Gigi Hadid’s Melania Trump Impression Was Divisive, to Say the Least
The 2016 American Music Awards featured a number of election-related jokes — or in Green Day's case, a Trump-critical chant — and a few of them came from the show's hosts, Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah. While both emcees offered impersonations of the future First Couple in their opening monologue, it was Gigi's Melania Trump impression that's evoked vocal disapproval from a section of Trump family supporters.
"I love my husband...President Barack Obama, and our children, Sasha and Malia," Hadid said with a duck-lipped grimace and an exaggerated version of Mrs. Trump's Slovenian accent. The joke was a clear dig at Melania Trump's 2016 Republican National Convention speech, which contained passages nearly identical to a speech made by Michelle Obama made at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Granted, Gigi's impression was cringeworthy. Cecily Strong she is not, and her comic timing could use some work. But just as Donald Trump has been angered by Saturday Night Live's decades-long tradition of public figure mimicry, some of he and Melania's supporters took issue with Hadid's satire.
"You have ZERO class!! How dare you 'mock' Melania Trump when your own PARENTS are immigrants!! Talk about a hypocrite!," one viewer tweeted at Gigi Hadid — to which another Twitter user replied, "How dare Melania Trump steal Michelle Obama's speech word for word?"
Another critic wrote, "Mrs Trump is a legal immigrant picked on by nasty leftist. We should not shame those who struggle." They didn't clarify what "struggle" of former-model Melania's they were referring to.
Still another self-described "Deplorable" wrote a direct reply to Gigi's original tweet, expressing the wish that Gigi would get acid thrown in her face by one of her father's "relatives," and employed a slur against Middle Eastern people that PopCrush won't publish here (Hadid is half Palestinian).
"More hypocrisy from the left, celebrate women & immigrants but Gigi Hadid makes fun of Melania's accent, bashing a woman immigrant. #noclass," another Trump supporter tweeted. The brunt of the criticism focused on Gigi's attempt at Melania's accent and declined to acknowledge the swipe at Mrs. Trump's RNC speech.
Do you think that Gigi went to far? Should impressions of a foreign-born public figure be performed in accent-free English going forward? Or does Gigi have a possible future side career as a celebrity impersonator? Watch Gigi's Melania impression below and decide for yourself.
We are crying at Gigi Hadid's impression of Melania Trump during the #AMAs show! 😭😂 pic.twitter.com/KCpxB7ItMh
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 21, 2016
The 2016 AMAs Red Carpet: See the Looks