Danny Trejo’s Son Claims Father ‘Handcuffed’ to Ben Shapiro’s ‘Stupid Project’ Amid Backlash to ‘Pro-ICE’ Movie

Screenshot via The Ben Shapiro Show (L)/Screenshot via Universal Pictures/Troublemaker Studios

Daily Wire is upping its film output, and their coming projects are already getting plenty of attention — and backlash.

Following the release of Run Hide Fight: Infidels this year — which critics slammed as “Islamophobic,” something producer Dallas Sonnier dismissed in a Mediaite interview — Daily Wire dropped a trailer for Confession, scripted by Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro himself, and they’ve been dealing with on-set protesters for Pawn Shop, a movie that’s been described by critics as “pro-ICE.” It stars Danny Trejo and Harvey Keitel, among others.

Pawn Shop reportedly centers on “an Antifa siege” on a pawn shop following an ICE shooting. Critics have drawn parallels to the film’s plot and the real-life shooting of Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis. Filming was briefly halted in Montana after backlash to a report on the film’s script, but the town commissioners quickly reversed that decision unanimously after an address from Sonnier.

Mediaite previously obtained footage of protesters disrupting filming, objecting to Shapiro’s involvement and calling the movie propaganda.

On social media, the actors involved in Shapiro’s upcoming films have gotten the most criticism (Confession features Rob Lowe, James Franco, and other notable names), including Trejo, 82.

Trejo’s son, Gilbert Trejo, took to Instagram, where he claimed his father is “handcuffed” to Shapiro’s movie. He also claimed Trejo was unaware of who Shapiro was before the movie. As a Daily Wire spokesperson pointed out to Mediaite though, this is Trejo’s second project with the media company’s streaming arm. He previously did voice work in Adam Carolla’s Mr. Birchum, which was released in 2024.

“This is the second Daily Wire production featuring Mr. Trejo after ‘Mr. Birchum’ and we’re delighted to be working with him again,” a company spokesperson told Mediaite in a statement.

Interestingly, Gilbert Trejo also acknowledges that the upcoming movie is not exactly “pro-ICE” like critics have been describing.

“He was booked on a film, it’s not pro-ICE, it’s not overtly pro anything. His agent described it as ‘a complicated story about a complicated time, where everyone looks bad except you, the hardworking Mexican shop owner who just wants peace,” the younger Trejo wrote in his statement.

He said his father “jumped at the idea of playing a good guy.” Danny Trejo has made a name for himself for mostly playing bad guys over decades in Hollywood (including in Breaking Bad, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, and more).

Gilbert Trejo wrote:

He jumped at the idea of playing a good guy. About 2 weeks into shooting, everyone, including us, found out Ben Shapiro was involved. My 82-year-old dad has never heard of Ben Shapiro, I had to explain to him who that is, and what kind of guy he is. My dad contractually can’t bad mouth him, the film, or walk away without being sued for breach of contract. He couldn’t even release the statement he wanted to.

Trejo explained that people have been shunning his father over his involvement in the project as he lashed out at Shapiro, blaming him for getting “Mexicans to abandon one of their heroes.”

“It’s f*cked up. He’s handcuffed to this stupid project, and swaths of people have instantly turned their back on him without knowing any of the facts,” he wrote. “Ben Shapiro got Mexicans to abandon one of their heroes, got his own name to the top of google’s searches, and made us look like angry fools lacking any nuance. He wins.”

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