Controversial Trump Movie ‘The Apprentice’ Shut Out At Oscars 2025

The much-discussed movie The Apprentice did not win any 2025 Oscars during Sunday night’s 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The Apprentice’s Sebastian Stan earned a nod for Best Actor and Jeremy Strong was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

Perhaps the film’s losses should not be a surprise. The controversial film, which followed now-President Donald Trump’s rise in the 1980s under mentor Roy Cohn, enraged the real estate mogul-turned-politician, whose lawyers threatened to sue the filmmakers.

Among other things Trump objected to, the film included a scene when Trump raped then-wife Ivanka Trump. Despite critical acclaim and a long ovation at the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year, The Apprentice had trouble finding a distributor.

It finally hit theaters in October through an agreement with indie distributor Briarcliff Entertainment.

Despite the backlash, with some in Hollywood also reportedly reluctant to associate with the film for fear of blowback from Trump, The Apprentice received two Oscar nominations.

‘The Apprentice’s’ Jeremy Strong Loses Best Supporting Actor

Strong earned his nomination for playing Cohn. Known for his Method acting, Strong immersed himself in Cohn’s strong personality, showing how he taught a young Trump his three defining principles: always attack, deny everything and never admit defeat.

Kieran Culkin took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Real Pain. Culkin, who worked with Strong on HBO’s Succession, couldn’t help but call out the performance by his former castmate during his acceptance speech.

‘The Apprentice’s’ Sebastian Stan Loses Best Actor

Stan’s portrayal of Trump was motivated in part, he has said, by the question of “can you trust this person?” The actor said he wanted to bring that question to life in a way that hadn’t been seen before in stories.

Stan lost to Adrien Brody, who won his second Best Actor Oscar for The Brutalist.