The team behind Peaky Blinders confirmed that it had not given Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis permission to use footage from the show in a presidential campaign ad that touted the politician’s anti-LGBTQ bona fides.
“We do not support nor endorse the video’s narrative and strongly disapprove of the use of the content in this manner,” read a statement(opens in a new tab) from the “partners” behind the show, which include screenwriter Steven Knight, actor Cillian Murphy, Caryn Mandabach Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions, and Banijay Rights.
The ad from DeSantis is strange and the work of some rightwing folks who are very online. A tweet from the account @DeSantisWarRoom read, “To wrap up ‘Pride Month,’ let’s hear from the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate it,” then featured footage of former President Donald Trump showing support for LGBTQ folks. It then cuts with someone screaming “psyche” and proceeds to mash-up headlines of DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ policies with “manly” Chad meme images. One such image was, for some reason, Murphy’s character in Peaky Blinders, Tommy Shelby, presumably because men like the show.
Basically, the message of the ad was yes, our candidate is awful for LGBTQ people. It is so, so strange.
Somewhat predictably, the folks behind Peaky Blinders weren’t happy that DeSantis’s team used imagery from their show without permission. It seems likely others will soon follow with similar statements considered the ad also pulls imagery American Psycho (yes, really), The Wolf of Wall Street, and Troy.
