CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz is reporting that President Donald Trump hosted a screening of Todd Philips's Joker at the White House on Saturday night. A senior White House official tells Yahoo News that the screening welcomed “family, friends, and some staff.” The source also says that Trump liked the film.
Joker has now amassed over $1 billion in earnings since it's release, making it the first R-rated movie to do so. With a budget of only $62.5 million, it is one of the most successful movies of all time. Even with concerns about mass shootings upon release, the film still drew in a major audience.
Earlier this year, Trump spoke about another controversial film. After Universal Pictures canceled the release of The Hunt, Trump said, “They’re treating conservatives very unfairly. … Hollywood is really terrible. You talk about racist — Hollywood is racist. What they’re doing with the kind of movies they’re putting out, it’s actually very dangerous for our country. What Hollywood is doing is a tremendous disservice to our country. The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos. They create their own violence and then try to blame others. They are the true racists, and are very bad for our country!”