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Miles Archer

(22,114 posts)
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 01:09 PM 3 hrs ago

Bezos issued a Fatwa to his employees: OPT OUT of Melania doc for "political reasons" and LOSE YOUR JOB.

Amazon did not allow talent to opt out of working on Melania for political reasons, a new report alleges.

That order came straight from Amazon’s leadership, forcing studio staff to choose between working on an absurdly expensive documentary about Melania Trump or risk losing their jobs, three sources told The New York Times

Such a mandate is perhaps why Rolling Stone reports an eye-popping two-thirds of Melania’s New York crew asked for their names not be added to the film’s credits.

“They were told that the project was mandated by the company’s leadership and that employees could not opt out of working on the film for political reasons,” the Times reported.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/amazons-firm-order-to-employees-on-melania-revealed/

61 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Bezos issued a Fatwa to his employees: OPT OUT of Melania doc for "political reasons" and LOSE YOUR JOB. (Original Post) Miles Archer 3 hrs ago OP
FU bdamomma 3 hrs ago #1
That is not right. Is his demand un constutional ?????? Trueblue1968 2 hrs ago #14
No, because he employs them. iemanja 2 hrs ago #18
Not necessarily. I am not a labor lawyer, but, Bluetus 1 hr ago #35
No. They choose to work there. He pays them. Demobrat 37 min ago #52
So, if he demanded they go to his home and scour the toilets ... NeoTrajan 33 min ago #55
All the more reasons NOT to order stuff from AMAZON!! ProudMNDemocrat 3 hrs ago #2
I never order anything from Amazon. Ritabert 3 hrs ago #6
I have not ordered anything in 2 years. ProudMNDemocrat 3 hrs ago #8
or subscribe to Washington Post!!! n/t aggiesal 2 hrs ago #12
I was completely off Amazon for a few years, and then my union changed our Scrivener7 2 hrs ago #24
Yoiks! I'd sooner pay for prescriptions myself than depend on Amazon. hunter 19 min ago #61
Would anyone be surprised.... OGBuzz 36 min ago #53
Not I. niyad 33 min ago #56
Please do not insult our porcine relations that way. niyad 34 min ago #54
Well, that's a lot of lipstick for that pig (the documentary, not Melania--I wouldn't insult pigs with that hlthe2b 3 hrs ago #3
What do AMZN shareholders think of that? C_U_L8R 3 hrs ago #4
Ask anyone with a 401k Gore1FL 2 hrs ago #26
Very Likely ProfessorGAC 1 hr ago #41
Bigger dick than his rocket IA8IT 3 hrs ago #5
Feed him Viagra and he gets taller Seinan Sensei 1 hr ago #40
Forced indoctrination. yourout 3 hrs ago #7
☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️ littlemissmartypants 2 hrs ago #23
They should have... 2naSalit 3 hrs ago #9
Sue the piece of garbage. That isn't part of a job description lostincalifornia 3 hrs ago #10
Go to hell, Bozo. Glad I never did business with that creep's company. Dave Bowman 2 hrs ago #11
Freedoms just another word BidenRocks 2 hrs ago #13
Kris Kristofferson on writing that song.... progressoid 2 hrs ago #20
Amazing story. Thanks for sharing. Joinfortmill 1 hr ago #29
Wow, thank you very very very... quaint 1 hr ago #39
I think Bezos is sucking Trumps dick infullview 2 hrs ago #15
Along with a massive number popsdenver 2 hrs ago #19
If you can't tell where government ends and business starts - It's FASCISM! flashman13 2 hrs ago #16
One dictionary I read years ago popsdenver 2 hrs ago #22
As Ike is reputed to have said... RobertDevereaux 1 hr ago #32
DUMP AMAZON!! Coventina 2 hrs ago #17
I depend on Amazon because I'm handicapped, but...... young_at_heart 1 hr ago #30
I have tried very hard to do so. piddyprints 1 hr ago #31
I've stopped using them for everything but my Kindle. GoneOffShore 1 hr ago #43
Shittiest company in America wolfie001 2 hrs ago #21
A one day boycott on Amazon would be interesting. Their infrastructure is so huge that one day without sales twodogsbarking 2 hrs ago #25
Would have to include streaming services HipChick 54 min ago #46
Home run. twodogsbarking 24 min ago #59
But, he can't make Americans or the rest of the world watch this shit. Joinfortmill 2 hrs ago #27
Billionaires are social parasites Zelda_Orchid 2 hrs ago #28
Bezos is scum. dalton99a 1 hr ago #33
He truly is a little man .............spoken just like true union busting scab that he is...........I would have told turbinetree 1 hr ago #34
Explains why so many refused to be credited as working on it. maxsolomon 1 hr ago #36
he's the same nerd that he was in high school that let bullies take his lunch money. Javaman 1 hr ago #37
A threat like that should be illegal, if it isn't already sakabatou 1 hr ago #38
Boycott Amazon whenever and wherever possible Botany 1 hr ago #42
Can they opt out for aesthetic reasons? fierywoman 59 min ago #44
Why not opt out for harm to one's health? lostincalifornia 38 min ago #51
Let's face it. SergeStorms 55 min ago #45
The billionaire class just keeps poking the bear with a stick. rubbersole 51 min ago #47
Ugh. Well, it's probably chockablock full of unintentional humor Warpy 44 min ago #48
Not really surprised...if you work for Amazon Studios you make what they tell you to make nt EX500rider 43 min ago #49
I'll bet he's in the files. RandiFan1290 40 min ago #50
He is losing millions on this film. tavernier 29 min ago #57
The Trump approach is not working with the American people no matter who tries it. Martin68 27 min ago #58
What a fucking tool. Initech 21 min ago #60

