TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) —The team on the Netflix hit “Peaky Blinders” is chastising Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for using a clip of the show in a recent political ad that appears to target the LGBTQ+ community.
Posted to Twitter on June 30, the last day of Pride Month, the ad takes shots at DeSantis’ ally-turned-rival, former President Donald Trump, for allegedly being soft towards the LGBTQ+ community.
The video was posted by the “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account, the governor’s “rapid response operation,” which shares posts about his campaign.
“To wrap up “Pride Month, let’s hear from the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate it…,” the Twitter caption read.
The ad features clips of Trump interviews and headlines that suggest he might support the LGBTQ+ community, depending on one’s interpretation.
Halfway through the video, it jump cuts to clips of DeSantis, who hasn’t been shy about supporting anti-LBGTQ+ legislation, even signing Florida’s highly controversial bill, “The Parental Rights in Education Act,” known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
The governor’s montage also shows headlines from stories about his support of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and several times, cuts to notable characters from film and television, such as Cillian Murphy’s character in “Peaky Blinders,” Brad Pitt in “Troy,” and Christian Bale in “American Psycho.”
On July 5, a week after DeSantis posted his campaign ad, the team for “Peaky Blinders” shared a statement on Twitter, saying the clip of Cillian Murphy’s character used in the ad was “obtained without permission or official license,” adding that the team does not support nor endorse the video’s narrative.
“On behalf of the partners of Peaky Blinders—Steven Knight, Cillian Murphy, Caryn Mandabach, Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions and Banijay Rights—We confirm the footage of Tommy Shelby’s character used within the video posted by Ron DeSantis’ campaign was obtained without permission or officials license. We do not support nor endorse the video’s narrative and strongly disapprove of the use of the content in this manner,” the “Peaky Blinders” team said in a statement.