Broadway veteran Laura Benanti recently returned to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, portraying First Lady Melania Trump. Benanti has taken on this role multiple times in the past, and during this appearance, she used the opportunity to poke fun at the First Lady’s new documentary film.
Laura Benanti reprises her Melania Trump role in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
In the February 4 episode of Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show, Laura Benanti appeared as Melania Trump for a segment that centered around the new documentary, Melania.
Colbert addressed Benanti’s Melania via a “satellite” split screen and remarked that she had a “big release last weekend.” In response, Benanti’s Melania quipped, “Oh no, Stephen, no! I’m not here to talk about the Epstein files.”
Colbert then inquired about the subject of Benanti’s Melania documentary, prompting her to retort, “Oh, it’s about $28 million in my pocket.” She elaborated, “Just like me, it’s a very creepy mystery. I play ‘Melania,’ the third wife of an aging billionaire. And I am moving into a spooky old mansion called the White House, where I definitely live and sleep with my husband. Wink!”
Commenting on the Melania documentary’s box office performance, Colbert noted, “According to Amazon, ticket sales have been good here in the US. But I understand it hasn’t done well overseas and was even pulled entirely out of South Africa.” With an annoyed expression, Benanti replied, “They should not have done that. The only person that should have pulled out in South Africa is Elon Musk’s dad.”
Benanti made her final joke about the Melania Trump documentary by boasting about receiving “The FIFA Oscar for Be Best actress.” This was a nod to Melania Trump’s real-life “Be Best” campaign against cyberbullying and referenced a peace prize title awarded to Donald Trump by FIFA.
Released on January 30, 2026, the Melania Trump documentary chronicles the First Lady’s experiences in the 20 days leading up to her husband’s second presidential inauguration. The film has received extremely poor reviews from critics, currently holding a score of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.
