Ben Shapiro Decries Suspension Of Production On Daily Wire Movie ‘Pawn Shop’ As Shoot Resumes: “Politics, Pure And Simple”

Ben Shapiro has officially responded to the recent shutdown of production on his immigration-themed Daily Wire movie Pawn Shop, which is now back in production under a revised filming permit in Livingston, Montana. In an appearance on his podcast The Ben Shapiro Show — view the clip above — Shapiro said, “Let us be clear: there’s only one reason the city commissioners ruled they were going to stop our production on the street: politics, pure and simple, and they pretty much admitted it. One commissioner named Cindy Daniels said, quote, ‘I’m not willing to sacrifice the resources of the safety, the security of the mental health of our community. Absolutely not. This wasn’t a Hallmark film. This wasn’t, you know, Christmastime in Livingston, and it wasn’t a romantic story.'” To that assertion, Shapiro replied, “Well, I mean, I wasn’t aware that we had to fulfill your idea of what the story required. In fact, I’m fairly certain the First Amendment says precisely the opposite of that… That is content discrimination openly performed and a violation of the First Amendment.” Watch on Deadline The conservative political commentator later said: “These people are not even hiding the ball. These censorious jackasses just want things they do not like barred by law. It is that simple. They don’t give a sh*t about free speech. They don’t like free speech. Free speech is just for them. It is not for the people who oppose them.” Alluding to “made up stories” regarding his production “from a bunch of left-wing protesters,” Shapiro said that the more they’re entertained, “the more justified our mission proves itself to be. We are obviously right over the target. When you try to shout us down, you only make us more powerful. Your antics are not going to work. The film will be completed and it will be released and it will be highly successful. We call those feathers in our cap. Trophies over our mantle.” The Livingston City Commission voted unanimously to reinstate the project’s filming permit late during the evening of October 5, after assessing whether production company Bonfire Pawn Shop LLC had complied with its original permit over the course of a nearly six-hour special meeting. With the go-ahead, the production agreed to revised conditions of ensuring food pantry access for locals to the Livingston Food Resource Center, and to shielding the public both from the shooting of violent scenes, as well as from noise. The production also agreed to address backlash to their use of private security, ensuring there would be no policing or harassing of locals on nearby public streets. Originally scheduled to film in downtown Livingston through October 10, Pawn Shop had production temporarily shut down from October 3-5 following a vote from the Livingston, Montana City Commission in response to local backlash and safety concerns. Specific concerns included disruption to businesses, including the city’s only food bank, as well as lack of notice regarding some of the production’s more dangerous stunts. This included the alleged use of blank gunshots, pyrotechnics and a staged car wreck without properly notifying residents and businesses, as well as a dramatization of ICE’s fatal shooting of Renée Good in Minnesota back in January. Speaking to the commotion in Livingston, Police Chief Wayne Hard previously told Deadline that his department had been contacted with complaints “on a daily basis” since production began, though there had been no reports of violence. The shutdown is just the latest production snag on a Daily Wire film following the IATSE picket on Jonathan Major starrer Run Hide Fight: Infidels in March. Several crew members walked off that South Carolina set over labor issues, shortly before Majors and co-star JC Kilcoyne fell through an unsecured glass window. In Pawn Shop, when chaos hits the streets of Minneapolis, a young federal agent is left alone after his partner is seriously hurt and must find a way to survive an increasingly dangerous situation. Seeking shelter inside a neighborhood pawn shop, he becomes trapped with a traditional Hispanic father and his progressive college-age son, forcing three very different men to confront fear, conflicting beliefs and a crisis that tests their courage and humanity. Directed by Michael Polish, the film’s cast includes Myles Clohessy, Danny Trejo, Harvey Keitel, Henry Thomas, CJ Salvador, Noel Guglielmi, Paris Bravo. Shapiro is producing alongside Mike Richards, Dallas Sonnier, Ari Novak and Amanda Presmyk.