Jeff Bezos has batted back claims that Amazon's recent Melania Trump documentary was an attempt to curry favor with the president.

Bezos, during a marathon interview on CNBC's Squawk Box Wednesday, defended the project as merely 'a good business decision.'

Host Andrew Sorkin had just finished floating the idea that the January release had been meant 'to placate' the administration. 

'The Melania thing is a falsehood that will not die,' an animated Bezos, 62, began.

'We have denied it. Melania’s office has denied it. It’s not true. I had nothing to do with that.' 

Bezos cited reports 'that somehow [he] was involved with this.'

'It's not true,' he said. 'It did very well in theaters, it has done very well on streaming.' The movie has seen success on Amazon Prime.

'People are very curious about Melania, so even though I had nothing to do with it, it appears that the Amazon team made a very wise business decision,' Bezos concluded.

The exchange comes months after Amazon forked over $40million to a production company belonging to the first lady to secure the rights to the film, which followed her in the days after her husband's second inauguration, attended by Bezos.

Producers paid another $35million for the movie's marketing tour - a sum that itself raised eyebrows due to its size.

It has since grossed roughly $16.6million at the box-office - more than expected.

The positive reception led critics like Jimmy Kimmel to suggest that ticket sales were 'rigged' by suspicious bulk purchases. The movie also topped Amazon Prime's streaming charts when it premiered in March.

'I know we did this at this Mar-a-Lago dinner,' Bezos admitted during the interview, referring to a dinner he attended with Trump after his election win in December.

'I can see why people say this,' the billionaire conceded during his conversation with Sorkin, which lasted a total of 54 minutes in the Blue Origin Rocket Factory in Merritt Island, Florida. '[But] this idea that somehow that is a way of buying influence, it’s just not correct.' 

The statement echoed one from Amazon's vice president of public policy, Brian Huseman in March that officially said: 'We disagree with any suggestion that Amazon’s decision to license this film and accompanying series was improper.'

'We regularly release documentaries that offer unique perspectives on cultural and historical figures across the political spectrum.' 

Huseman added at the time, 'Amazon MGM Studios became the licensor of the film and accompanying series following a thorough and competitive bidding process. 

'Melania gave us the opportunity to tell a story that’s never been told before, with unprecedented access to a historic presidential transition through the perspective of the First Lady. 

'Our decision was based on the film and series itself - the access, the story, and its cultural and historical relevance,' he concluded.

Prior to the denial from Bezos, Sorkin cited a 'sort of shift in the tone of what’s happening at [The Washington Post] or even some of the things at Amazon'.

Bezos, more than a decade after buying the Post for $250million in 2013, has since implemented a host of changes to its Opinion Section.

A new tone announced after Trump's election win now focuses on 'personal liberties and free markets'.  

Bezos also pulled a last-minute Post endorsement of then-candidate Kamala Harris at the eleventh hour, causing anger from both staff and readers. 

In June, he married longtime girlfriend Lauren Sanchez in a lavish ceremony in Venice.       

Melania, meanwhile, celebrated having the most-successful streaming opening ever for an Amazon Prime documentary just a day after the film's Prime release in March via an uncaptioned X post.

Trump called the production a 'must-see' the month before. 'Get your tickets today - Selling out, FAST!' he wrote in his own X post.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Hank Johnson called a probe into the project back in March. 

The investigation looked into whether the project was 'part of a corrupt pay-to-play arrangement with the Trump administration.' No real findings have been announced. Huseman dismissed the allegations as untrue in his March statement.

An Amazon spokesperson also said in January that the company 'licensed the film for one reason and one reason only.

'[B]ecause we think customers are going to love it.' 

The film made $7 million on its opening weekend - much more than the $1 million to $5 million estimated.

The movie was released on January 29.