This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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Even if you&#8217;ve never seen &#8220;The Boys,&#8221; you’ve probably come across the face of Anthony Starr as Homelander, an evil parody of Superman. He gave us one last meme this past week as Amazon’s superhero series reached its conclusion after five seasons. In the climactic confrontation between the antihero Billy Butcher and Homelander, Homelander is stripped of his powers, exposed as a fraud on live television, and forced to grovel on his knees for his life — a plea that is not granted.
After his gruesome demise, is righteous order restored to the land? No. In a subsequent scene, the antihero Billy Butcher is murdered by another cynical comrade who once fought side by side with Billy in their rebellion. Fans of the show complained about its unsatisfactory ending, but this sense of emptiness and the nagging feeling of despair that linger even after the story has ended are actually the most appropriate feelings for the postmodern ideology on which this series was built.
&#8220;The Boys&#8221; is a textbook “deconstruct the superhero myth” trope, and it is far from being new or edgy. Arguably, the original and greatest of superhero-deconstruction stories was Alan Moore’s &#8220;Watchmen&#8221; comic book series, which debuted in 1986. In that same year, Frank Miller’s &#8220;The Dark Knight Returns&#8221; portrayed Superman as a dopey stooge for an evil President Ronald Reagan. The original source material for &#8220;The Boys&#8221; series was a comic book series that debuted in 2006.
All of these stories are motivated by the same core ethos of postmodern thought: the suspicion of power. Power corrupts, institutions lie, and every grand story you’ve been told about what’s “good and evil” is just propaganda written by the “oppressor” — this has been the “anti-story” of pop-culture postmodernism over the past 40 years. In this anti-story, there are no true virtuous heroes. The new “hero” is the anti-hero who exposes the lies, rages against the machine, and takes down the powerful.
The pitch is seductive because it isn&#8217;t entirely wrong. Power can, and often does, corrupt. Institutions regularly betray our trust. The heroes you once thought were Superman — whether it was a teacher, parent, pastor, or politician — can have moral failures. There really are Homelanders out there.
But here&#8217;s where &#8220;The Boys,&#8221; and the worldview it dramatizes, runs out of road.
What do you do after you expose Homelander? Now what? 
Who leads the rebuilding efforts after the ruin? Who flies into the burning building tomorrow? Who do the kids on the playground want to be when they grow up? The show has no answer because the worldview underneath it has no answer. 
Long before postmodernism moved into the pop culture mainstream, C.S. Lewis understood that the ideologies of deconstruction — whether Marxist, postmodern, or what many might call “wokism” today — ultimately fail. Lewis argued that we can only know a crooked line because we’ve seen a straight line, and being stuck trying to “see through” everything forever without ever seeing to something better was only a form of blindness. 
Deconstruction, treated as the only noble act, can never have a satisfactory ending. Why? Because it only knows that it should be against something; it is always in rebellion, always trying to expose and tear down. If you believe hierarchies are inherently oppressive, your rebellion never ends. There can never be an end like J.R.R. Tolkien’s &#8220;The Return of the King,&#8221; where a just and righteous king restores order to the land. You never get that original &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; trilogy moment when darkness is dispelled and the light redeems a fallen republic. 
The award-winning writer David Foster Wallace was well acquainted with the “patricidal” nature of the postmodern anti-story. He called living in this state of perpetual cynicism and deconstruction being stuck as a “third-world rebel.” The “third-world rebel” is permanently in opposition, permanently tearing down, and permanently incapable of building.
We’ve been stuck in this cultural anti-story for 40 years, and it is why so many people in our cultural moment feel exhausted without being able to name why. They&#8217;ve been handed an anti-story to live in that has only a critical mode. It can spot the lie in every institution, the power play behind every story, the manipulation in every appeal to virtue — and then it stands there in the rubble with nothing to offer. No next steps to a positive reconstruction. No vision of the good worth aspiring toward.
The good news is that something has begun to shift in our culture. People are tired of the endless cynicism and the perpetual rebellion sold to them as “progress.” Hopefully, &#8220;The Boys&#8221; finale is the last we see of the “deconstruct the superhero myth” genre for a long time. We’re ready for positive reconstruction and cultural renewal. 
But to get there, we have to be willing to take the risk of hope and faith again. We need to recover and retell stories of virtuous heroes, sacrificial saviors, and ordinary men and women who walk the path of light. We need more than just a Homelander to rail against; we need a Superman to aspire to.
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Paul Anleitner is a cultural theologian whose work focuses on the role of culture and story in our quest for meaning. He is the author of “Based on a True Story: Vibe Shifts, the End of Deconstruction, and the Reboot of Meaning.”

