Hollywood producer BenDavid Grabinski (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Happily) revealed on Sunday that he was recently on the same flight with President Donald Trump‘s FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
Grabinski wrote on social media: “Sat next to Dan Bongino on a plane while dozens of people came over and said ‘thank you for your service’ (??????) meanwhile I just watched EDDINGTON and hoped it would give him a crisis of faith.”
Note: The star-studded Ari Aster film Eddington, which is set in 2020 New Mexico during the pandemic, depicts a political battle between incumbent Mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), who implements a lockdown and enforces mask mandates based on the Governor’s orders, and local sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) who disapproves, arguing the mandates violate freedom of choice.
Moneyed tech interests, BLM protests, and invidious conspiracy theorists all impact the mayoral race and drive the film, of which the Detroit News said: “Aster’s vision of our simmering tensions and the grifters who profit from them is challenging and imperfect but never less than captivating.”
Still Not Over #Eddington– A Modern Masterpiece pic.twitter.com/Nm8AiCqB9b
— Cinema Tweets (@CinemaTweets1) July 22, 2025
When one X user asked Grabinski, “I’m sorry how many people said thank you?”, the producer replied, “More than a dozen. A few asked when his podcast is coming back.”
Bongino also replied to Grabinski, writing: “Thanks Ben, but my faith is strong. If you ever choose to serve the public rather than yourself, then maybe you’ll have the same experiences.”
Thanks Ben, but my faith is strong.
If you ever choose to serve the public rather than yourself, then maybe you’ll have the same experiences.
-Dan https://t.co/FTFbtL7G2t— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) September 8, 2025
Note: Earlier this year, Bongino became a target of criticism from MAGA supporters for insisting that the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did commit suicide while incarcerated, as the official autopsy concluded, and that no Epstein client list exists. The apparent about-face on these two points disappointed Bongino’s supporters because as a podcaster, Bongino helped promote conspiracies around Epstein’s death and his client list.
As Deputy Director of the FBI, Bongino wrote on social media, albeit without further explanation: “What I have learned in the course of our properly predicated and necessary investigations into these aforementioned matters, has shocked me down to my core.”