Bluetus

(2,427 posts)
35. Not necessarily. I am not a labor lawyer, but,
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:59 PM
1 hr ago

there might be the basis for a hostile workplace suit.

Demobrat

(10,267 posts)
52. No. They choose to work there. He pays them.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 04:01 PM
37 min ago

Refusing to work is grounds for dismissal.

NeoTrajan

(45 posts)
55. So, if he demanded they go to his home and scour the toilets ...
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 04:04 PM
33 min ago

They must do that, or they should be fired?

Wow ... You run a tight ship, don't ya?

ProudMNDemocrat

(20,657 posts)
8. I have not ordered anything in 2 years.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 01:28 PM
3 hrs ago

And had to send something back that I was charged a Restocking feed for an item that they sent me by mistake.

Scrivener7

(58,737 posts)
24. I was completely off Amazon for a few years, and then my union changed our
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:14 PM
2 hrs ago

prescription service to Amazon. I'm bummed. I think I can switch out in 6 months, but till then I get the creeps every time my BP meds come in the mail.

Prescriptions! Now they have their hands in our medications, and have convinced a massive NYC union to use them.

I despair.

hunter

(40,421 posts)
61. Yoiks! I'd sooner pay for prescriptions myself than depend on Amazon.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 04:19 PM
19 min ago

They don't need to know what meds I take.

I deleted my Amazon account and blacklisted their websites when Bezos started kissing Trump's ass.


OGBuzz

(58 posts)
53. Would anyone be surprised....
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 04:02 PM
36 min ago

if we found out that Jeff Bozos was one of the many Epstein co-conspirators who's names are now being redacted in the Trumpstein files by Trump's DoJ?

hlthe2b

(113,095 posts)
3. Well, that's a lot of lipstick for that pig (the documentary, not Melania--I wouldn't insult pigs with that
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 01:17 PM
3 hrs ago

comparison." )

C_U_L8R

(49,076 posts)
4. What do AMZN shareholders think of that?
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 01:19 PM
3 hrs ago

Leadership that demands the company lose money? Financial suicide by Trump. That’s not very good governance.
More like total incompetence.

Gore1FL

(22,873 posts)
26. Ask anyone with a 401k
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:21 PM
2 hrs ago

Just about anyone with a mutual-fund-based IRA is a shareholder of AMZN.

