New York, New York – Laura Benanti, the comedian who regularly impersonated First Lady Melania Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, recently revealed that her comedy bits came at a hefty price.
During a recent interview on The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi podcast, Benanti revealed that a MAGA supporter had doxxed her – a term used to describe an individual’s personal information being shared online without their consent.
“This right-wing psychopath sent an email blast to all of his people… [calling out] not only my impression, but things I had said and political organizations I was a part of,” Benanti said.
“He was like, ‘Let her know what you think of her.’ And then put my f**king address.”
Tom Holland reveals hilarious reason Zendaya threatened to “leave” him
As a consequence of the doxxing campaign, Benanti said that she had been forced to uproot her family for their safety.
This precaution became necessary after an incident that occurred where “someone took a picture of me walking my daughter to school.”
She explained the messy fallout of this on the podcast: “We had to move from our apartment that we owned into a rental, and then the pandemic happened. We moved to New Jersey. So we were paying f**king rent and a mortgage.”
Per The Daily Beast, Benanti played Melania on Colbert’s show three times in 2025 and twice this year before the show was canceled by CBS.
She went on to say that, after her information was leaked, she considered not returning to the show. The comedian admitted that, if she had known the backlash would be this severe beforehand, she would not have done the impersonation at all.
In conclusion, Benanti insisted that “political satire is a public service,” adding, “I can’t tell you the amount of people who come up to me who are like, ‘Thank you, I need that.'”
Neither President Donald Trump nor the first lady is a fan of comedy at their expense or even constructive criticism. In the president’s second term, both filed countless lawsuits against public figures and media outlets that have shared content the first couple does not like or else features claims that they refute.
During an interview in 2018, Melania came under scrutiny after she claimed she was “one of the most bullied people in the world.”
Then last month, Melania opened up about how she felt the American people “didn’t accept me” during her husband’s first term.
After the end of Donald Trump’s presidency in 2021, Melania left the White House with the lowest approval rating for a first lady in US history.
