‘Peaky Blinders’ Denounces Homophobic DeSantis Campaign Video
The team behind Peaky Blinders, including star Cillian Murphy and the show’s creator Steven Knight, have denounced a homophobic video shared by the Ron DeSantis presidential campaign, which used footage from the hit drama series.
“We confirm the footage of Tommy Shelby’s character used within the video posted by Ron DeSantis’ campaign was obtained without permission or official license,” read a statement posted on the show’s official Twitter page on behalf of Knight, Murphy, Caryn Mandabach Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions, and Baniay Rights.
“We do not support nor endorse the video’s narrative and strongly disapprove of the use of the content in this manner,” the statement continued.
— Peaky Blinders (@ThePeakyBlinder) July 5, 2023
The video in question begins by mocking DeSantis’ 2024 presidential rival Donald Trump over his vow to “protect our LGBTQ citizens” and his support for Caitlyn Jenner. It then goes on to boast about DeSantis’ various legislative attacks on the LGBTQ community while showing footage from various movies and TV shows.
There are two clips of Murphy’s Tommy Shelby featured among various headlines, such as “DeSantis Signs ‘Most Extreme Slate of Anti-Trans Laws in Modern History.'” Other footage included in the video are Christian Bale in American Psycho, Brad Pitt in Troy, and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street.
According to Variety, the video was first shared by @ProudElephantUS and then reposted to DeSantis’ Rapid Response campaign account @DeSantisWarRoom. At the time of writing, the video has 24.8 million views and almost 2000 retweets.
This isn’t the first time a politician has gotten in trouble for using copyrighted work without permission. Earlier this year, Dr. Dre sent Republic congresswoman Marjorie Tayler Greene a cease-and-desist letter for using his song “Still D.R.E,” and former President Trump has received a number of C&D letters from the likes of The Village People, Pharrell Williams, and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
