Sylvester Stallone says he rejected Donald Trump’s Hollywood ambassador role, calling the proposed job impossible and saying thank you and ciao.
Sylvester Stallone says he rejected the role of “special ambassador” to Hollywood after Donald Trump announced his appointment alongside Mel Gibson and Jon Voight.
The Rocky star said he was surprised when he saw the announcement on television in January 2025 and realised he had not agreed to take on the position.
“Well, it just happened,” Stallone told The Sunday Times in a recent interview. “I was watching TV one night and they go, ‘So Stallone and Mel Gibson and Jon Voight will be …’ And I went, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Excuse me? Really?’”
Stallone said he would have rejected the role if Trump had asked him beforehand.
“Because if they had asked me in the beginning, I would have said, this is not possible,” he said.
The actor also explained why he believed the proposed role would not work in Hollywood. Yes, because Hollywood, I guess it’s like feudal states. They have their little kingdoms,” Stallone said when asked if he had been hesitant.
“You don’t go in and tell six studios how to do things. And Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, we’re kind of do-our-own-thing people.”
Stallone said he also told Trump directly that the arrangement would not work. “I said thank you and ciao, because it’s impossible. Hollywood works, and it will evolve. It’s corporate and corporate people won’t want to hear me tell them about finance.”
Trump announced Stallone, Gibson and Voight as “special ambassadors” in January 2025.
He said the three actors would serve as his “Special Envoys” to help revive Hollywood, which he argued had lost business to foreign countries.
Trump said the trio would be his “eyes and ears” and that he would act on their recommendations.
Despite rejecting the role, Stallone continues to speak positively about Trump.
In the interview, he recalled introducing Trump as a “mythical character” at a party at Mar-a-Lago. “Nobody in the world could’ve pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe,” Stallone said.