Antony Starr (Homelander)

The Anti-Hero Era May Have Finally Gone Too Far

Amazon

Comics

Superheroes

Upstream

Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos blasted New York City’s socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday, saying that if the corporate giant operated like the Big Apple’s broken public school system, customers wouldn&#8217;t see their packages for well over a month.
In a scathing <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/20/cnbc-exclusive-transcript-jeff-bezos-speaks-with-cnbcs-andrew-ross-sorkin-on-squawk-box-today-.html">televised sit-down</a> on CNBC, the high-flying billionaire unloaded on Mamdani over a record-breaking $44 billion education budget that has yielded nothing but abysmal returns. Bezos slammed the city for blowing an astronomical $44,000 annually per student — outspending rivals like Los Angeles and Chicago by roughly 30% — even as student numbers plunge and exam performance craters.
&#8220;If we ran Amazon the way New York City runs their school system &#8230; your packages would take six weeks to arrive,&#8221; the e-commerce kingpin told anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin from a Blue Origin factory floor. &#8220;We’d have to charge you a $100 delivery fee. And then when the package did finally arrive, it’d have the wrong item in it anyway.&#8221;
The tech titan, boasting a jaw-dropping $269 billion net worth, hit back hard at Mamdani&#8217;s obsession with soaking the rich. Bezos insisted that doubling his own hefty tax bill would do absolutely nothing to support frontline educators, because the massive mountain of cash is swallowed whole by a bloated, management-heavy bureaucracy.
&#8220;None of this money is getting to the teachers, I promise you,&#8221; Bezos said, targeting the army of middle managers choking the system.
Mamdani couldn&#8217;t wait to clap back, taking to X to snap: &#8220;I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ. <a href="https://t.co/JEnRnM2xII">https://t.co/JEnRnM2xII</a>
&mdash; Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/2057137240904511564?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The fiery clash erupted shortly after the Bezos Family Foundation <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/20/us-news/jeff-bezos-torches-mamdani-for-pouring-43b-into-mismanaged-nyc-schools/">pledged</a> up to $150 million toward early childhood programs across Gotham via a massive anti-poverty endowment. Meanwhile, the struggling mayor has managed to scrape together a pitiful $3.5 million toward his own heavily hyped $20 million childcare fund.
The 62-year-old mogul, who was raised by a teenage mother and a young Cuban immigrant, argued that clueless politicians constantly look to manufacture wealthy villains instead of fixing real operational messes. Rather than finger-pointing, Bezos urged leaders to look at systemic tax reform. His pitch? Wipe out the tax bills entirely for lower-income working-class families, including struggling local nurses.
&#8220;When people are starting out and they’re struggling, stop taxing them. We don’t need it,&#8221; Bezos concluded. &#8220;I don’t want to reduce it; I want to eliminate it.&#8221;

2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci – Arrivals

Jeff Bezos Humiliates NYC’s Socialist Mayor

Jeff Bezos

New York City

Schools

Taxes

Zohran Mamdani

Amazon recently announced that it&#8217;s one step closer to finding the next Agent 007.
“The search for the next James Bond is underway. While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right,” Amazon MGM Studios said in a statement, per the James Bond X account.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Statement from Amazon MGM Studios: 
“The search for the next James Bond is underway. While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.” <a href="https://t.co/ngND7VS83I">pic.twitter.com/ngND7VS83I</a>
— James Bond (@007) <a href="https://twitter.com/007/status/2055011724944986357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The comments were filled with suggestions.
“The only person playing Bond should be someone you haven&#8217;t heard of, but also someone who has the charm and wit of Pierce Brosnan,” one person <a href="https://x.com/RajeezusBackup/status/2055025794481819728">wrote</a>.
“I would be extremely excited if Amazon wasn’t involved. I think it’s going to be milked for every penny like Disney did to Star Wars. I’m hoping I’m proven wrong. I’m hoping the quality remains high,” another person <a href="https://x.com/ItsMeChalks/status/2055226174045893034">agreed</a>.
Many of the commenters suggested Henry Cavill or Tom Hiddleston. The thread was filled with various names as fans suggested Amazon put out the statement because it was sick of being asked about who would play Bond next.
Former producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli surprised fans in 2025 when they announced they would step back from the James Bond franchise and give creative control to Amazon, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-promises-fresh-exotic-new-chapter-for-james-bond-franchise">reported</a>.
The company purchased MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022 and, in doing so, acquired the rights to distribute all “James Bond” projects. But before now, Wilson and Broccoli had maintained creative control.
The role was last played by Daniel Craig, who retired from the franchise after “No Time To Die” in 2021. There has been a lot of speculation about who would be the next Agent 007, but now, with Amazon leading the charge, anything can happen.
“I think [the next James Bond] will be a man because I don’t think a woman should play James Bond,” Broccoli said in 2021. “I believe in making characters for women and not just having women play men’s roles.”
“I don’t think there are enough great roles for women, and it’s very important to me that we make movies for women about women,” she added. “He should be British, so British can be any [ethnicity or race].”

