# The CIA and Hollywood

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The CIA and Hollywood," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-and-hollywood/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The CIA's standing arrangement with the film industry, as John Kiriakou describes it: a branch inside the Office of Public Affairs whose only job is to cooperate with Hollywood studios, on the model the FBI has run since the 1950s, so that what comes out of Hollywood carries a pro-agency message. Kiriakou notes it is technically illegal for the CIA to propagandise the American public and says that is exactly what happens every time an agency-linked film is released.*

- **Where it sits:** A dedicated branch of the CIA Office of Public Affairs
- **Its sole job:** Cooperating with Hollywood studios
- **The model:** The FBI, which Kiriakou says has done this since the 1950s
- **The object:** 'To make sure that everything that comes out of Hollywood has a pro-CIA message'
- **The legal problem:** It is technically illegal for the CIA to propagandise the American people
- **The case study:** [Zero Dark Thirty](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/zero-dark-thirty)

**The CIA and Hollywood** describes what [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says is a permanent, institutional relationship rather than an occasional courtesy.

## The branch

Asked how important the agency considers soft power through film and television, his answer was *"critically important — to the point where the CIA has set up a branch within the Office of Public Affairs whose job it is solely to cooperate with Hollywood studios."*[1]

The precedent he gives is the [FBI](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fbi), which he says has done the same since the 1950s. The purpose is uniform: *"the CIA works with Hollywood studios to make sure that everything that comes out of Hollywood has a pro-CIA message."*[1]

## The legal problem

*"Technically it's illegal for the CIA to propagandize the American people. But that's what happens every time a CIA related film is released. It's propaganda."*[2]

The case he uses to show how far the cooperation runs is *[Zero Dark Thirty](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/zero-dark-thirty)*, which in his account *"broke all kinds of laws"*: the director and writer were given classified briefings over a classified mock-up of the [bin Laden compound](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/abbottabad) by counterterrorism centre analysts, and gave those analysts watches and premiere tickets in return. *"Well, they should all be in prison for that. Technically that's a violation of the Espionage Act. Instead, the film was celebrated as a victory at the CIA."*[2][3]

The detail of that production is treated at [Zero Dark Thirty](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/zero-dark-thirty); the press side of the same apparatus at [CIA media relations](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-media-relations).

## See also

- [Zero Dark Thirty](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/zero-dark-thirty)
- [CIA media relations](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-media-relations)
- [Operation Mockingbird](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/operation-mockingbird)
- [American Media Consolidation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/american-media-consolidation)

## Sources

1. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou REVEALS ALL on US-Israel All (2025-12-15), at 4:19. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jbpBecvpQ0&t=259s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-15-afshin-rattansi-s-going-un-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-reveals-all-o/
2. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou REVEALS ALL on US-Israel All (2025-12-15), at 4:52. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jbpBecvpQ0&t=292s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-15-afshin-rattansi-s-going-un-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-reveals-all-o/
3. CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou REVEALS ALL on US-Israel All (2025-12-15), at 5:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jbpBecvpQ0&t=323s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-12-15-afshin-rattansi-s-going-un-cia-whistleblower-john-kiriakou-reveals-all-o/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-and-hollywood/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt