Danny Trejo’s Son Says His 82-Year-Old Father Had Never Heard of Ben Shapiro When He Signed on to ‘Pawn Shop’

Danny Trejo’s Son Says His 82-Year-Old Father Had Never Heard of Ben Shapiro When He Signed on to 'Pawn Shop'
Credit: Instagram/ officialdannytrejo (screenshot)

Danny Trejo is facing backlash over his role in “Pawn Shop,” a Daily Wire film that critics have described as pro-ICE and that appears to dramatize the fatal shooting of Renée Good in Minnesota in January, and his son Gilbert Trejo has stepped forward to explain how his father ended up in a project that conflicts so sharply with everything the actor has publicly stood for throughout his career. Gilbert shared a statement on Instagram this weekend saying that his father was booked on the film before anyone in their family knew Ben Shapiro was involved, that the project was described to his father’s agent as a complicated story about a complicated time where the hardworking Mexican shop owner at the center is the only one who comes out looking good, and that Danny Trejo, now 82 years old, had simply never heard of Ben Shapiro and did not know what he stood for until about two weeks into production.

 

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Gilbert was direct about the situation his father is now in, describing him as contractually bound to the project in a way that prevents him from criticizing the film, its producers or Ben Shapiro without facing a lawsuit for breach of contract. He said his father could not even release the statement he wanted to release, and that the family found out about Shapiro’s involvement at the same time everyone else did, well after filming had begun.

What Gilbert Trejo Said and What It Means

Gilbert’s statement captured the frustration of watching a beloved public figure get caught in a situation he did not fully understand before it was too late to walk away from it. He described his father as handcuffed to a project he cannot distance himself from, and pointed out that the backlash has come swiftly and without full knowledge of the circumstances, with people turning their backs on Danny Trejo before understanding that he had no leverage once the Shapiro connection became clear. Gilbert ended his statement by arguing that Ben Shapiro was the one who came out ahead in all of this, having gotten Mexicans to turn on one of their own heroes, put his name at the top of search results and made the community look reactive rather than informed.

Danny Trejo also broke his silence last week with a statement of his own, saying he is a proud Mexican who has always supported his community, that he is pro-immigrant and not pro-ICE and that as an actor his job is to tell a story. The statement was brief and careful, likely shaped at least in part by the same contractual constraints Gilbert described, and it stopped well short of criticizing the project directly.

What ‘Pawn Shop’ Is and Why the Backlash Has Been So Intense

The synopsis for “Pawn Shop” describes the film as a story about a young federal agent who takes shelter in a neighborhood pawn shop after his partner is hurt during chaos in the streets of Minneapolis, where he ends up trapped alongside a traditional Hispanic father and his progressive college-age son, with the three men forced to confront fear, conflicting beliefs and a crisis that tests their character. The framing of a federal immigration agent as a sympathetic protagonist navigating danger in a minority-owned business, combined with what appears to be an opening scene that dramatizes the ICE shooting of Renée Good, has generated protests from community members and immigration advocates who argue the film sanitizes and glorifies enforcement actions that have devastated Latino communities.

Production was temporarily suspended earlier this month after locals complained about the use of blank gunshots, pyrotechnics and a staged car wreck without proper notification to residents and nearby businesses. Filming resumed last Tuesday under a revised permit that required the crew to ensure food pantry access for locals to the Livingston Food Resource Center, shield the public from the filming of violent scenes and address concerns about private security personnel interacting with people on public streets. Ben Shapiro responded to the suspension by calling it a First Amendment violation and describing the film’s critics as opponents of free speech.

Where Danny Trejo Stands in All of This

Danny Trejo has spent decades building a public identity rooted in his Mexican heritage, his community and his personal story of survival and redemption, and his presence in a Daily Wire film about ICE agents represents a collision between that identity and a contractual obligation he apparently did not fully understand when he signed it. The community’s frustration is understandable, and so is Gilbert’s point that turning on Danny Trejo without knowing the full picture is exactly the outcome that benefits the people who put him in this position in the first place.

The larger question the situation raises is about the responsibility agents and production teams have to fully vet the political and cultural context of projects before their clients commit to them, particularly when those clients have built careers on specific community values that a project might directly contradict. Danny Trejo did not walk into this situation with his eyes open, and the contractual trap he is now in is one that his family clearly wishes they had seen coming before it was impossible to avoid.

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