Broadway veteran Laura Benanti recently returned to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, playing the First Lady Melania Trump. Benanti has played the role on multiple occasions in the past, and this time, she used her appearance to mock the First Lady’s new documentary film.
Laura Benanti reprises her Melania Trump role in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
On the February 4 episode of Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show, Laura Benanti appeared as Melania Trump for a segment that focused on the new documentary, Melania.
Colbert addressed Benanti’s Melania via “satellite” split screen and noted that she had a “big release last weekend.” Benanti’s Melania responded by saying, “Oh no, Stephen, no! I’m not here to talk about the Epstein files.”
Colbert then asked Benanti’s Melania what her documentary is about, prompting Benanti to quip, “Oh, it’s about $28 million in my pocket.” She further added, “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!”
Referring to the Melania documentary’s impressive run at the box office, 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.” Adopting 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 gag about the Melania Trump documentary by boasting about “The FIFA Oscar for Be Best actress” she had recieved. This was a reference to Melania Trump’s real-life “Be Best” campaign against cyberbullying. The nod to FIFA alluded to a peace prize title that FIFA awarded to Donald Trump.
Released on January 30, 2026, the Melania Trump documentary follows the First Lady in the 20 days leading up to her husband’s second presidential inauguration. The movie has fared extremely poorly with critics, currently holding 7% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on ComingSoon.
