Sony Pictures chief calls racist Trump video ‘despicable’ in rare intervention

Mon, 09 Feb 2026

Tom Rothman, CEO of the major Hollywood film studio, described a clip depicting the Obamas that was posted on Truth Social as ‘regressive’

In a highly unusual intervention, Hollywood studio chief Tom Rothman has described Donald Trump’s posting of a racist video featuring former US president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as “despicable”.

The remarks were reported by the Hollywood Reporter, and were made when Rothman was speaking at the African American Film Critics Association awards ceremony, where he accepted the Impact award on behalf of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, of which Rothman is chair and CEO.