Political satire can be a public service — but for Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, it also came with a home address leaked to strangers and a photograph of her walking her toddler to school. The actress, who spent a decade mockingly portraying First Lady Melania Trump on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” opened up on July 16 about the frightening fallout during an appearance on “The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi” podcast, hosted by comedian Gianmarco Soresi.
Benanti said Trump supporters became so angry over her portrayal that they published her private details online and tracked her movements, ultimately forcing her family to find a new home. She only found out her information had been spread through a threatening mass email thanks to an unexpected alert from her own driver.
How a MAGA Driver Sounded the Alarm
Benanti said a right-wing activist sent a mass email that compiled her impression, her past statements, and her political affiliations, then urged readers to "let her know" what they thought of her — and then published her address.
She learned of the email through her driver, who provided security for her and was himself a Trump supporter. He was on the newsletter’s distribution list and texted her to alert her and ask how to proceed.
“He was so upset that they would do this, and I was like, ‘This is what I’m talking about!'” Benanti recalled. She told him the choice was his to make, pointing out that these were, after all, his people.
The situation escalated to something far more personal. According to Benanti, an unknown person took a photo of her accompanying her daughter, then approximately 2 years old, on the way to school. The incident occurred shortly before the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020. She described the ordeal simply: it was "so scary."
A Move That Cost Rent and a Mortgage
The danger was significant enough to compel Benanti and her family to abandon their owned apartment in favor of a rental property. When the pandemic hit, they relocated again — this time to New Jersey. The double burden was expensive, and she did not mince words about the financial strain, noting the family ended up paying both rent and a mortgage at the same time.
Asked whether she would have signed on for the role had she known what it would bring, Benanti admitted she might have reconsidered. She said she didn’t think she would have done it.
But she didn’t quit. Benanti said she and those around her considered putting the impression on hold for a time, but avoiding it began to feel cowardly. She pointed to satire’s importance and noted that many people had thanked her for it over the years.
A Decade of Pouty Lips and Exaggerated Accents
Benanti became a recurring guest on “The Late Show” beginning in July 2016, delivering a spot-on Melania Trump complete with an exaggerated accent and a signature pout. She appeared as the first lady more than a dozen times over the years. After leaving the show when Trump’s first term ended, she came back in 2023 and kept performing the character through its final season.
She reprised the role three times in 2025 and twice more this past year. In February 2026, she took aim at the first lady’s million-dollar vanity documentary. Her final visit came in April 2026, in a cold open sketch billed as a message from Melania Trump, arriving just before the program aired its last episode in May 2026.
Benanti’s résumé stretches well beyond late-night parody. She has appeared in “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Life & Beth,” “Nashville,” “Supergirl,” “The Detour,” “Gossip Girl” and “The Gilded Age.” A celebrated Broadway performer, she has starred in stage productions including “The Sound of Music,” “Gypsy,” “Into The Woods” and “She Loves Me.”
These days, Benanti is channeling her energy into her comedy-music show “Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares.” The tour opened in London and is set to travel to Chicago, New Brunswick, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and Boston, before wrapping with an engagement in Arlington, Virginia, in spring 2027.
For Benanti, the decision to keep going — even after the doxxing and the fear — comes back to a conviction that laughter matters, especially when the stakes feel high. It’s a lesson she learned the hard way, one email blast at a time.