Weather 
Melania Trump is clearing the air. On Monday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Broadway favorite Laura Benanti stopped by the show as the First Lady to shed some light on comments she made during a recent press conference, specifically regarding her (lack of) involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.
“I gave my speech for many reasons, most importantly, talking about Jeffrey Epstein distracts people from the war that we started to distract people from talking about Jeffrey Epstein,” she explained.
She went on to make a formal announcement in an attempt to further move the conversation away from the ongoing war. “Just as I rarely hung out with Jeffrey Epstein, I rarely cooked with Jeffrey Dahmer,” she said, before adding, “We just had overlapping social circles in Milwaukee.”
Watch the segment, where Melania (played by Benanti) spoke more about her marriage with the president, clone remors, and more. Benanti has been portraying the First Lady in appearances on The Late Show since 2016.
Tony Award-winner and five-time Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti is a highly celebrated stage and screen actress. Ms. Benanti has an impressive television roster including Hulu’s “Life & Beth,” created by and starring Amy Schumer, the hit series “Younger,” HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl” reboot, and the second season of HBO Max’s “The Gilded Age.” Other television credits include guest starring roles on Cinema Toast, created by Jeff Baena and produced by the Duplass Brothers, Ziwe featuring comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, both for Showtime, as well as “Inside Amy Schumer” on Paramount+ (among many others). Benanti has also made widely acclaimed appearances on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” as Melania Trump. Additionally, Benanti created and executive produced the HBO Max special Homeschool Musical: Class Of 2020 based on her viral social media movement: #sunshinesongs.
In film, Benanti starred in Netflix’s Worth opposite Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci and Amy Ryan, Here Today opposite Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish, and was featured in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick…Boom!.
In the theater, Ms. Benanti took Broadway by storm at the age of 18 as Maria in The Sound of Music and has subsequently starred in ten more Broadway shows (musicals, straight plays, comedies, and dramas) including Into The Woods, Nine (opposite Antonio Banderas), Gypsy (for which she won a Tony Award), She Loves Me, My Fair Lady, and Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower opposite Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key.
Additionally, Benanti co-authored a comedic board book for mothers entitled M is for MAMA (and also Merlot): A Modern Mom’s s, co-written with Metropolitan Opera Star Kate Mangiameli. She released a self-titled studio album for Sony Music Masterworks and tours the world performing solo concerts alongside highly celebrated musicians and orchestras.
Ms. Benanti’s recent films include Goodrich opposite Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis, Everything’s Going To Be Great opposite Bryan Cranston, and The Shade, based on the award-winning short of the same name.
Her comedy show, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, is now available to stream on Audible.
Photo Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
