Ben Stiller Criticizes White House for Using His Film Clip in War Video

Hollywood actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller has strongly criticized the White House after a clip from his 2008 satirical film Tropic Thunder was used in a social media video related to military actions against Iran. Stiller said the use of the film footage was unauthorized and made it clear that he does not want his work to be connected with political propaganda.

The controversy began when the White House shared a 42-second video on the social media platform X with the caption “Justice the American Way.” The video included a mix of real footage of U.S. military operations along with scenes from Hollywood movies and popular video games. Among the clips shown were scenes from films such as Iron Man, Top Gun, Braveheart, Gladiator, John Wick, and the television series Breaking Bad.

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One of the clips used in the video came from Stiller’s satirical war comedy Tropic Thunder. Reacting to this, Stiller stated that neither he nor the film’s producers had given permission for the footage to be used. He emphasized that war is not entertainment and should not be portrayed like a movie.

Reports also suggest that the video included a short segment from a briefing by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In addition, a CGI character from the Transformers franchise appeared in one part of the video.

In a separate social media post, the White House reportedly shared another video referencing the popular video game Grand Theft Auto while showing footage of the military strike.

The situation has sparked debate online about the use of film and gaming imagery in political messaging and military-related content.