James Bond

Amazon Updates Fans On Its Search For The Next James Bond

Entertainment

Movies

Amazon apparently decided Americans should never have to leave the house again.
The company is now <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-now-30-minute-delivery">testing</a> a new delivery service that can reportedly get products to your front door in around 30 minutes. So, the days of realizing you forgot toothpaste, paper towels, coffee creamer, or phone chargers may officially be over.
At this point, Amazon isn’t competing with stores anymore. It’s competing with your ability to put on shoes and drive somewhere yourself.
The new service, called “Amazon Now,” is beginning to roll out in several major cities across the country, with more locations expected to follow. Customers will be able to order everything from groceries and snacks to electronics and household items through the ultra-fast system.
The idea behind it is simple: instead of shipping products from giant warehouses far outside city limits, Amazon is relying on smaller local hubs positioned much closer to neighborhoods and downtown areas.
That dramatically cuts delivery times and lets drivers move orders almost immediately after they’re placed.
Translation? Your impulse buys may soon arrive before you even regret making them.
The rollout is part of Amazon’s growing obsession with speed as the company keeps pouring money into faster shipping, AI-powered logistics systems, and even drone technology designed to bypass traffic altogether.
And yes, people are absolutely going to use this for ridiculous things.
Forgot hamburger buns right before the cookout starts? Amazon.
Need deodorant before a date? Amazon.
Realized five minutes before bedtime that the kids are out of toothpaste? Amazon.
The company says Prime customers will pay a small added fee for the rapid delivery option, while non-members will pay more.
Amazon has spent years training people to expect packages almost instantly. Now it’s pushing even further into a world where “I’ll just order it” becomes faster than making a store run yourself.
Honestly, we’re about two steps away from Amazon delivering things before people even realize they need them.

Cardboard package delivery at front door

Amazon’s Newest Delivery Push Feels Straight Out Of The Future

Amazon Prime

Amazon Germany Services GmbH

The Return Of Wokeness? Amazon Banning Books Is Just The Start

Books

Censorship

Illegal Immigration

Leftists

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Amazon MGM Studios made a big promise to keep putting out theatrical releases in the wake of “Project Hail Mary” dominating the box office last month.
The announcement came from the main stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, as Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/mike-hopkins-amazon-mgm-theatrical-cinemacon-1236862584/">reported</a>, with Amazon promising to drop $1 billion annually on bringing movies to the big screen.
“While some of our competitors have dipped their toes in and out of the theatrical waters, for us, this isn’t a test or an experiment. Our commitment to release at least 15 films every year into your theaters is on schedule,” studio head Mike Hopkins said, taking a not-so-subtle dig at other streaming platforms that are in the movie business. 
“As I say to our team constantly, our ambition for theatrical film is in the top half of the first inning. Project Hail Mary is just the beginning,” he added.
“Project Hail Mary” was touted as a proof of concept, with the creative team, filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and star Ryan Gosling, who plays the lead character, appearing on stage.
“Hail Mary” just crossed $525 million at the global box office, making it the company&#8217;s most successful movie ever.
Amazon MGM&#8217;s head of domestic theatrical distribution Kevin Wilson said the future was bright. 
“Last year we introduced a slate built to make audiences lean in. A mix of bold originals and iconic IP. That is who we are. And since then, we’ve delivered results,” the exec added from the stage. 
“Four months. Four films. Over $670 million at the box office. And we have nine more on the way. We said 15 films by 2027 — and we meant it. But this is not about volume. It is about impact. We are building films that give audiences a reason to leave the house. Films with scale. Ambition. Something to say.”
“That expertise is now applied with a singular focus: not just releasing films, but championing each one with the care, rigor, and creativity it deserves,” Amazon MGM’s Head of Global Marketing Susan Kroll said. “And now, we have the ability to pair that foundation with something entirely unique — the full power and reach of Amazon.”
The company also teased upcoming projects, including “The Sheep Detectives” and the highly anticipated sequel “Spaceballs 2.”

In this photo illustration, the Amazon MGM Studios logo is

Amazon MGM Studios Makes Huge Promise To Movie Theaters

Movie Theaters

“Project Hail Mary” is the hottest ticket in town, and it’s got the receipts to prove it.
The Ryan Gosling-led film about a middle school science teacher sent to outer space to save humanity is breaking records right and left. “Project Hail Mary” raked in $80.5 million domestically and more than $140 million worldwide during its opening weekend, making the biggest opening ever for Amazon MGM.
The incredible reviews and word of mouth recommendations helped the film, which is based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, outperform high expectations. Currently, the movie has a 95% critic’s rating and 96% audience score on review aggregator <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/project_hail_mary">Rotten Tomatoes</a>.
Fans are especially excited that the non-franchise film is heartwarming, family friendly, smart, non-woke, original, and reminiscent of how movies used to be.
Amazon MGM took a real gamble on this one, building physical sets and using a real rock-shaped puppet rather than relying on green screens and CGI to create the look and feel. This all meant spending a <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/drew-goddard-project-hail-mary-high-potential-1236540318/#:~:text=Project%20Hail%20Mary%20came%20with,down%20swinging%20with%20this%20movie.%E2%80%9D">reported</a> $248 million, the most on any of the studio’s films to date. But it was worth it and audiences are responding to that authenticity in a big way.
“Project Hail Mary” was the first live-action project in 12 years for directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who were famously fired from the “Star Wars” spinoff “Solo.”
“It did seem like a crazy idea to make a movie with the hunkiest actor of his generation and a rock puppet,” Lord <a href="https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/entertainment/ap-ent-film-project-hail-mary-1st-ld-writethru">said</a> in a joint interview with Miller. “I guess we’re interested in difficult things.”
Screenwriter Drew Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for his adaptation of Weir’s other sci-fi novel “The Martian” (2015).
Part of “Project Hail Mary” gaining so much traction so quickly comes from social media recommendations, which were going strong all weekend.
“Took the wife and kids to see Project Hail Mary. We all really enjoyed it,” Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh <a href="https://x.com/mattwalshblog/status/2035403288154120599?s=43">said</a> of the film. “Its greatest achievement is that it’s an actual family movie. Not too babyish for adults and not too grown up for the kids. Reminds me of the PG movies they used to make all the time in the 80s and 90s. Very much a spiritual descendent of ET. Maybe Hollywood will take the hint and start making real family films again.”

