Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood Demands Music Be Removed From Melania Trump Documentary

Radiohead guitarist and acclaimed film composer Jonny Greenwood asked producers to remove his music from a documentary about former First Lady Melania Trump after discovering they used it without consulting him. His request adds another wave of controversy to a film that was already struggling to gain traction with audiences and critics.

Greenwood Says He Was Not Consulted

Greenwood, who composed the celebrated score for the 2017 film Phantom Thread, discovered that a piece of that music appeared in Melania, a feature-length documentary released by Amazon MGM Studios. According to a statement first reported by Variety, Greenwood and filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson said Universal Pictures failed to consult Greenwood about the third-party use of the score.

“As a result, Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary,” the statement read.

Although Greenwood does not personally own the copyright to the Phantom Thread score, he remains closely tied to the music and to director Paul Thomas Anderson, for whom he composed soundtracks including There Will Be Blood, Inherent Vice, and Licorice Pizza. The dispute centres less on ownership and more on artistic consent and creative control.

A Big-Budget Documentary With Modest Impact

The documentary, directed by Brett Ratner, follows Melania Trump during the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January last year. Amazon MGM reportedly spent around $40 million acquiring the film and a companion docuseries, in addition to an estimated $35 million on marketing — a notably large investment for a documentary project.

Melania expanded into 300 additional theaters in its second weekend, but ticket sales fell sharply to $2.4 million, a 67% drop from its heavily publicized debut. The rapid downturn cemented it as a flop, especially given its reported $40 million acquisition price and an estimated $35 million marketing spend.

Critics Respond Coolly

Critical reception has been equally muted. Several major publications offered sharply negative assessments, describing the film as overly polished and lacking substance. Reviews ranged from dismissive to openly scathing, with some critics suggesting the project felt more like image management than documentary storytelling.

Amazon MGM has not issued a public comment on Greenwood’s request to remove the music. It remains unclear whether the filmmakers will edit the score out, but the situation has reignited debate over how studios license creative work and how artists react when their music appears in projects they did not choose to support.