The Gilded Age actress and Tony-winning Broadway star Laura Benanti made a surprise appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday, returning to the show with her first hilarious portrayal of Melania Trump in more than a year.
Prior to teasing that an anonymous juror from Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial would be joining the show, Colbert wondered about Melania Trump’s whereabouts and shared that though the former first lady had been in Manhattan the day Trump’s verdict was announced, she still didn’t make an appearance in court.
“Notably absent [from the trial] has been Melania Trump,” Colbert said, “She has not released any public statements about the trial and she never showed up in court.”
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“She was in New York, but we don’t know where—that’s interesting,” he continued. “Of course the other big question, now that the trial is over, is where are the jurors? They’re now released by the judge and they’re allowed to talk,” he added.
He then introduced, “on the condition of complete anonymity,” Juror #11, who though faceless at first, is immediately identifiable as Benanti with her signature Melania Trump accent—with a twist.
“I am just a random New Yorker with a random New York accent,” Benanti said as the anonymous juror when questioned about how familiar her voice sounds. “How about those Mets? Not good at baseball, yes?”
She then celebrated as Colbert rehashed the verdict: “You found Trump guilty on all 34 counts,” he said. “Hell yes, we did,” she danced—until he mentioned the possibility of Trump getting house arrest as part of his sentencing, which prompted the anonymous juror to expose her identity as Melania Trump and rage: “Stephen, nooo!”
“That is cruel and unusual punishment—for me!” Benanti shouted.
Colbert then poked some more fun at the situation, asking the parody Melania Trump whether being a juror had caused some “hard feelings” between her and her husband.
“Oh please, Stephen, I haven’t felt anything hard between us for years,” she replied.
For more, listen to Laura Benanti on The Last Laugh podcast.
