Jimmy Kimmel ridicules “European cyborg” Melania Trump following movie premiere
Following the premiere of Melania in Washington, Jimmy Kimmel led the late-night ridicule at the expense of the First Lady’s documentary.
Melania, directed by Brett Ratner, who was blacklisted from Hollywood during the MeToo movement following a sexual of sexual misconduct allegations which he denies, arrives in cinemas globally today (January 30th).
The film is the most expensive documentary ever to be made, costing Amazon MGM Studios a total of $75 million, including their $35 million marketing budget.
On January 29th, the Trump Kennedy Center hosted the premiere, which gave Kimmel plenty of material to use on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he joked, “Not since The Terminator has there been this much excitement for a movie about a European cyborg.”
He also poked fun at the lack of Hollywood A-listers in attendance for a premiere of a $75 million movie, stating, “Among the luminaries in attendance were Beyoncé, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga. Oh, no wait, it was Dr Phil and Waka Flocka Flame.”
Kimmel wasn’t the only late-night host who couldn’t resist the temptation to use Melania as a vehicle for comedy.
Jimmy Fallon also said on The Tonight Show, “Well, guys, the weekend’s almost here, and it’s going to be a big one for movies. Yeah, you got the Melania documentary, and you have the new Rachel McAdams film, Send Help, which, fun fact, was actually the original title of the Melania movie.”
Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert told his audience on The Late Show, “The premiere was attended by members of the administration, like Pam Bondi, Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, RFK Jr, and Kash Patel, as well as several former NFL players and UFC fighters, which means a bunch of people with brain damage sat next to NFL players and UFC fighters.”
Per a report from Variety, reporters from outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and Vanity Fair were banned from attending the Melania screening at the Kennedy Center despite being allowed red carpet access.
According to Deadline, Melania has taken in around $1 million in pre-sales ahead of its release, which suggests it could make up to $5 million on its opening weekend.
In the UK, pre-sale figures were less promising. At the start of the week, Tim Richards, the chief executive of Vue Cinemas, admitted that sales had been “soft” for Melania, which is set to be shown in over 100 branches of the chain.
According to The Guardian, as of January 26th, zero tickets had been sold for the 28 screenings of Melania at the branches of Vue in Blackburn, Castleford and Hamilton.
Meanwhile, the South African distributor for Melania has cancelled the release of the documentary, citing “recent developments”.
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