Jeff Bezos is pushing back against criticism surrounding the Melania documentary. The buzz around Melania began long before audiences had a chance to see a single frame. With Amazon MGM reportedly spending close to $75 million on the project and its marketing campaign, the film quickly became one of the most expensive documentaries ever backed by a major studio. Early curiosity translated into a solid $7 million opening weekend, giving it the strongest debut for a non-music documentary in years. But the momentum did not last.

The film has reportedly earned only around $16.5 million worldwide so far, a figure that falls far short of recouping its massive reported cost and has fueled questions about whether the project was ever meant to succeed purely as a theatrical release.

As curiosity around the film continued to grow, attention soon turned to the business decision behind its eye-popping budget, prompting Jeff Bezos to publicly defend MGM’s reported $75 million investment in Melania.

In the Wednesday interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Jeff Bezos shared that Amazon's acquisition and release of Melania was nothing but a smart move. Further, he also addressed the rumours, explaining how he had nothing to do with the movie, aka how he had no involvement whatsoever. 

"I see it reported all the time that somehow I was involved in this” but that “I had nothing to do with that," Bezos said. 

He further added:

"By the way, it appears it was a good business decision. It did very well in theaters. It’s done very well on streaming. People are very curious about Melania. So even though I had nothing to do with it, it appears that the Amazon team made a very wise business decision." 

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Beyond the heat surrounding it, Melania also attempts to offer a rare look into her personal life away from public headlines. 

The film offers a rare glimpse into the life of Melania Trump, her role as First Lady, and her relationship with her husband. The film opens with a voiceover, which says the purpose of the film is to show the American people her life and her journey from private citizen to First Lady. 

Amazon purchased the movie rights for $40M, on top of which Melania herself makes a reported $28M. The company further spent around $35m on marketing, but it failed to recoup its budget, grossing $16.7M worldwide. The Brett Ratner-directed film was released without a press screening in January. The documentary was on Amazon's internal list of most-watched films when it first streamed. 

With Jeff Bezos defending the investment and denying direct involvement, the film’s financial gamble continues to spark debate over Hollywood’s high-stakes content strategy.

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What do you think about Jeff Bezos' admission about Melania? Let us know in the comments.