Donald Trump Allegedly Thinks Zoolander 2 Flopped For A Weird Reason

When Donald Trump claimed he didn't bully his way into "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," he also mentioned how he "helped make the movie a success." One would assume that Trump's discussion of the poor "Zoolander 2" box office numbers would involve him stating the film failed because he didn't have a role to follow up his cameo in the original installment. However, he provided a different reason to explain the sequel's lackluster performance.

"Hardball" host Chris Matthews appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in 2017, and he told a story about having Trump on his show to talk about women's rights and nuclear weapons. During a commercial break, Trump shared why he thought "Zoolander 2" didn't do well. According to Matthews' recounting: "'Zoolander' works. 'Zoolander 2' did not work. And he explained it to me. It had to do with the timing ... He said there is a certain moment when people thought really good-looking models were stupid, and that would be funny. But it stopped working again."

It's a somewhat insightful take on "Zoolander 2" flopping. However, Colbert was hung up on the fact that this is what Trump was thinking about in the middle of a conversation about taking away women's bodily autonomy. 

The anecdote made its way to Derek Zoolander himself, Ben Stiller. While at the Nantucket Film Festival (via Page Six), the actor shared his thoughts concerning Donald Trump's viewpoint: "Trump said it didn't bomb because it wasn't funny or anything, but because nobody cares about male models anymore in the zeitgeist. And all I'm thinking is ... A) Trump's right. Maybe we should go a little easier on him on this whole Russia thing. And B) why are you doing this, Chris [Matthews]? Why are you dredging up my pain?"

Trump was only in a few seconds of "Zoolander," but he's become inextricably linked with the comedy. Stiller even appeared on "The Daily Beast Podcast" to read some of Trump's tweets in Derek Zoolander's voice, including the infamous "stable genius" post. It wouldn't be the only time he had fun at the former president's expense. The actor further ridiculed Trump's inner circle by impersonating former lawyer Michael Cohen on "Saturday Night Live."

Despite all of the mocking, don't expect Trump's cameo in "Zoolander" to be cut any time soon. Stiller has commented that it's a product of its time, and many things were linked to Trump back in the day. The ex-president's days of making cameos in major Hollywood productions are likely over, and now, those that occurred remain intriguing time capsules of a bygone era.