Actress Laura Benanti revealed that she was forced to leave an apartment she owned after feeling like she was Melania Trump this would have led to her being doxxed by MAGA supporters. The actress has, over the years, done several impersonations of the first lady, starting with an appearance in 2016.
Laura Benanti Says MAGA Doxxing Upended Her Life
During an appearance on “The Downside” podcast, Laura Benanti told hosts Gianmarco Soresi and Russell Daniels that she had to move houses shortly after performing her Melania Trump impersonation for the first time.
The hosts asked her if she received “a new level of hateful comments” after doing the impression, to which the actress revealed that someone had doxxed her, leaving her no choice but to move out.
“This kind of right-wing psychopath sent out an email to all his people, and he said ‘tell her what you think of her’ and then put my fucking address in,” the “Mayor of Kingstown” star said.
“Someone took a photo of me walking my daughter to school,” the actress also recalls.
Benanti says MAGA-supporting driver tipped her off
Speaking further about the doxxing incident, Benanti explained how she found out 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 were doing this. He texted me and said, ‘This is what’s happening and what are we going to do?’ Benanti called back.
THE “Elsbeth“ The star said she didn’t know how to react at first before ultimately deciding the safest option was to leave the apartment and move into a rental.
Netizens Slam MAGA Supporters After Benanti Story
Benanti’s revelation sparked outrage online, with many condemning her alleged doxxing and expressing concern about how it affected her family.
“A picture of the girl too?!?! This is so terrifying. I don’t think Russell and Gianmarco understand how scary this is for women,” one person wrote.
Another commented: “I remember seeing her for the first time, thinking how good her impression was. Finding out how her life was turned upside down by a drug impression is insane. What is wrong with people?”
Others have argued that doxxing has increasingly become a tactic used by extremists against people with whom they disagree politically.
“It’s so sad that doxxing has become a political tool used by extremists,” said one user, while another added: “It’s terrible. Political satire is so important, even if it is reprehensible, violence should never be a reaction.”
Inside Laura Benanti’s First Impression of Melania Trump
Over the years, Benanti has performed several interpretations of Melania, but it all started with an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2016.
This impression came shortly after Melania’s now-infamous speech at the Republican National Convention, which drew widespread criticism following allegations that portions were plagiarized by then-first lady Michelle Obama.
In an interview with The New York Times, Benanti revealed that she decided to pose as Melania after Colbert pointed out their resemblance while she was promoting her musical on his show.
She then received an email from a CBS executive asking if she would appear as Melania and spoof the convention speech.
Benanti said she immediately accepted the offer and ultimately found playing the character live on the show to be “really exhilarating.”
Laura Benanti resurrected Melania Trump to mock the Epstein scandal
Benanti recently reprized her Melania impersonation on April 13, 2026.
In the skit, she spoofed Melania’s press conference addressed to Jeffrey Epstein by satirizing the administration’s response to the controversy.
“More importantly, talking about Jeffrey Epstein distracts people from the war that started and distracts people from talking about Jeffrey Epstein,” Melania de Benanti joked.
“So, to once again divert attention from the war, I would like to make the following announcements,” she continued. “Just like I rarely hung out with Jeffrey Epstein, I rarely cooked with Jeffrey Dahmer. We just had overlapping social circles in Milwaukee.”
