Gigi Hadid has basically one thing to say when it comes to her controversial impression of Melania Trump at the 2016 American Music Awards on Sunday night. And that is this: Sorry… NOT Sorry! As co-host of the aforementioned event, Hadid chose to impersonate the soon-to-be First Lady of the United States as part of the opening monologue this weekend. She told fellow host Jay Pharoah that she had to work on her “Melania” face first and then broke out an accept meant to mimic Trump, who was born in Slovenia. “I love my husband, President Barack Obama. And our children, Sasha and Malia,” Hadid said as Melania, making a reference to Trump’s Republican National Convention speech. As admitted by someone on Trump’s staff, the speech was partly plagiarized from Michelle Obama and the speech she gave at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. So…. ummm… get it?!? Gigi was joking about something that happened four months earlier and which was discussed heavily at the time. It was very old news. In other words: the impression here was tired, lame and unoriginal, regardless of whether or not you found it funny. Check out the impersonation for yourself here: Gigi Hadid SLAMMED as Racist Over AMA Melania Trump Impression Of course, very few viewers did find it funny. Many found it offensive. Gigi was mocking someone for simply having an accent and also mocking someone who is stuck being married to Donald Trump (hasn’t she therefore been through enough?!?). After receiving backlash on social media, Hadid addressed the incident with a handwritten note. It reads as follows: “I was honored to host the AMA’s last night and to work with some of the most respected writers in the business. “I removed or changed anything in the script that I felt took the joke too far, and whether or not you choose to see it, what remained was done in good humor and with no bad intent. “I too have been the center of a nationally televised comedy skit that poked fun at my actions, and was able to find the humor in it. I believe Melania understands show business and the way shows are written and run. “I apologize to anyone that I offended and have only the best wishes for your country.” This is pretty rich. It’s one of our favorite non-apologies in celebrity history! FIRST, Gigi throws her writers under the bus. SECOND, she says that she should receive credit for cleaning up their insults. THIRD, she pats herself on the back for having thick skin and a sense of humor. FOURTH, she pretends to have any clue about what Melania Trump things. FIFTH, she apologizes… but only if you were offended. Which is her way of saying it’s really your fault for having such sensibilities. Pharaoh also addressed Gigi’s critics on Monday with a Facebook post that also missed the point: “Everybody pump the brakes one damn minute!” he wrote, adding: “Over the last 8 years the beautiful Michelle Obama has been the victim of excessive slurring! The Beautiful Flotus has been called Ape, Gorilla, Monkey, Manish, Ugly, Disgusting, ‘Not fit to be in the whitehouse’, always physically attacked by the general populous, nobody really snaps about it!” View Slideshow: American Music Awards 2016: 14 Crazy Awesome Moments! Sheesh. That’s not true, for starters. Plenty of people “snap” about it when racist epithets are hurled Michelle Obama’s way. Also: wasn’t it Michelle Obama herself that said “when they go low, we go high?” Pharaoh is trying to argue here that two wrongs make a right, making us think he missed the day of second grade in which the opposite was taught. Was Hadid’s Trump impression that bad or offensive? No. Not at all. The statements made in defense of it here are far worse, however.
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Gigi Hadid Defends Melania Trump Impression, Doesn’t Really Apologize