Project Hail Mary

Non-Woke ‘Project Hail Mary’ Blasts Off With Massive Opening Weekend

Box Office

U.S.

A Super Bowl commercial that features Amazon’s Ring doorbell camera triggered tremendous backlash online, with many viewers worrying that it glorifies mass surveillance.
The &#8220;Be A Hero In Your Neighborhood&#8221; ad begins with a video of a young girl reunited with her dog before jumping to a fictionalized preview of when her family pet went missing. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff explains during the ad that 10 million dogs go missing every year. The clip then cuts into a montage featuring missing dog posters stapled to telephone poles.
The commercial then shows the family using &#8220;Search Party” from Ring, which “uses AI to help families find lost dogs.&#8221;
“Since launch, more than a dog a day has been reunited with their family,” Siminoff continues as a neighborhood of Ring doorbell cameras scans and analyzes the dogs wandering by. &#8220;Be a hero in your neighborhood with Search Party. Available to everyone, for free, right now.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Search Party from Ring | Be A Hero In Your Neighborhood" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OheUzrXsKrY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Social media users quickly noted the possible downside of all doorbell cameras being used for surveillance. 
“This [Ring] camera commercial played at #SuperBowl is something out of a dystopian thriller. Who would ever install these cameras after this? CREEPY AF!” one person <a href="https://x.com/leovanstaden/status/2020932261399626205">replied</a>. 
&#8220;Y’all, this Ring Doorbell Camera commercial was creepy as can be. They are not even hiding it anymore,&#8221; another commenter <a href="https://x.com/SollyinTexas/status/2020726405164626421">wrote</a>.
A third commenter <a href="https://x.com/BridgetPhetasy/status/2020681374261264861">echoed</a>, &#8220;Ring search party is terrifying and what’s most terrifying is that we opted into this like f**king idiots.&#8221;
“This is a huge problem disguised as a solution,” one of the YouTube comments says.
Others pointed out how surveillance is already happening everywhere, and that users could easily opt out of the “Search Party” feature. Others dismissed the commercial as harmless.
“The ring doorbell commercial about finding lost dogs is by far the best part of this entire Super Bowl. Well done Ring and Amazon,” one person <a href="https://x.com/ErlingStu/status/2020682280771977578">wrote</a>. 
Super Bowl LX took place on Sunday, February 8, and resulted in the Seattle Seahawks dominating the New England Patriots 29-13. There was a lot of controversy over Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny being selected to headline the halftime show despite not having any songs in English. 
TPUSA announced an alternative musical performance, The All-American Halftime Show, which aired at the same time as Bad Bunny’s set. The event, headlined by Kid Rock, attracted <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/millions-tune-in-for-tpusa-all-american-halftime-show-during-super-bowl">millions of viewers</a> who watched it live on multiple streaming platforms.

