Apple CEO Tim Cook gets blasted for attending 'Melania' screening at White House
Apple CEO Tim Cook attended Saturday’s private screening of Melania, the documentary about First Lady Melania Trump, at the White House, and many online commenters have reacted by excoriating Cook and calling for boycotts of Apple products.
Cook, who is gay, is among many tech leaders who have cozied up to Donald Trump and his family. Other tech CEOs who were at the screening included Andy Jassy of Amazon, Eric Yuan of Zoom, and Lisa Su of AMD, Yahoo! News reports. They were among about 70 guests at the East Room screening. The film is from Amazon Studios.
The event came just hours after Alex Pretti was shot to death by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis. The 37-year-old nurse was observing and protesting operations by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and video shows him trying to help a woman who was being pepper-sprayed before agents wrestled him to the ground and shot him multiple times. The Trump administration has tried to paint this as a case of self-defense by federal agents, as it did with the killing of Renee Nicole Good, but in both cases, video shows otherwise.
“If you’re a CEO willing to sit in the company of this regime, your ‘shareholder value’ excuse feels pretty blood-soaked tonight,” Lincoln Project cofounder and former Republican political consultant Rick Wilson posted on X.
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“It’s revolting — especially Tim Cook,” one person wrote in response to Wilson’s post. “I’m never buying another Apple product in my life — even though I have several [expletive] dozen!”
“Tim Cook and Andy Jassy — and the rest—are accommodating an authoritarian who is presiding over a secret police force killing American citizens,” commented David Corn, Washington bureau chief for the liberal magazine Mother Jones. “The blood of Renee Good and Alex Pretti is on the hands of those who enable Trump. Hope they like the movie.”
Adam Cochran, a professor and consultant, addressed Cook in an X post: “As one of the few Silicon Valley folks I know has a spine hidden somewhere, I have to ask you: How was this movie? The one you watched while Americans were shot. While ICE tracking apps were banned from the App Store. While you stayed silent on Trump. The one you were invited to by the man you donated $1M to the inauguration fund of? The same man who shits on the rights and values you’ve worked hard for at Apple — like environmental causes and LGTBQ rights? How was that movie Tim? Was it worth the price of admission?”
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Cook has caught more flak than the others who attended the screening precisely because of those liberal values. He was the first out gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and he has spoken out against anti-transgender “bathroom bills” and “license to discriminate” legislation. His X bio includes a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
An X user commented, “I think @tim_cook should take the MLK quote out of his bio. Feels off-brand for the guy who attended a private screening of the Brett Ratner MELANIA doc.”
Ratner has largely been shunned in the movie business since he was accused of sexual misconduct, allegations that first surfaced in 2017 (he has denied any wrongdoing). Melania represents a comeback for Ratner, who lived at the Trumps’ Mar-a-Lago mansion during filming, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Ratner is also set to direct ‘Rush Hour 4’ for Paramount after President Trump reportedly pressed owner Larry Ellison to revive the stalled franchise,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Cook was photographed with Ratner at the screening, where other guests included former boxer and convicted rapist Mike Tyson.
So far Cook has not responded to the criticism, nor has Apple.