Peaky Blinders wants nothing to do with Ron DeSantis and his presidential campaign.
Last Friday, June 30, the DeSantis War Room Twitter account posted a bizarre video ad that attacks former president Donald Trump for his promises over the years to "protect the LGBTQ+ community" (as if that's a bad thing).
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Though Trump never made good on his promises to keep the LGBTQ+ safe from harm, as our sister publication The Advocate points out in his administration's anti-trans policies, the DeSantis video is attacking the fellow 2024 presidential hopeful for being almost "too tolerant" of LGBTQ+ folks, slamming him for "celebrating" the community (again, as if it's a bad thing)...
"To wrap up "Pride Month," let’s hear from the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate it…" the DeSantis War Room account captioned the video.
After showcasing several clips of Trump talking about what he'll do for queer and trans people, the video cuts to DeSantis basking in headlines of anti-LGBTQ+ policies he has enacted during his time as the governor of the state of Florida.
The ad also splices in clips of various well-known pop culture movie and TV figures, like Patrick Bateman from American Psycho (played by Christian Bale), Achilles from Troy (played by Brad Pitt), and Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders (played by Cillian Murphy).
But Peaky Blinders was having none of it.
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In a statement released on Wednesday, July 5, the official Peaky Blinders Twitter account distanced itself from the pro-DeSantis video, stating that no one involved in the production of the popular BBC series (which ran from 2013-2022), including creator Steven Knight, lead actor Cillian Murphy, and executive producer Caryn Mandabach, gave any permission to use footage of Murphy's character in that way.
"We confirm the footage of Tommy Shelby's character used with the video posted by Ron DeSantis' campaign was obtained without permission of official license," the statement reads. "We do not support nor endorse the video's narrative and strongly disapprove of the use of the content in this manner."
As The Advocate previously pointed out, it’s unclear if DeSantis’s campaign made the ad or simply shared it.
As of this writing, the DeSantis campaign has not responded to the Peaky Blinders statement.