Actress Laura Benanti has revealed that she was forced to leave an apartment she owned after her impression of Melania Trump allegedly led to her being doxxed by MAGA supporters. The actress has, over the years, performed several impressions of the first lady, beginning with an appearance in 2016.
During an appearance on “The Downside” podcast, Laura Benanti told hosts Gianmarco Soresi and Russell Daniels that she had to change homes shortly after first performing her Melania Trump impression.
The hosts asked whether she received “any new level of hateful comments” after doing the impression, to which the actress revealed that someone had doxxed her, leaving her with no choice but to move.
“This like right-wing psychopath sent an email blast to all of his people, and he was like ‘let her know what you think of her’ and then put my f-cking address,” the “Mayor of Kingstown” star said.
“Someone took a picture of me walking my daughter to school,” the actress also recalled.
Benanti Says A MAGA-Supporting Driver Warned Her
Speaking further about the doxxing incident, Benanti explained how she discovered that she had been targeted.
She claimed that at the time she had a driver who also served as her security guard. According to Benanti, he was a strong MAGA supporter and received the doxxing email from the person responsible.
“He was so upset that they would do this. He texted me, and he was like, ‘This is what’s going on, and what are we going to do?” Benanti recalled.
The “Elsbeth“ star said she was initially at a loss over how to respond before ultimately deciding that the safest option was to leave the apartment and move into a rental.
Netizens Slam MAGA Supporters After Benanti’s Story
Benanti’s revelation prompted outrage online, with many condemning her alleged doxxing and expressing concern over how it affected her family.
“A picture of the daughter, too?!?! That’s so so terrifying. I don’t think Russell and Gianmarco understood how scary this is for women,” one person wrote.
Another commented, “I remember seeing her for the first time, thinking about how good her impression was. To find out how much of her life got upended by a dope impression is insane. What the heck is wrong with people?”
Others argued that doxxing has increasingly become a tactic used by extremists against people they disagree with politically.
“It’s so sad that doxxing has become a political tool by extremists,” one netizen said, while another added, “It’s terrible. Political satire is so important, even if one finds it objectionable, violence should never be a reaction.”
Inside Laura Benanti’s First Melania Trump Impression
Over the years, Benanti has performed several Melania impressions, but it all began with an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2016.
The impression came shortly after Melania’s now-infamous Republican National Convention speech, which drew widespread criticism over allegations that portions had been plagiarized from then-first lady Michelle Obama.
In an interview with The New York Times, Benanti revealed that she decided to impersonate Melania after Colbert pointed out their resemblance while she was promoting her comedy musical on his show.
She later received an email from a CBS executive asking whether she would appear as Melania and spoof the convention speech.
Benanti said she immediately accepted the offer and ultimately found performing the character live on the show to be “really exhilarating.”
Laura Benanti Revived Her Melania Trump To Mock Epstein Scandal
Benanti most recently reprised her Melania impression on April 13, 2026.
In the sketch, she spoofed Melania’s press conference addressing Jeffrey Epstein by satirizing the administration’s response to the controversy.
“Most importantly, talking about Jeffrey Epstein distracts people from the war that was started to distract people from talking about Jeffrey Epstein,” Benanti’s Melania joked.
“So, to once again distract from the war, I would like to make the following announcements,” she continued. “Just as I rarely hung out with Jeffrey Epstein, I rarely cooked with Jeffrey Dahmer. We just had overlapping social circles in Milwaukee.”
