‘Kingsman’ Director Matthew Vaughn Removed Trump References to Avoid Alienating Audiences

Hollywood director Matthew Vaughn revealed in a recent interview that he removed several references to Donald Trump from his new film Kingsman: The Golden Circle because he wanted the movie to be “escapism” and believed anti-Trump jokes would enrage half his audience.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Vaughn said that the film originally had two references to Donald Trump — one cryptic and a second more direct — but both were removed because the director thought the segments would distract audiences with contemporary politics when what he wanted was to offer an escape from real life.

Filming took place, Vaughn explained, during the presidential election which is why the Trump jokes seemed appropriate to include.

In one of the now removed scenes, the main baddie in the film, Poppy (Julianne Moore), noted that she wanted to be picked to replace Donald Trump on TV’s The Apprentice. But a second scene was far more elaborate with a segment depicting the Oval Office decked out in gold and red decor in emulation of some of the lavish accouterments seen in some of Trump’s well-known hotels.

Ultimately, however, Vaughn cut the scenes because he didn’t want to infuse current politics into the film.

“We felt it was too close to the bone,” the director told the magazine. “I think America’s going through a pretty interesting and rough ride at the moment andth I wanted this movie to be escapism. And that means not suddenly have half the audience going, ‘That’s not cool, that’s not funny!’ as the other half is cheering.”

Vaughn said he included the Trump references based on the suspicion that the real estate billionaire would win the election. His initial feeling was that the jokes would all be viewed as being goodnatured and fun.

Unlike the sequel, though, the original Kingsman did not shy away from politics. The 2014 film included a few scenes featuring an Obama-like U.S. president.

While the film’s Obama-like character was not directly connected to President Obama — we mostly saw the character from behind — the reference was clear as the character not only looked like Obama but also sounded like the former president. More to the point, the Obama-like president was also a participant in Valentine’s (Samuel L. Jackson) evil plan to take over the world.

Nevertheless, Vaughn said he thinks he made the right decision to remove the Trump segments from The Golden Circle. “I think my instinct was right. If you go too far — if movies get political when they’re meant to be fun — then it weighs everything down a bit too much,” he said.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston