There is no doubt that filmmaker Michael Moore’s latest claim will grab some attention.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter posted Wednesday, the filmmaker said that Donald Trump’s jealousy of singer Gwen Stefani led him to run for president.
Moore told the trade publication that when Trump learned Stefani’s performance fees as a coach on NBC’s “The Voice” were greater than what he earned for “The Apprentice” on the same network, he staged his Trump Tower campaign announcement in June 2015 to show NBC how popular he was. Trump memorably began the event by descending the building’s escalator.
“He’d been talking about running for president since 1988, but he didn’t really want to be president,” Moore said. “There’s no penthouse in the White House. And he doesn’t want to live in a black city. He was trying to pit NBC against another network, but it just went off the rails.”
The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “After Trump’s accusation that Mexico was sending rapists across the border, NBC cut ties with him. But Trump, suddenly finding himself cheered on by massive crowds and an indulgent media, figured why not make a serious run for the highest office in the land?”
Moore’s “Fahrenheit 11/9” takedown of Trump premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival Thursday.
HuffPost reached out to the White House and a rep for Stefani, but didn’t immediately hear back.