s right’ will be effective should be fired,” said Sarah Longwell, CEO of conservative firm Longwell Partners.
Andrew Clark, a Republican strategist who worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign, said DeSantis promoting himself as rolling back LGBTQ rights was a bad electoral approach.