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Halloween producer Jason Blum booed off stage after anti-Trump comments

Audience members reportedly shouted 'we like Donald' at the filmmaker

Jack Shepherd
Wednesday 07 November 2018 10:15 GMT
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Jason Blum on stage
Jason Blum on stage (Getty Images)

Jason Blum – whose Blumhouse Productions have released Get Out, Split and Halloween (2018) – was booed for making anti-Donald Trump comments on-stage in Israel.

The producer was being honoured at the Israel Film Festival when he found himself being threatened with being tossed off stage.

“The good thing about this country is that you get to like Trump but I don’t have to and I don’t like him,” Blum said, according to Deadline.

“We have a President who calls the press the enemy of the people. Thanks to our president, antisemitism is in the rise.”

The crowd responded negatively to the comments, with people reportedly yelling “get off the stage” and “we like Donald!” One of the organisers also appeared on stage as Blum kept speaking, with a festival-goer trying to pull him down.

“You are going to have to drag me off the stage,” Blum said. He eventually left the stage, later Tweeting: “Well, this night went kinda haywire.”

The comments came midway through the midterms election count, which have seen Democrats with the House of Representatives while Republicans took the Senate.

“Those of us who work in film and television have a vital role to play in telling stories that portray all kinds of people from all corners of the world,” Blum later added on Twitter. “Stories that entertain, but also make us think more and harder about who we are and where we are going.

“It’s time for us to be vigilant in bringing new voices to the cinema. To nurturing diverse filmmakers from all walks of life who can offer unique perspectives on the world. When you have a chance to walk in the shoes of others who are not like you, it is harder to hate.”

Catch up on all The Independent‘s midterms coverage here.

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