Jimmy Kimmel has accused Melania Trump of inflating the box office numbers from her new documentary by giving out free tickets.
The film, Melania, follows the first lady in the 20 days leading up to her husband Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration in January 2025.
The documentary, marred by controversy due to damaging accusations against director Brett Ratner, exceeded box office expectations and earned more than $7 million in US theaters during its opening weekend, as per Variety.
Highlights
- Jimmy Kimmel accused Melania Trump's documentary box office numbers of being rigged through free ticket giveaways.
- 'Melania' grossed over $7 million in its opening weekend against a $75 million budget.
- Most moviegoers were women over 45, with strong turnout in red cities where Trump is popular.
Image credits: Jimmy Kimmel Live
The outlet reported that the figure was “a huge start for a documentary,” especially one that does not involve music.
Viewers were mostly older women: 72% of ticket buyers were female, and 83% were over the age of 45, according to Amazon MGM.
However, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host believes the figures do not accurately reflect the public interest in Melania’s life.
Image credits: Andrea Hanks/White House
He claimed that the box office numbers were “rigged” and that the $7 million figure is “a fancy way of saying it only lost tens of millions of dollars.”
Melania reportedly became the most expensive documentary ever made when Amazon spent $40 million on the rights and a further $35 million on marketing.
“A lot of people, myself included, have been wondering how this movie managed to sell $7 million worth of tickets last weekend when almost every theater was deemed to be empty leading up to the release,” Kimmel said on Wednesday (February 4).
Image credits: melaniatrump
The late-night host highlighted reports that the "beautiful box office numbers" are the result of "bulk ticket purchases that were handed out to people for free."
"You may be forgetting that back in 2019, the Republican National Committee bought $100,000 worth of Don Jr.'s book to put in swag bags to make it a New York Times bestseller," Kimmel said.
He referenced an article reporting that the RNC had spent nearly $100,000 on copies of the book by Trump’s eldest child.
Image credits: Jimmy Kimmel Live
Image credits: Jimmy Kimmel Live
"Don Jr.'s book debuted number one on the New York Times bestseller list despite the fact that no one has ever read it," Kimmel said, making the audience laugh.
"Sources say that blocks of tickets to Melania were purchased and then distributed to Republican activists."
The TV star, who has been hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003, also joked about the first lady’s documentary on Monday (February 2).
Image credits: Amazon MGM Studios
“Melania, the movie, with a budget of $75 million, made $7 million over the weekend,” Kimmel said.
“Melania, the movie, with a budget of $75 million, made $7 million over the weekend,” Kimmel said.
He described the figure as a “new record,” adding, “It was the biggest opening for a non-musical-vanity-project-slash-brazen-corporate-bribe in 10 years.”
Referring to reports about the film’s demographic, he quipped, “Imagine those poor senior citizens. Good morning, Mrs. Greenwald. Here are your heart pills and here are your liver pills. And here’s a pair of tickets to Melania.
“To be fair, some people actually did go see the movie, including this group who call themselves the Church Ladies.”
According to Variety, the film placed at No. 3 on domestic box office charts, behind Sam Raimi’s survival thriller Send Help and YouTube creator Markiplier’s Iron Lung.
Nearly 75% of audiences were white, with the documentary achieving greater success in Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Phoenix, and West Palm Beach, cities where the president is popular.
Image credits: Andrea Hanks/White House
Amazon plans to recoup some of the million-dollar costs when Melania premieres on its Prime streaming platform.
Still, David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, believes the company has made a "political investment, not a for-profit movie venture."
"If it helps Amazon with a regulatory, taxation, tariff or other government issue, then it will pay back; $75 million is insignificant to Amazon," he noted.
Many crew members allegedly requested not to be credited in the documentary
Melania became the subject of fierce criticism when it was announced that it would be directed by Brett Ratner, who was accused of s*xual as*ault by numerous women in Hollywood in 2017 amid the #MeToo movement, including Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge. Ratner has denied the allegations.
Rolling Stone reported that two-thirds of the crew members who worked on the film in New York requested that their names not be credited.
Image credits: Jimmy Kimmel Live
Image credits: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
In his review of the film, Variety critic Owen Gleiberman wrote that the documentary is “so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.”
Meanwhile, the London Evening Standard gave it three stars, with critic Melanie McDonagh noting that “for those who accept what it’s about – Melania, curated by Melania (this may be mostly political nerds), it’s rather fascinating.”
Amazon recently pulled the documentary from a theater in the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego after it displayed marquees mocking the first lady to promote Melania.
The signs read, “Does Melania wear Prada? Find out Friday!” and, “To defeat your enemy. You must know them. Melania.”
According to manager Jordan Perry, the theater received a call from Amazon asking them to stop screening the film.
"The studio was not happy and/or did not appreciate my take on marketing their film to our own public," he told The Oregonian.
The marquee was subsequently changed to read: "Amazon called. Our marquee made them mad. All Melania showings cancelled. Show your support at Whole Foods instead. Join Amazon Prime for Free Two-Day Shipping."
