Danny Trejo films a new movie for 2 weeks before his son claims they found out Ben Shapiro was involved. Now he is allegedly ‘handcuffed’ to the role

Danny Trejo has been working on a Daily Wire film called Pawn Shop. His son, Gilbert Trejo, later said the family only learned Ben Shapiro was connected to the project after about two weeks of filming had already passed.

Gilbert Trejo took to Instagram to say his 82-year-old father is “handcuffed” to the movie. He claimed Trejo had never heard of Shapiro and that he had to explain who the commentator is.

Daily Wire has been releasing more films lately. One recent title, Run Hide Fight: Infidels, drew criticism for being Islamophobic, though producer Dallas Sonnier dismissed that description, according to Mediaite. The company also put out a trailer for Confession, which Shapiro wrote.

Gilbert Trejo shares what the agent told his father and what the contract prevents

Gilbert Trejo said his father quickly agreed to the role because he liked the idea of playing a good guy. Trejo has spent much of his career cast as bad guys in movies including Breaking Bad, Desperado, and From Dusk Till Dawn.

He wrote that the agent pitched the part as “a complicated story about a complicated time, where everyone looks bad except you, the hardworking Mexican shop owner who just wants peace.” Gilbert Trejo also said the movie “is not pro-ICE, it’s not overtly pro anything.”

Some critics have called Pawn Shop a pro-ICE film whose story involves “an Antifa siege” on a pawn shop after an ICE shooting. They have compared elements of the plot to the shooting of Renee Good by federal agents in Minneapolis. Gilbert Trejo said people have started turning away from his father because of the project.

He stated that the contract stops his father from criticizing Shapiro or the film and from walking away, or else he could be sued for breach of contract. “He couldn’t even release the statement he wanted to,” Gilbert Trejo wrote.

A Daily Wire spokesperson told Mediaite this marks Trejo’s second job with the company. The spokesperson said, “This is the second Daily Wire production featuring Mr. Trejo after Mr. Birchum, and we’re delighted to be working with him again.” Trejo had done voice work earlier in Adam Carolla’s 2024 series Mr. Birchum.

Gilbert Trejo wrote that his father is “handcuffed to this stupid project.” He continued, “It’s f–ked up. He’s handcuffed to this stupid project, and swaths of people have instantly turned their back on him without knowing any of the facts. Ben Shapiro got Mexicans to abandon one of their heroes, got his own name to the top of google’s searches, and made us look like angry fools lacking any nuance. He wins.”

Production on Pawn Shop stopped for a short time in Montana after a report about the script sparked backlash. The town commissioners then voted unanimously to let filming resume after hearing from Sonnier.

Mediaite released footage of protesters at the location who opposed Shapiro’s role and labeled the movie propaganda. Actors in other Shapiro-linked films, such as Rob Lowe and James Franco in Confession, have also drawn online criticism. Shapiro has also spoken about Hollywood beyond his own projects, as seen in Shapiro’s praise for Christopher Nolan.