00:00So, Amazon paid $40 million for a documentary about the First Lady.
00:04Now a U.S. Senator is calling it bribery.
00:07Here's what's happening.
00:08Amazon MGM outbid Disney by $26 million to acquire Melania,
00:13a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump,
00:15then spent another $35 million marketing it.
00:19The film earned just $16.6 million at the box office,
00:22meaning Amazon almost certainly lost money on the deal.
00:26That math caught the attention of Senator Elizabeth Warren,
00:28who sent a letter to Amazon demanding answers,
00:31and now says their response reeks of desperation to please Donald Trump.
00:35Warren is calling it bribery in plain sight, pointing to a pattern.
00:39Amazon donated a million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund
00:42and has billions in business dealings that could be affected by his administration's decisions.
00:47However, Amazon is pushing back hard.
00:49A company VP told Variety the deal was based on access, the story,
00:53and its cultural and historical relevance,
00:54and that they regularly release documentaries on figures across the political spectrum.
00:59But critics say the numbers don't add up.
01:01No studio pays three times the competition for a documentary unless something else is on the table.
01:06Supporters of the deal say Amazon is a massive company that makes big bets on content all the time,
01:12and that a documentary with rare First Lady footage was genuinely worth the premium.
01:16So the big question, is Elizabeth Warren on to something,
01:19or is she using Amazon as a political punching bag in a fight with the president?
01:23Drop your answer in the comments, check out our website, and follow us here for more.
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