President-elect Donald Trump is set to select actor Sylvester Stallone for Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), according to a report.
While Trump has not formally offered Stallone the job, the iconic actor is reportedly “positively disposed to the idea,” according to the Daily Mail.
“It’s been widely and wrongly assumed that a Trump Presidency will be hostile to the arts,’ one source told the outlet. “But Mr. Trump feels this sort of A-list appointment is precisely the shot in the arm that the industry needs.”
Indeed, the Rocky star and Trump have history.
In the waining days of the presidential campaign, Trump’s team launched a web ad featuring an inspirational speech by Rocky Balboa from the Stallone-directed 2006 film Rocky Balboa.
When asked in January what he thought of the then-Republican candidate, Stallone told Variety, “I love Donald Trump.”
Stallone compared Trump to a “great Dickensian character,” adding that “There are certain people like Arnold, Babe Ruth, that are bigger than life.”
Noting in that same interview that he’d once thought of running for public office, Stallone said “five minutes later, I came to my senses.”
Nevertheless, the National Endowment for the Arts has huge grant-making ability and has sway over everything from funding museums and opera shows to promoting policies and programs.
The NEA is currently governed by artist Jane Chu, who heads the 14-member, president-appointed board. As of 2015, the agency commanded a $150 million budget.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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