Updated

Updated · TheWrap · Aug 14

Shane Gillis Regrets Trump Backing, Avoided White House UFC Photo After 2nd-Term Controversies

Updated

Updated · TheWrap · Aug 14

Shane Gillis Regrets Trump Backing, Avoided White House UFC Photo After 2nd-Term Controversies

Q: Did dodging a high-profile VIP photo op serve as a calculated PR strategy timed for a major Netflix premiere?

Probably yes in part, but there is no hard evidence it was a formal rollout tied to Netflix. The clearest fact is that Gillis said his decision at the June White House UFC event was deliberate: he declined the VIP room and stayed outside because he knew photos with President Trump would circulate publicly. That makes it a conscious image-management choice, not an accident. The timing also supports a publicity interpretation. He discussed the episode on “The Joe Rogan Experience” just as Season 3 of his Netflix series “Tires” premiered in mid-August. Public figures commonly try to avoid distractions or backlash around a launch, and Gillis had reason to think a Trump photo could dominate coverage of the premiere rather than the show itself. Similar criticism had already hit other entertainers seen in the VIP area. Still, the available reporting does not show a coordinated PR campaign by Gillis or Netflix. There is no indication of a planned statement, exclusive interview strategy, or studio messaging. The comments surfaced in a free-flowing podcast conversation, where Gillis also revisited an older Trump photo and explained that his view had changed since then. So the strongest reading is narrower: Gillis appears to have made a calculated reputational decision to avoid a viral political image, and that decision likely became more useful once “Tires” was launching. But calling it a clearly timed, organized PR strategy would go beyond the evidence now on the record.

3 articles · Updated · TheWrap · Aug 14

Shane Gillis said on Joe Rogan’s podcast he refused a VIP-room invite at Trump’s June UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn to avoid being photographed with the president.
The comedian said a photo he took with Trump a few years ago came before “a lot of things,” adding he had expected Trump to release the Epstein files and deliver “no more wars.”
Ari Shaffir jabbed that Trump “wasn’t killing Americans,” underscoring that Gillis tied his change in view to controversies in Trump’s second term, including Epstein-files fallout and the Iran war.
Gillis also reiterated he did not vote for Trump in 2024, even as he has often been cast publicly as an “anti-woke” comic aligned with the right.
The remarks landed the same day Netflix debuted Season 3 of Gillis’ comedy series “Tires,” keeping his politics in focus alongside the release.