Jon Stewart came for Melania Trump’s “unnecessary” movie, roasting the first lady’s documentary as nothing more than a billionaire‘s attempt to get on the president’s good side.
“I spent the weekend consumed by the awful news out of Minnesota,” Stewart said at the top of Monday’s Daily Show. “And I will say, hearing about this has somehow done the impossible.”
“Which is: it has dampened my enthusiasm for this week’s premiere of the Melania documentary,” he mocked. The show then cut to a short clip from the documentary’s trailer.
“Move over ‘Avatar’ sequels,” Stewart said. “Here’s another movie that wasn’t necessary!”
Stewart said he was looking forward to going “behind the scenes,” namely to understand the thought process behind Melania’s “unusual hat” choices – such as the one she infamously chose for her husband’s inauguration.
“Also, love the tagline of the movie. Melania: the inspiring true story of how an online shopping billionaire paid millions to curry favor with the president,” Stewart continued, ripping into the first lady, President Donald Trump, and billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Bezos’ Amazon MGM Studios bought the rights to Melania, announcing in October of last year that the film would premiere in theaters before streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Amazon paid a whopping $40 million for the movie rights and reportedly spent another $35 million on promotion.
The first lady hosted a private screening of her ill-advised film over the weekend, drawing in guests such as Apple CEO Tim Cook, Mike Tyson, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, New York Stock Exchange CEO Lynn Martin, Erika Kirk, and Queen Rania of Jordan.
The black-tie event took place in a makeshift theater at the White House, where the president saw his wife’s film for the first time. Allegedly, the only people who had seen the film prior to the premiere were its director, Brett Ratner, Melania, and a handful of her associates.
Guests at the event were slammed for attending on the same day as federal agents fatally shot 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
The celebrations for Melania’s documentary aren’t over yet, likely giving late-night hosts some more upcoming material. The film will have its official premiere on Thursday at the recently renamed “Trump Kennedy Center.”
Melania is projected to take home just $5 million at the box office on its opening weekend, as per the National Research Group. In the UK, the film will be released in over 100 theaters, but according to The Guardian, is already struggling to win over audiences and seats.