Young girl hugs a dog while looking out the window

Ring’s ‘Lost Dog’ Super Bowl Commercial Sparks Mass Surveillance Fears

Ring Doorbell 'Lost Dog' Super Bowl Commercial Sparks Debate

Business

Super Bowl

Surveillance

Film critics <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/becoming_2020_2/reviews/top-critics">raved</a> over &#8220;Becoming,&#8221; the fawning 2020 documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama, produced by Michelle Obama.
<blockquote>The Detroit News: It&#8217;s a warm latte, delivered to you in your favorite mug.
NPR: Even with its flaws, Becoming is a compelling documentary, offering a carefully revealing look at a whip smart, ferociously practical woman trying to understand how her historic time in the White House changed herself, her family and the nation. </blockquote>
Now, see if you can detect a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/melania/reviews/top-critics">slight tonal shift</a> in reviews for “Melania,” the new documentary capturing First Lady Melania Trump, who also produced the film, as she moves back into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
<blockquote>Globe and Mail: Ratner has accidentally delivered the ultimate chronicle of 21st-century excess and greed, a world of casual yet immense cruelty covered in flop sweat and gold glitter.
Variety: A documentary that never comes to life. It’s a “portrait” of the First Lady of the United States, but it’s so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.</blockquote>
Several reviews compared the film to Nazi propaganda. One critic gave “Melania” a “rotten” score at Rotten Tomatoes while admitting <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/melania-reviews-critic-didnt-watch/">he never actually saw the film</a>. (That review was quickly removed from the critical aggregator site)
<div id="attachment_1040041" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1040041" class="size-large wp-image-1040041" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-384x576.jpg" alt="Amazon MGM Studios. Muse Films. New Element Media. RatPac Entertainment." width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster.jpg 999w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Amazon MGM Studios.</div>
The Guardian’s review compared the movie to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/30/melania-review-trump-film-is-a-gilded-trash-remake-of-the-zone-of-interest">2024’s “The Zone of Interest.”</a> That well-received drama depicted a Nazi family living next door to a concentration camp.
The reviewer didn’t stop there, mocking FLOTUS’s face and voice, a no-no in critical circles. Review the film, not the physical attributes of the people on screen. When a Variety scribe suggested actress Carey Mulligan wasn’t pretty enough to play the femme fatale in 2020’s “Promising Young Woman,” the outlet <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/28/variety-apology-carey-mulligan-film-critics">uttered an apology</a> directly to the actress.
For some reason, that unwritten rule didn’t apply to “Melania.” Nor should FLOTUS expect an apology any time soon.
The chasm between movie critics and general audiences over “Melania” may be the new, startling benchmark. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 7% “Rotten” score from movie scribes and <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/melania">a 99 percent “fresh”</a> rating from the public at large.
Those blistering critiques, delivered by a film body that leans overwhelmingly to the Left, were just part of the media’s war on “Melania.”
The said war began before “Melania” hit American theaters on January 30. Outlet after outlet preened over reports of <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/melania-trump-promotes-film-amid-210206431.html">poor pre-release ticket sales</a>. So did <a href="https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/stephen-colbert-roasts-melania-documentary-144531012.html">Stephen Colbert of “The Late Show” fame.</a>
Empty theaters, reporters cried, suggested “Melania” would underperform even modest expectations. It did the opposite, earning north of $7 million in its opening frame. Recent documentaries made far, far less.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” &#8211; $19K to date in U.S.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">“Orwell: 2+2=5” &#8211; $355K in U.S.</li>
</ul>
For context, most documentaries are lucky to earn $1 million in theaters. “Melania,” media voices argued, might not make it to the $3 million mark. And, with a gaudy $40 million price tag courtesy of Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, that’s a debacle.
Except “Melania” delivered the biggest <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/melania-opens-with-decade-best-documentary-debut/gm-8AE15378FA?gemSnapshotKey=8AE15378FA-snapshot-4&amp;ocid=AARDHP">documentary debut in a decade</a>. The film <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/02/05/nolte-exclusive-melania-gains-more-box-office-steam-with-wednesdays-1-25-million-haul/">has kept earning since then</a>. 
<div id="attachment_1040047" style="width: 632px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1040047" class="size-large wp-image-1040047" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-622x576.jpg" alt="Amazon MGM Studios. Muse Films. New Element Media. RatPac Entertainment." width="622" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-622x576.jpg 622w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-300x278.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-768x712.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel.jpg 1379w" sizes=" (max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px" />Amazon MGM Studios.</div>
USA Today argued it’s <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/01/30/melania-movie-amazon-documentary-trump/88415378007/">“patriotic” to slam “Melania</a>.”
To be the subject of a documentary, one would think you’d have to accomplish something beyond being a complicit grifter in two of the most cruel, dishonest, and dangerous presidential terms in American history.
Indiewire said the film’s box office success <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/features/commentary/melania-box-office-documentary-filmmakers-worried-1235177403/">is terrible news for the documentary genre</a>.  Suddenly, a rising tide doesn’t lift all boats.
It’s a scary time for documentarians. Will they have to start working with the likes of Brett Ratner to make infomercials that please Donald Trump to pay the bills? The success of “Melania” suggests they might.
Meanwhile, a news media landscape that routinely decries review bombing – the practice of slagging a film or TV show sight unseen due to a variety of pre-release complaints, like overt wokeness – suddenly <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/melania-documentary-reviews-deleted-letterboxd/">cheered on review bombing of “Melania.”</a>
NPR needed something negative to share about the film. So it dug into the demographic breakdown of movie patrons and determined a large number of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/02/02/nx-s1-5693775/melania-documentary-box-office-audience">older white women</a> lined up to see “Melania.”
How often do media outlets report on the demographics of a given film? Hint: Not very often. NPR likely sought to portray the film’s fan base as overwhelmingly white (with a touch of supremacy?)
A few outlets have thrown all credibility to the wind to savage “Melania.” The far-Left Daily Beast took the crown here. The site has repeatedly called the film a “<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-desperately-tries-to-juice-melania-doc-after-box-office-flop/">flop,”</a> although it’s on pace to pass 2024’s “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist?elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Shows+and+Movies&amp;rowType=Portrait+Show+Carousel">Am I Racist?</a>” as the most successful documentary of the last decade.
<div id="attachment_819849" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist?elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Shows+and+Movies&amp;rowType=Portrait+Show+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-819849" class="size-large wp-image-819849" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/00_AIR_16x9_Streaming_V02-1024x576.jpg" alt="Am I Racist?" width="1024" height="576" /></a>DailyWire+</div>
“Melania” expands its release pattern in its second weekend, upping the theatrical count to 2,000 screens. Even if the film underperforms from here, the theatrical release has done its job.
Amazon likely viewed the film all along as a Prime Video draw, first and foremost. The documentary will draw attention and eyeballs to the streaming service, giving it a competitive title in a cutthroat streaming landscape. The film’s theatrical bow is an extended promotion for its final, digital destination.
Why all the unprofessional hate? The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/melania-trump-brett-ratner-documentary-interview-1236489826/">First Lady may have said it best</a> at the premiere of her own movie.
“Superior storytelling drives culture and in turn moves markets.”
Legacy Media outlets fear a conservative encroachment on their turf most of all.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Amazon MGM’s “Melania” World Premiere

