Is No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani inadvertently behind the ride of President Donald Trump? Michael Moore thinks so.
Supposedly, hearing that Stefani’s fee for working on The Voice was higher than the one he received for The Apprentice was what galvanised Trump into throwing his hat into the political ring, never intending to actually find himself in the White House.
The escapable forces of momentum then took over, and now we are where we are – that’s the theory Moore is putting forward in his new film Fahrenheit 11/9, anyway.
“I just happen to know the truth of how [the] whole thing came down.” Moore told reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“He was upset that a woman was making more money than him, who was on another NBC show. He thought he would play NBC by having a couple of rallies and showing just how popular he was across the country and it all backfired on him and then we got stuck with him. I don’t blame her for that.”
It’s an interesting theory, there’s no doubt about that (NO DOUBT, YOU SEE, LIKE HER BAND, YES). There has been talk previously that Trump only ran to increase the fee he could demand for The Apprentice, but this adds a new level to it, suggesting it was his disgust at being outearned by a woman that did it.
Trump has a pretty consistent track record in terms of misogyny, so it doesn’t seem implausible – he has said women who have abortions should be “punished”, repeatedly badmouthed multiple women for their looks, made inappropriate sexual remarks to countless women and been accused of myriad sexist behaviours, from having Miss America contestants parade for him to the infamous “grab ‘em by the pussy” incident. It doesn’t require a huge leap of imagination to picture him being apoplectic at the thought of Stefani making more money than him.
Trump and Stefani have met at least once: here they are in 2005 with Trump’s wife Melania and Stefani’s then-husband Gavin Rossdale.
(Ironically Moore’s earlier film, Fahrenheit 9/11, was about how bad Bush was.)
(That is a joke about Gavin Rossdale.)
Moore’s film premieres in the States today, followed by a wider release later in the month. He will be over here for the London Film Festival on October 14th.
(Images: Getty)
