Stallone says he learned of Trump Hollywood role on TV

Sylvester Stallone found out he was Donald Trump's man in Hollywood the same way as everyone else: on television. The Rocky star says he did not explicitly sign up for the post of special ambassador to Hollywood, Variety reported on 20 September, drawing on a new interview with The Sunday Times.

He says the news simply flashed up on screen. No phone call beforehand. No paperwork. Just his name, read out as part of a presidential plan for the film business.

The interview, published on 19 September, is titled "Sylvester Stallone: My hellish childhood and why I said no to Trump", according to The Sunday Times. The paper describes it as a look back over 50 years of Rocky alongside the story of the president's unusual job offer.

That offer dates to January 2025. More than a year and a half after that announcement, Stallone is setting out his version of events. Trump named Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as Special Ambassadors to Hollywood, with a brief to bring production work back to Los Angeles. At the time Trump called Hollywood "a great but very troubled place", PBS reported, and said the trio would help recover "lost business", Variety reported.

Stallone says he would have turned it down flat if asked in advance. He would have said "this is not possible", Variety reported. He says he later told Trump directly that the idea "won't work" and that "it's impossible".

His public reply was shorter. He responded to the appointment by saying "thank you and ciao", he told The Sunday Times.

The two men have a longer public history. Stallone introduced Trump on stage at a Mar-a-Lago party as a "mythical character", Variety reported. That appearance came before the ambassador announcement and drew wide coverage at the time.

Stallone had already signalled doubts in January 2025. He said then that he was "really not qualified" for the envoy role and did not want to be based in Washington, Business Insider reported.

For anyone puzzled by the title, no formal duties were ever spelled out in public. The announcement set out an aim, more production in Hollywood, rather than a job description with powers or pay. The wider conversation also looks back at his childhood and five decades tied to Rocky. That long career history frames the interview, even as the ambassador story provides its headline.

The Sunday Times interview was published online on 19 September, with Variety summarising its key lines on 20 September.