The Left-Wing Media Is Losing Its Mind Over ‘Melania’

The Left-Wing Media Is Losing Its Mind Over 'Melania'

Documentaries

Film

Hollywood

Legacy Media

Melania Trump

Michelle Obama

Rotten Tomatoes

Tragedy occurred in the Bezos universe yesterday when 16,000 people were cut from Amazon.
The first round of cuts in October led to roughly 14,000 white-collar employees receiving pink slips. People in the world of journalism were deeply affected. They were really upset that tens of thousands of people were about to lose their jobs at Amazon, one of the most successful companies in America and in the world.
Just kidding.
They didn&#8217;t care.
They barely covered that; it lasted in the news cycle for about five seconds.
What they are really, really upset about in the Bezos universe is that The Washington Post is going to lay off one-third of its staff. The Washington Post is cutting — wait for it — 300+ jobs.
I&#8217;m just going to point out where the sympathies lie. 30,000 people lose their jobs at Amazon because Amazon is cost-cutting and reevaluating thanks to AI, and journalists respond, “You know, those are people who work in Amazon. Those might be factory workers, those might be middle management. They&#8217;re not us.”
But at The Washington Post, they laid off the third-string journalist in Gaza, who may or may not be a contractor for Hamas; they laid off the race and ethnicity reporter, and it’s “My God, the American promise has been sullied and violated! No, this cannot be!”
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/media/washington-post-layoffs-feburary-2026-c105b237?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqcaQNca6RrDYdMgDke2Qwu1pfAhNcuwCLeGw2gtfcyFA6ZnY6MoI_3SOtNXZjo%3D&amp;gaa_ts=6984dc53&amp;gaa_sig=APDqepx-qArXwdbgE1oFZKF_NO-7qs9L1QsLikbvbByoXzZcBaTeCL6ss9lDG47LXXcfxAiG6I1p2ATcf6q7Uw%3D%3D">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The Washington Post is cutting one-third of its staff, slashing hundreds of jobs across the newsroom and other departments in an effort to trim costs and reshape coverage.
The layoffs will affect journalists in nearly all news departments, including the sports, foreign, technology and breaking-news teams, as well as business and technology staff. 
“If we are to thrive, not just endure, we must reinvent our journalism and our business model with renewed ambition,” Executive Editor Matt Murray wrote in a note to newsroom staff Wednesday&#8230;. The Post is closing its sports department in its current form but will retain some roles in that coverage area. It is shrinking its international coverage, and will focus on national news and features, investigations and advice on health and wellness topics.
Murray said the Post will continue to have correspondents in about a dozen international locations, and will focus on issues related to national security. “That’s what our readers seem to respond to the most,” he said. &#8230; The Post lost $77 million in 2023 and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/media/washington-post-challenges-trump-second-term-61ea6ed9?mod=article_inline">$100 million in 2024</a>, The Wall Street Journal previously reported, as it contended with traffic declines from sources including Google and Facebook. &#8230; In recent weeks, Post journalists—including foreign correspondents, local-news reporters and members of the White House team—made public pleas asking the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, to maintain their jobs.</blockquote>
The Washington Post, like the Daily Wire, is not a nonprofit. If journalists wish to start their own nonprofit and get a bunch of left-wing funders to put millions of dollars behind their jobs, they are free to do that. There are organizations that operate as charitable organizations that do active journalism on occasion.
But the idea that Jeff Bezos owes it to the employees of The Washington Post to maintain their jobs when the paper is losing money is crazy and stupid.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2362-left-wing-journalists-panic-as-wa-po-fires-300?elementPosition=5&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Nonetheless, the response from the media ecosystem is absolute shock and horror. Emmanuel Felton, the race and ethnicity reporter at The Washington Post — the race and ethnicity reporter? Is there breaking news in the race and ethnicity area? Is evolution suddenly occurring that you need l a reporter on race and ethnicity? How is that a coverage area? If on the Right there was a race and ethnicity reporter, we would recognize just how racist that is — put out a statement:
