While Ben Stiller is now known for his work as an executive producer on Severance, he has a long and illustrious career that started in comedy. It seems Stiller was born to make us laugh as the son of comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, remembered for his roles in everything from There's Something About Mary to Meet the Parents, Zoolander to Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
One of Stiller's earliest movie roles wasn't comedy at all, having a small part in 1987's Empire of the Sun, which followed Christian Bale as a prisoner of war who was held by the Japanese during World War II. It was Empire of the Sun that inspired Ben Stiller to create one of his best-known (but most controversial) films, releasing Tropic Thunder in 2008. As well as poking fun at the Vietnamese, Tropic Thunder was criticized for Stiller's "Simple Jack" character, and notably put Robert Downey Jr. in blackface. Still, as a war epic, the comedy caper became ripe for satire when the White House included a clip in a 42-second montage of pop culture references intercut with footage from the recent missile strikes on Iran.
In addition to moments from 1978's Superman, Top Gun: Maverick, and Gladiator, the video shared on the official White House X account included a snippet from Tropic Thunder showing Tom Cruise's Les Grossman dancing.
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There's even a clip from Breaking Bad, which we're sure Giancarlo Esposito won't be too happy about.
Quoting the video, Stiller wrote: "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."
Donald Trump's current administration continues to come under fire for using other people's music, with the likes of Jess Glynn, Sabrina Carpenter, and Kesha all slamming the government's social media campaigns. Now, actors are marching into battle.
Stiller has previously spoken out against Jimmy Kimmel's Charlie Kirk scandal and is an open Democrat, having supported Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
But could he actually sue the White House for using Tropic Thunder, and if so, how much money could he get?
Unfortunately for Stiller, the federal government is propped up by sovereign immunity, meaning it can't be sued unless it waives immunity. It's true that 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b) allows copyright owners to bring action against the USA in the Court of Federal Claims, with damages limited to “reasonable and entire compensation."
That's still a hurdle in itself because the White House would likely argue the clip lies under 'fair use'. The government could claim the use is transformative, political, or informational, which all favor the fair use defense.
When going against a private party, copyright owners could fight for up to $30,000 per work and $150,000 for willful infringement, but going against the federal government, there are no statutory damages, no punitive damages, no triple damages, and there tends to be no injunctive relief.
If (and it's a big if) this went to court, Stiller would only be fighting for compensation for the use.
If that wasn't enough, it's unlikely that Stiller himself even owns the copyright, and although he directed Tropic Thunder, the rights presumably lie with Paramount Pictures.
The White House is more likely to remove Tropic Thunder from its 'propaganda' campaign, but as various politicians are known for clapping back at artists who've complained like this in the past, Stiller might've accidentally Streisand Effected himself.