Late-night TV has been surprisingly gentle with Melania Trump during Donald Trump’s second term. Compared to the nonstop barrage aimed at her husband, the First Lady has largely floated above the punchline fray and out of the spotlight. But the premiere of her new documentary, Melania, proved too inviting a target for Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert to pass up.
Both hosts gleefully dismantled the film’s star-studded ambitions (or lack thereof), turning its red-carpet rollout into another example of late-night mockery. Add in the fact the premiere took place at the now much-maligned Kennedy Center, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert came out swinging.
Kimmel, never one to resist a guest-list joke, zeroed in on the notable absence of actual A-listers. “Among the luminaries in attendance were Beyoncé, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga — oh, no wait, it was Dr. Phil and Waka Flocka Flame,” he quipped, setting the tone early. He followed it up by reading off the rest of the attendees from Trump World and the conservative sphere.
"In addition to President Cecil B. DeWindmill, the guest list included disgraced former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Dr. Oz, Todd and Julie Chrisley, RFK — it was either a movie premiere or season 35 of Dancing with the Stars."
Colbert, meanwhile, leaned into sheer absurdity. “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 N.F.L. players and U.F.C. fighters,” he said.
The rollout itself didn’t fare much better. Colbert mocked the documentary’s attempt at nationwide relevance, despite its subject having a reputation of being above certain cities on the map. “There were premiere events in over two dozen cities including Phoenix, Detroit and Kansas City or, as Melania calls them, ‘No, thank you.’”
And when it came time to sum up the entire affair, Colbert couldn't help but question why the current First Lady deserved a documentary in the first place: “That’s a big splashy debut for a documentary about a first lady whose signature achievement is ‘hat.’”
Colbert and Kimmel continue to go after all things Trump
Melania Trump hasn’t been a frequent target during Trump’s second term, largely because she’s maintained a low public profile and shown little interest in playing the traditional First Lady role. Ironically, it was the apparent lack of interest in Melania rather than any controversy within it that made the documentary ripe for ridicule. When the project aimed for prestige and landed somewhere closer to indifference, Colbert and Kimmel jumped on it.
The segments also reinforced how firmly Colbert and Kimmel have positioned themselves as Trump’s loudest late-night antagonists, especially after rocky stretches earlier this year. Colbert weathered headlines surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show, while Kimmel returned from a brief suspension that sparked its own round of culture-war outrage.
Both hosts earned the kind of buzz and attention Team Trump could only dream of with Melania. And both hosts now lean even harder into anti-Trump comedy, doing anything but pulling punches.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs on ABC and The Late Show airs on CBS, both throughout the week at 11:35/10:35c.