<blockquote>I&#8217;m among the hundreds of people laid off by The Post. This comes six months after hearing in a national meeting that race coverage drives subscriptions. This wasn&#8217;t a financial decision, it was an ideological one. The other reporter on my team covering race was also laid off as well as the editor in charge of race coverage across national. The team covering America beyond DC is now 90% white.</blockquote>
Oh, no. You mean that people covering issues are going to do so without regard to the race of the reporter?
We can&#8217;t have that.
“Racism,” says the guy who gets paid to talk about racism all day long.
Brianna Tucker, national politics breaking news reporter and the National Association of Black Journalists political task force chair, put out a statement saying, “I&#8217;m affected by layoffs at the Washington Post today. There aren&#8217;t enough words to describe the immense privilege and profound responsibility I&#8217;ve felt since hired at 25 as an editor. As a Black woman covering politics, (a dwindling cohort) today, that feeling is magnified.”
If your first take about being fired by a paper that is bleeding money is that you were fired because of your race, perhaps that betrays the style of coverage that you were doing, which might be one of the reasons the paper was suffering.
If you see everything through a racial lens and the paper for which you are reporting keeps losing money, and then you get fired, and in your firing statement, you talk about your specific race, perhaps you are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Peter Baker, the New York Times’ chief White House correspondent, put out a tweet listing Bezos’ wealth over the years:
<blockquote>Jeff Bezos wealth in 2024: $194 billion Jeff Bezos wealth in 2025: $215 billion Jeff Bezos wealth today: $249.4 billion Net increase in Bezos wealth since 2024: $55.4 billion Cost of Bezos’s 417-foot superyacht: $500 million Amazon investment in &#8220;Melania&#8221;: $75 million Original Bezos purchase price of the Washington Post in 2013: $250 million Bezos net worth in 2013: $25.2 billion Net increase in Bezos wealth since buying the Post: $224.2 billion Last reported annual losses of Post: $100 million Number of years Bezos could absorb those losses with what he makes in a single week: 5</blockquote>
The premise of this tweet is that The Post is a charity, and that Bezos bought it as a charity operation.
The only number that matters in the tweet is this: “Last reported annual losses of Post: $100 million.”
Perhaps one of the reasons Jeff Bezos is worth $250 billion is that he does not hold on to declining assets. He does not run his businesses like charities. Maybe that would be the reason.
Maybe that&#8217;s why he is extraordinarily wealthy, and most of the reporters working for him are not, because they think they&#8217;re in the charity business.
As someone who&#8217;s the co-founder of a major media organization in the same business as the Washington Post, let me just say this: When you lose money, and you can see where you&#8217;re losing money, you have to lay people off.
That is how business works.
And Jeff Bezos is not doing anything wrong by laying people off.
The idea that journalists are somehow owed their position because the person who hires them is rich is extraordinary, especially when many of these same journalists are asking that the federal government step in and make the owners of their own businesses not rich anymore.
They think that the people who hire them are simply supposed to absorb the losses.
Bernie Sanders, a complete leech on the ass of American society for the last eight decades, a useless human being in the extreme, put out a statement saying, “If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie and $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don&#8217;t tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff. Democracy dies in oligarchy.”
What is this, “He doesn&#8217;t need to?”
It is not about what people need to do in America; it is about what they want to do and what they have the freedom to do. That&#8217;s why this country kicks ass.
And that&#8217;s why his version of the country sucks.
If Bernie Sanders wants to get together a bunch of his left-wing friends to put together a 501c3 and rehire all the race reporters in the Washington Post, he is free to do that. He could sell his lake house, and he could hire several of these journalists, and they could work for him, and they could gallivant into the utopian socialist sunset together and enjoy their time.
But he&#8217;s not going to do any of that, the man who spent over $550,000 in 2025 campaign funds on private jets. 
How many Washington Post salaries could that pay?

