Sylvester Stallone has disclosed that he initially turned down Donald Trump’s offer to serve as one of the president’s “ambassadors” to Hollywood — only to discover his name had already been announced publicly without his consent.
In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, the American actor recounted telling the president that the arrangement simply would not work. “I told him it wasn’t going to work. And I said, thanks, but goodbye, it’s impossible. Hollywood functions and will continue to evolve. It’s a very closed milieu, where nobody will accept me coming to talk to them about financing,” Stallone said.
A Surprise Announcement
The 80-year-old star of Rambo described his shock at learning from a television newscast that he had nonetheless been designated as Trump’s Hollywood ambassador. “I jumped: ‘Excuse me? Pardon? Really?'” he recalled.
More than a year and a half after that surprise appointment, Stallone still harbors significant reservations about the usefulness of the ambassador role. “Hollywood works a bit like a feudal state. Everyone has their own kingdom, and nobody comes to tell the heads of six big studios how to do things,” he said.
Political Loyalty Unchanged
Despite declining the ambassadorial nomination, Stallone made clear he has not shifted his political allegiances. In the same interview, he reiterated his admiration for the American president. “I am in awe. Nobody in the world could have done what he managed to do,” said the star of Rocky.
He accepted the Kennedy Center Honors medal from Trump in November 2025.
The Three Hollywood Envoys
In January 2025, Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform the appointment of three heavyweight ambassadors to Hollywood, aiming to help the film industry recapture “its golden age.”
“It is my honor to announce that Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone will be special ambassadors in this major but very turbulent place, Hollywood, California,” the president wrote two days before returning to the White House.
They would serve as “special envoys with the goal of making Hollywood — which has lost a lot over four years to foreign countries — BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Trump declared.
The selection was far from arbitrary. Between them, the three men hold ten Oscar nominations and three Academy Awards. All are long-standing supporters of the billionaire:
- Jon Voight, now 87, received the National Medal of Arts during Trump’s first term.
- Mel Gibson, 71, has been an avowed ultraconservative for decades.
- Sylvester Stallone inaugurated one of the president’s galas at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Only One Ambassador Embraced the Role
While Stallone never assumed the ambassador role and Mel Gibson never took it on either, Jon Voight has fully embraced it — guiding the Trump administration on financing issues and tariffs for the past 18 months.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor and father of Angelina Jolie said he contributed substantially to Trump’s decision to subsidize Hollywood by approving a tax credit system for the film industry in early September.
“They’re very busy — Sly has his series and Mel has his film Resurrection about Christ. They’re really very busy,” Voight said of his two co-ambassadors.