ProfessorGAC

(76,043 posts)
41. Very Likely
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:25 PM
1 hr ago

Bezos only owns about 1/12th of the stock.
Vanguard, Black Rock, Fidelity & State Street own another 20+%.
That 20% is probably widely distributed among many retirement funds..Then we have the other 71%.

progressoid

(52,715 posts)
20. Kris Kristofferson on writing that song....
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:05 PM
2 hrs ago

“For some reason, I thought of La Strada, this Fellini film, and a scene where Anthony Quinn is going around on this motorcycle and Giulietta Masina is the feeble-minded girl with him, playing the trombone. He got to the point where he couldn’t put up with her anymore and left her by the side of the road while she was sleeping. Later in the film, he sees this woman hanging out the wash and singing the melody that the girl used to play on the trombone. He asks, ‘Where did you hear that song?’ And she tells him it was this little girl who had showed up in town and nobody knew where she was from, and later she died. That night, Quinn goes to a bar and gets in a fight. He’s drunk and ends up howling at the stars on the beach. To me, that was the feeling at the end of ‘Bobby McGee.’ The two-edged sword that freedom is. He was free when he left the girl, but it destroyed him. That’s where the line ‘Freedom’s just another name for nothing left to lose’ came from.

“The first time I heard Janis Joplin’s version was right after she died. Paul Rothchild, her producer, asked me to stop by his office and listen to this thing she had cut. Afterwards, I walked all over L.A., just in tears. I couldn’t listen to the song without really breaking up. So when I came back to Nashville, I went into the Combine [Publishing] building late at night, and I played it over and over again, so I could get used to it without breaking up. [Songwriter and keyboardist] Donnie Fritts came over and listened with me, and we wrote a song together that night about Janis, called ‘Epitaph’.

infullview

(1,114 posts)
15. I think Bezos is sucking Trumps dick
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 01:57 PM
2 hrs ago

Makes you wonder what tRump is using as leverage. Is Bezos in the Epstein files? Does he leveraging action by the IRS? Threatening to take away Bezos undocumented workers? Etc..

popsdenver

(1,789 posts)
19. Along with a massive number
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:04 PM
2 hrs ago

of other "New World Robber Barron Zillionaires".....Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Rupert Murdoch, Peter Theil, Waltons, Koch's, MARS family, the list is literally endless.......

It is now, an un-deniable fact, that the Republicans own the best politicians that money can buy, along with all the U.S. Corporations and almost all of the Main Stream Media...........

popsdenver

(1,789 posts)
22. One dictionary I read years ago
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:09 PM
2 hrs ago

defined FASCISM as the merging of Government and Corporations.......

RobertDevereaux

(2,030 posts)
32. As Ike is reputed to have said...
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:52 PM
1 hr ago

The "Military-Industrial-Congressional" Complex:
While often termed the military-industrial complex, in early drafts, [the last humane Republican president, Dwight D.] Eisenhower referred to it as the "military-industrial-congressional complex," highlighting the role of politicians, defense contractors, and the military.

Coventina

(29,387 posts)
17. DUMP AMAZON!!
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:01 PM
2 hrs ago

I have no hopes that DUers will actually do that, but I'm going to shout it anyway.....

I have, and I don't miss it a bit!!

young_at_heart

(4,015 posts)
30. I depend on Amazon because I'm handicapped, but......
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:40 PM
1 hr ago

I am going to find another way. I can't handle what he said. Stress causes me to break out in Shingles and that is happening because of Bezos....he is truly sickening!

piddyprints

(15,067 posts)
31. I have tried very hard to do so.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:52 PM
1 hr ago

Many times, when I go to a company's website to buy something, the only place to purchase is Amazon. So I try another brand until I can find something. Sometimes that's not possible. Go to a ratings site to buy something, and they always, always link to Amazon.