Guild Members Rally Outside The Washington Post After Layoffs

Left-Wing Journalists Panic As WaPo Fires Over 300 Employees

Ben Shapiro

Capitalism

journalists

layoffs

Washington Post

Actor Timothy Busfield has reportedly been edited out of the Amazon MGM Studios movie “You Deserve Each Other” following child sexual abuse charges being filed against him.
The move comes after NBC did the same with a new episode of “Law &amp; Order: SVU” featuring the actor. The episode with Busfield was pulled from the schedule after being slated to air January 22, per <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/timothy-busfield-edited-out-you-deserve-each-other-1236634868/">Variety</a>.
Busfield stands accused of sexually assaulting twin boys beginning when they were 7 years old. The actor worked with the child actors, born in 2014, on the set of “The Cleaning Lady,” which aired on Fox from 2022 to 2025. Busfield directed some episodes and was named an executive producer. 
One of the boys identified in court documents as “SL” told Albuquerque Police Officer Marvin Brown that Busfield touched his “penis and buttocks, masking it as play” more than once. The alleged abuse is said to have started with the boys when they were 7 years old, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/west-wing-actor-timothy-busfield-turns-himself-in-to-face-child-sex-abuse-charges?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98West+Wing%E2%80%99+Actor+Timothy+Busfield+Turns+Himself+In+To+Face+Child+Sex+Abuse+Charges">reported</a>.
An investigation began in November 2024 when a University of New Mexico Hospital doctor reported his suspicions of sexual abuse and grooming to authorities. Investigators initially didn’t press charges, but the case was reopened in September 2025 when one of the boys reported the alleged abuse to his doctor.
The actor faced two previous sexual assault allegations in 1994 and 2012, but was never charged. Busfield recorded a video of himself professing his innocence just before turning himself in to the police earlier this month.
“You Deserve Each Other” is a romantic comedy starring Meghann Fahy and Penn Badgley and is based on Sarah Hogle’s bestselling novel of the same name. The plot involves an engaged couple who have fallen out of love and try to sabotage each other into calling off their wedding, but then fall back in love instead.
Busfield played the role of Bernie, the father of the bride, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/timothy-busfield-edited-out-of-you-deserve-each-other-1236478036/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. No release date was given for the project. As of Tuesday morning, Busfield’s name was removed from the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37498811/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm">cast list</a> on IMDb.
Amazon MGM Studios did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s request for comment.

Timothy Busfield

Amazon Axes Timothy Busfield From Rom-Com After Child Sex Abuse Charges

Timothy Busfield Edited Out of Amazon Rom-Com Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations

Child Sex Abuse

Crime

iRobot, the American company that created the robotic vacuum Roomba, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, sending the company into the arms of its Chinese manufacturer just three years after regulators blocked a proposed sale to Amazon.
Under the <a href="https://media.irobot.com/2025-12-14-iRobot-Announces-Strategic-Transaction-to-Drive-Long-Term-Growth-Plan?utm_source=chatgpt.com">bankruptcy plan</a>, iRobot’s manufacturer, Picea, will take 100% of the company’s equity, shifting ownership from American to Chinese hands. The filing comes after iRobot cited declining sales, increased competition from lower-priced alternatives, and rising supply chain and manufacturing costs. Initially, the company hoped to merge with Amazon to improve its scale and get more competitive pricing for parts and inventory.
While the Federal Trade Commission has not commented on iRobot’s bankruptcy, the commission welcomed the collapse of the Amazon deal in January 2024. “We are pleased that Amazon and iRobot have abandoned their proposed transaction,” the United States Federal Trade Commission <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/01/statement-regarding-termination-amazons-proposed-acquisition-irobot">said</a>. “The Federal Trade Commission will not hesitate to take action in enforcing the antitrust laws to ensure that competition remains robust.”
Three years later, iRobot’s bankruptcy leaves the United States without a major American-owned competitor in the home robotics industry.
With iRobot’s bankruptcy, shareholders are expected to see their equity wiped out &#8212; an outcome that contrasts sharply with the $61 per share cash payout investors would have received had the Amazon acquisition gone through. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who urged regulators to oppose the deal, said at the time that Amazon should not be allowed to use acquisitions to avoid competition.
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“I have serious concerns about Amazon’s deal to buy iRobot,” <a href="https://x.com/SenWarren/status/1575616208417980417">said</a> Warren. “We’re asking the FTC to oppose this proposed deal to protect competition and consumers. Amazon shouldn’t be allowed to just buy their way out of competing.”
After the deal collapsed, iRobot laid off roughly one-third of its workforce and its stock price plummeted. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy later described the company’s struggle as “a sad story.”
“This American company invented this product, invented the category and built a business that was almost $1 billion in revenue,” Jassy said. He argued that successful businesses naturally attract competition, including from Chinese manufacturers, and that iRobot needed scale to survive.
“They needed to scale because scale lets you buy components at the right price and invest in R&amp;D,” Jassy said.
Jassy also addressed privacy concerns, noting that robotic vacuums must map the inside of customers’ homes to avoid running into furniture.
“What Western regulators were saying is that they trust these two large Chinese companies with maps of the inside of U.S. consumers&#8217; homes more than they do Amazon,” he said. “That can’t be what we were going for. I think we&#8217;ve got to try and find a way to be reasonable with what we are doing.”
At the time the deal was blocked, the Federal Trade Commission was chaired by President Joe Biden appointee Lina Khan, who quickly became known for her aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement, particularly toward large technology companies. Khan now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdanis-transition-team-a-reflection-of-his-leftism">serves</a> as New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team chair.

In this photo illustration, the IRobot logo is seen

Regulators Blocked Amazon-iRobot Deal, Now Bankruptcy Sends Company Back To China

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