Gilbert Trejo says his 82-year-old father, Danny Trejo, accepted the film Pawn Shop expecting to play a peace-seeking Mexican shop owner, then learned about Ben Shapiro’s involvement roughly 2 weeks into filming. In an Instagram Story that circulated over the weekend, Gilbert said Danny had never heard of Shapiro and needed his son to explain who he was.
Gilbert says leaving now could expose his father to a lawsuit. He wrote that Danny “contractually can’t bad mouth him, the film, or walk away without being sued for breach of contract.”
According to Gilbert, Danny’s agent pitched a role in which his character would be the decent man caught in a conflict. His father “jumped at the idea of playing a good guy.” Pawn Shop is co-produced by Shapiro’s Daily Wire and Dallas Sonnier’s Bonfire Legend, with Harvey Keitel and Henry Thomas also starring.
He also said his father “couldn’t even release the statement he wanted to.” The alleged contract restrictions and the family’s discovery timeline haven’t been independently confirmed.
Danny did release a statement on Oct. 9 affirming his support for immigrants: “I am a proud Mexican who has always been and will always be a supporter of my community. I am also obviously, pro immigrant. I am not pro ice,” he wrote. He explained his participation by saying, “My job is to tell a story.”
Gilbert also described the movie as “not pro-ice,” a characterization at odds with reports that Shapiro has called it pro-ICE. A leaked script published on Oct. 1 was described as a pro-ICE dramatization of RenĂ©e Good’s killing. ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2026.
The production began filming in Livingston, Montana, in late September. Shapiro’s involvement was publicly reported by Oct. 2, and protesters on set chanted his name, complicating Gilbert’s claim that everyone learned about it roughly 2 weeks into shooting. Livingston paused the filming permit from Oct. 3 through Oct. 5; shooting resumed Oct. 6 under revised conditions.
