Model Melanie Marden has revealed that she has been receiving death threats since playing FLOTUS in T.I.’s freshly released video, in which she is wearing Melania Trump’s now-infamous “I really don’t care, do U?” jacket before starting to strip for the rapper in the Oval Office.
“Somebody was going to hit me with their car. Somebody was going to take a baseball bat to me. Somebody wished me to get raped and then killed,” Marden told “Inside Edition.”
The Melania lookalike went on to say that, in her mind, there was no reason for the first lady to be outraged:
“The first lady’s husband does a lot of bullying himself. So they’ve got some thick skin. If I was insulting her and degrading her, then it would be one thing, but I don’t think I was.”
The Canadian model explained that she had no intention of making a political statement by taking part in the Atlanta-born musician’s clip:
“It was an opportunity for me to step right outside my comfort zone and play the first lady – yes, naked, which I’ve never done before,” she revealed.
Marden ultimately gave a sneak peek into her upcoming project – this time with her clothes on and mimicking Melania’s accent.
The Melania Trump look-alike in the provocative T.I. video doesn't think she was "degrading" the first lady. https://t.co/bcdxUcQ37U pic.twitter.com/ekaIgimpdu
— Inside Edition (@InsideEdition) 19 октября 2018 г.
Social media users went bananas over her interview, with many saying that the first lady’s reaction was “faux outrage,” as they’d already seen Melania naked after her old modeling pictures surfaced during the 2016 election campaign:
Wow, I don't understand…the first lady has nude pics out there already lol
— Angie (@Snipkins) 18 октября 2018 г.
We literally know what Melania looks like naked. I think her outrage at being portrayed as a stripper is laughable.
— William Hudson 🎃 🏳️🌈 (@iamwhudson) 18 октября 2018 г.
Anyone with a smartphone can see naked pics of @FLOTUS whenever they want. Let's stop with faux outrage.
— Satan (@SatanSaysSin) 18 октября 2018 г.
Others suggested that the clip was a “tasteless farce” and blasted the Canadian model:
Really? Her first name is MELANIE???
— Jay Pochapin (@JayPochapin) 18 октября 2018 г.
What are the odds?…
And it's not like she came up with the idea for this stunt!
Anybody hear of any actual threats against the man who originally came up with the idea for this tasteless farce?
@melaniemarden doesn't look like @FLOTUS. @FLOTUS is 10 times prettier. Marden is a scab
— MWMW (@Mmwb777) 18 октября 2018 г.
How can you claim to support women when you degrade our 1st lady in such a disrespectful manner. Strip as your self — FINE with me. Pretend you are someone else is nothing but a HATEFUL thing to do!
— Mary Smelcer (@mturbo2u) 18 октября 2018 г.
What a pathetic, trashy video.
— GodBlessPresidentTrump (@BestTimeLineEva) 18 октября 2018 г.
Pissing off 60,000,000 Americans for 30 seconds of fame.
Some were stunned to learn about the death threats the woman in the video has been receiving:
Can we just stop making death threats for the love of everything holy.
— C j me (@C_j_me_9000) 19 октября 2018 г.
I don’t think you should be getting death threats. But, empowering women? What universe do you live in? All you did was denigrate women.
— Michael Moore (@RadIS) 18 октября 2018 г.
People need to get a life. With all of the issues we all have living day to day, people are threatening a woman for being in a video? Because it was a spoof on the first lady?
— TheMadRush (@themadrush) 19 октября 2018 г.
I would never think to wish harm on you. I don’t support anyone advocating such a thing on you or anyone. But, the video of you portraying the First Lady stripping in the Oval Office was offensive and disgusting.
— Robert Hempel ❌🇺🇸 (@RobertHempel1) 18 октября 2018 г.
Once T.I.’s video was unearthed, Stephanie Grisham, spokeswoman for the first lady, dismissed it as unacceptable and “disgusting” and called for a boycott of the rapper.
How is this acceptable? #disgusting #boycottT.I. @Tip https://t.co/HvnFahfsVK
— Stephanie Grisham (@StephGrisham45) 13 октября 2018 г.
Dear 45,
— T.I. (@Tip) 13 октября 2018 г.
I ain’t Kanye. 😳 pic.twitter.com/BCS8nkbn1M
The developments came shortly after Melania Trump, who’s been promoting her anti-cyberbullying initiative, “Be Best,” revealed in an interview with ABC that she believed she was the “most bullied person in the world.”