I thought eBay would be a safe place to go, but it turns out that many eBay sellers are also Amazon sellers. When I see a package coming from Amazon, I think, "WTF? I avoided Amazon and ended up paying more just to get Amazon anyway?" Of course, that seller goes on my blacklist, but if there's a way to know ahead of time, I'd like to know.

Still, we're doing fairly well avoiding them. It is not easy when your local stores carry squat of what you need.

wolfie001

(7,297 posts)
21. Shittiest company in America
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:07 PM
2 hrs ago

That's saying something since we have WakMart. They're the 2nd shittiest now.

twodogsbarking

(17,778 posts)
25. A one day boycott on Amazon would be interesting. Their infrastructure is so huge that one day without sales
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:15 PM
2 hrs ago

would sting a little. A week could shove it in bezos face.

HipChick

(25,586 posts)
46. Would have to include streaming services
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:43 PM
54 min ago

Netflix is one of their biggest customer, and run on Amazon AWS servers..

Zelda_Orchid

(47 posts)
28. Billionaires are social parasites
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:37 PM
2 hrs ago

They're a sign that the market economy has failed. They need to be taxed out of existence.

dalton99a

(92,651 posts)
33. Bezos is scum.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:55 PM
1 hr ago

A sketch of Ann Telnaes’s cartoon that was killed by The Washington Post (Ann Telnaes)

turbinetree

(27,136 posts)
34. He truly is a little man .............spoken just like true union busting scab that he is...........I would have told
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:57 PM
1 hr ago

him to pound sand..............

maxsolomon

(38,340 posts)
36. Explains why so many refused to be credited as working on it.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:59 PM
1 hr ago

But "absurdly expensive" is probably because of money paid to Melanoma - and Ratner.

Javaman

(65,311 posts)
37. he's the same nerd that he was in high school that let bullies take his lunch money.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 02:59 PM
1 hr ago

he's just a bigger dick about it now.

Botany

(76,601 posts)
42. Boycott Amazon whenever and wherever possible
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:38 PM
1 hr ago

Bezos will always be rich but we can hurt his businesses. How much is Amazon dumping into
the Melania, the movie aka A Slovenian Sex Worker Makes it to The Big Time Story?

Good God in Butter rewriting Melania’s history is like Kim Jong Il shooting 50 golfing
with a couple of holes in one too.

SergeStorms

(20,134 posts)
45. Let's face it.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:42 PM
55 min ago

Americans demanded this documentary be made! After all, she's one of the most beloved First Ladies to ever.......sorry, I can't keep this up. My brain is telling my fingers to stop this horse-hockey, NOW!

Just more extortion of billionaires from The Donald to keep "Melanie" from telling everyone where the bodies are buried after the Big Orange Pig 🐖 croaks. No "tell-all" books after he's finally, blissfully dead, from which she'd most likely make hundreds of millions.

Bezos is unabashedly the biggest Trump shit gobbler on the planet. 💩

rubbersole

(11,071 posts)
47. The billionaire class just keeps poking the bear with a stick.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:47 PM
51 min ago

They are exempt from laws that the little people must live by. And flaunting it. This isn't going to end well.

Warpy

(114,460 posts)
48. Ugh. Well, it's probably chockablock full of unintentional humor
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:54 PM
44 min ago

and I suspect showings will produce so much laughter that Bezos cancels them midway.

This is the kind of thing that will contribute to Bezos's hearing the nastiest word of all: UNION.

EX500rider

(12,241 posts)
49. Not really surprised...if you work for Amazon Studios you make what they tell you to make nt
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 03:54 PM
43 min ago

Martin68

(27,237 posts)
58. The Trump approach is not working with the American people no matter who tries it.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 04:10 PM
27 min ago

FAscist thugs.

Initech

(107,822 posts)
60. What a fucking tool.
Thu Jan 29, 2026, 04:16 PM
21 min ago

Hey Bezos, pry your lips off Trump's worthless ass and you can go shove that bullshit movie where it doesn't shine.

And would you have made that documentary for any other first lady? No. Shove it again.

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