Cultural depictions of Melania Trump

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Melania Trump

Melania Trump has been portrayed many times in popular culture.

Visual art and culture[]

Bosnian sculptor Stevo Selak created a statue of Trump in 2017.[1][2] Madame Tussauds in New York City unveiled a wax sculpture of her in 2018.[3][4][5] Jim Carrey drew a portrait of Trump in 2018.[6][7]

On 5 July 2019, a wooden statue carved out of a tree trunk with a chainsaw was unveiled by the Sava river in Rožno, near Trump's hometown Sevnica in Slovenia. The artwork was commissioned by U.S. artist Brad Downey, who hired a local craftsman and artist Aleš Župevc (aka Maxi) to create the statue.[why?] The statue is styled after the blue dress she wore during her husband's (Donald Trump) presidential inauguration in 2017.[8] Local reception of the statue was mixed; some residents praised it, while others called it a "disgrace" and likened it to Smurfette.[9] In July 2020, the statue was torched and removed for its protection.[10][11] However, later in 2020 it was replaced with a lookalike statue in bronze.[12]

Parodies[]

Television[]

Trump has been parodied many times on Saturday Night Live, mostly by Cecily Strong.[13] In an interview with Vanity Fair, Strong stated she has "heard through the grapevine" Trump enjoys the parody.[13] Maya Rudolph has also impersonated her,[14] and Paris Hilton portrayed Trump when she hosted Saturday Night Live.[15]

In July 2016, actress Laura Benanti played Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, satirizing her 2016 Republican National Convention speech that had accusations of plagiarism.[16] Benanti has reprised the role several times since, including dressing as "the Ghost of Colonialism" for Halloween, and for Christmas skits.[17][18][19] During the American Music Awards of 2016, Gigi Hadid impersonated her.[20][21]

In 2018, Aquaria impersonated Trump during the Snatch Game challenge on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.[22][23] Plastique Tiara impersonated her in the season 11 episode "Trump: The Rusical" (2019). On Our Cartoon President, Trump is voiced by Cody Lindquist[24] and on The President Show, she is voiced by Mila Filatova.[25]

Music videos[]

In October 2018, rapper T.I. released a music video with a Melania Trump lookalike dancing naked in a fake Oval Office.[26] Trump's then-communications director Stephanie Grisham responded, "Like it or not, she is the first lady and this is the White House. It's disrespectful and disgusting to portray her this way simply because of politics. These kinds of vulgar attacks only further the divisiveness and bias in our country – it needs to stop."[27]

Film[]

In the 2020 Sacha Baron Cohen film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a Disney-like parody of Melania is idolized as the ultimate dream for an Eastern European girl, to be married off to an older American man and live in a "golden cage".[citation needed]

Theatre[]

Gina Gershon portrayed Trump in the off-Broadway show The Trump Family Special. She previously played her in Funny or Die skits.[28]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Statue of first lady Melania Trump raises eyebrows for odd resemblance". AOL. 2017-06-06. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  2. ^ Damien, Sharkov (2017-05-13). "Melania Trump could soon have a statue". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  3. ^ "Melania Trump's Wax Figure Is Here and Twitter Is Having a Field Day". Glamour. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  4. ^ "Madame Tussauds' new Melania Trump wax sculpture sends mesmerized Sean Spicer stammering for words". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  5. ^ "Sean Spicer Unveils Melania Trump Wax Figure at N.Y.C. Madame Tussauds — And You Can Make Her Talk!". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  6. ^ Young, Julius (2018-06-04). "Jim Carrey trolls Melania Trump in latest politically charged artwork". Fox News. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  7. ^ Kenneally, Tim (2018-06-22). "Jim Carrey Rips Melania Trump and Her 'Really Don't Care' Jacket in New Artwork". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  8. ^ "'It's a disgrace': Melania Trump gets first statue in home country Slovenia". United Kingdom: ITV. 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  9. ^ Kelly Taylor Hayes (2019-07-05). "'A disgrace': Melania Trump statue unveiled in her Slovenian hometown divides residents". Fox 4. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  10. ^ "Arsonist targets statue of Melania Trump in first lady's hometown". 9 July 2020.
  11. ^ Novak, Marja (9 July 2020). "U.S. First lady Melania Trump statue set on fire in Slovenia". Reuters.
  12. ^ "'Frustrations at US policies' behind Melania Trump statue, says artist". 19 September 2020.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Stefansky, Emma (February 4, 2018). "Cecily Strong Says Melania Likes Her S.N.L. Impression". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Maya Rudolph Breaks out Melania Trump Impression for New NBC Variety Show". The Hollywood Reporter. June 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  15. ^ "'I'm a Ratings Machine': A History of Donald Trump on SNL". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  16. ^ "Melania Trump spoof on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'". LA Times. July 19, 2016. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  17. ^ Quinn, Dave (October 17, 2018). "Faux Melania Trump Says She's Going as the 'Ghost of Colonialism' for Halloween — Watch the Clip". People. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  18. ^ Haysom, Sam (December 21, 2018). "'Melania Trump' stars in parody White House Christmas message". Mashable. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  19. ^ Park, Andrea (November 20, 2018). "Laura Benanti as Melania Trump Tells Stephen Colbert She Wants Donald to Fire Her Next". W Magazine. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  20. ^ "Gigi Hadid roasted for Melania impression". CNN. 21 November 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  21. ^ Bryant, Kenzie (22 November 2016). "Gigi Hadid Stands Behind Her Melania Trump Impression". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  22. ^ "Aquaria Channeled Melania Trump for 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". PAPER. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  23. ^ "'Drag Race' Winner Aquaria Talks Victory, Melania Trump & That Butterfly Snafu". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  24. ^ "Donald Trump / Jeff Bergman - 'Our Cartoon President': Meet the Voices Behind Trump and Co". The Hollywood Reporter. 11 February 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  25. ^ Grant, Sarah (2016-11-07). "Election's Best Trump Impersonator Reveals His Secrets". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  26. ^ Aniftos, Rania (October 12, 2018). "T.I. Gets a Striptease From Melania Trump Look-Alike in the Oval Office in New Video: 'Dear 45, I Ain't Kanye'". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  27. ^ Bennett, Kate (October 17, 2018). "First lady's office calls out T.I. for 'disgusting' video depicting Melania Trump". CNN. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  28. ^ "Who's the Best Melania Trump Impersonator?". Inside Edition. 2018-08-25. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
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