Who Walked Melania’s Black Carpet?

Melania Trump officially premiered her documentary, Melania, at the Kennedy Center on Thursday night. Instead of being surrounded by loved ones on her big night, the First Lady’s premiere was populated mostly by her husband’s employees and Nicki Minaj.

Minaj rolled up to the black carpet — in keeping with the event’s color scheme — just a day after joining hands with President Trump and commemorated the evening by posting an awkward video of her posing for photographers.

The guest list gets far less starry after that. The film’s director, Brett Ratner, was there, although his level of fame sort of depends on how important the Rush Hour movies are to you. Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson, Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, and Dr. Mehmet Oz — the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — were probably the biggest non-Minaj names to walk the carpet. The men all dutifully hyped up the First Lady to reporters. Kennedy told the Washington Post that Melania is “not the caricature that we’ve been fed,” and Speaker Johnson called her “one of the most gracious people.” Good work, fellas.

Notably absent from the carpet were most of the Trump children. According to the New York Post, Don Jr. was in attendance with fiancée Bettina Anderson but was not photographed. Barron, Eric, Ivanka, and Tiffany all reportedly skipped the event, although Barron previously attended an early screening at the White House. In a statement to the Post, a rep for Eric and Lara Trump said that the couple is “deeply proud of the First Lady and the remarkable story being shared” and they “regret missing what will undoubtedly be a wonderful evening.” A representative for Ivanka did not respond to the outlet, and it seems like no one bothered trying to reach Tiffany.

There might have been more star power inside the premiere — ahead of the night, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that rapper Waka Flocka Flame, Jordan Belfort (of Wolf of Wall Street fame), Eric Adams, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft would all be in attendance. None of them walked the carpet, but Waka Flocka Flame did post from inside the theater on his TikTok Story, and Kraft was filmed joining President Trump in his box.

Reporters were not allowed to watch the actual film, and it was not made available to critics, so we don’t actually know much about what Minaj, Hegseth, and Kraft were treated to last night. The only hint we have comes from Melania herself, who told the crowd that her documentary is not actually a documentary. “Some have called this a documentary. It is not,” she said, per CNN. “It is a creative experience that offers perspectives, insights, and moments.” Coincidentally, that is also how I would’ve described Minaj’s Pink Friday in 2010.

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