Ben Stiller Isn’t Interested in Being Part of the White House’s Propaganda Machine

The White House keeps pumping out memes, and movie directors and recording artists keep making it clear that their work was used without permission, and they demand that the memes be taken down. The White House posted this update on Operation Epic Fury, and it includes clips from quite a few films:

JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY. 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/0502N6a3rL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2026

Volodymyr Zelenskyy superfan and "Tropic Thunder" writer, director, and star Ben Still wasn't happy that a clip from his film was used without permission as war propaganda.

Hey White House, please remove the Tropic Thunder clip. We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie. https://t.co/dMQqRxxVCa
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) March 6, 2026

Fair use is a bitch
— Stacey (@ScotsFyre) March 7, 2026

Hey there, pumpkin. Yeah, it's called fair use and you have no say. So GFY.
— Rusty (@Rusty_Weiss) March 7, 2026

It's called "fair use," Simple Ben. It's a legal doctrine. Ask your lawyer.

It's kind of like me pointing out that the below GIF is the real you. Fair use. pic.twitter.com/GzhGI38Rdq
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) March 6, 2026

It’s fair use to compile footage like this. Your lawyer will set you straight. Now stop whining.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) March 6, 2026

pic.twitter.com/Kna5gxfY1K
— Serf (@TheRoyalSerf) March 7, 2026

Hahahahah. Nahh I think we’ll leave it.

Especially now that we know it bothers you
— kevin smith (@kevin_smith45) March 6, 2026

“War is not a movie” 🙄 pic.twitter.com/5Ug6LmO7VJ
— Rising Eagle (@risingeagleusa) March 6, 2026

Hello Mr. Stiller.

You: "War is not a movie."

Also you: wrote, directed, and pocketed $188M from Tropic Thunder, a film whose entire premise is actors who mistake a war for a movie. You literally already made this point, for profit.

Let's check your oh-so-virtuous leftist… pic.twitter.com/LhbL4EaW4Y
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) March 7, 2026

… credentials.
Your film put Robert Downey Jr. in blackface. You directed that. Your script used the word "r*tard" 17 times. You wrote that. Twenty-two disability organizations (Special Olympics, The Arc, National Down Syndrome Congress, the AAPD) launched a national boycott. That actually happened.
You took the $188M and kept every frame.
2018: "I stand by my apology."
2023: "I make no apologies for Tropic Thunder. Proud of it."
Pick one.
Your father: Jerry Stiller. Your mother: Anne Meara, an Emmy-nominated actress. Your first job: Saturday Night Live. July 2021, asked about Hollywood nepotism: "Show biz is ultimately a meritocracy. Untalented people don't really last if they get a break because of who they are or who they're related to."
The ultimate nepo baby telling people the game is fair... equity is for everyone who isn't you, apparently.
At the Comics for Kamala fundraiser you raised $150,000 for Harris. At that same event you said: "Every white Jewish guy wishes he was Black."
You are a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. In June 2022 you flew to Kyiv for a photo with Zelensky.
Summing it up... A $200M Hamptons liberal who played everyman for profit. Blackface on screen, a disability slur 17 times in the script, an apology issued and then retracted, a humanitarian title treated as a press credential, and now... outrage that someone used your war movie about war.
"War is not a movie."
No. But your career has been.