Nearly all press reportedly barred from Melania premiere screening

The early sales numbers for Melania, the new documentary about the First Lady and one of the most expensive documentaries ever made, have been less than stellar, to put it mildly. And though the film opens today, there’s just a single review listed on Rotten Tomatoes. This seems deliberate. Last night, the Brett Ratner-directed doc premiered at the Kennedy Center. While we weren’t there, Variety was and reports that reporters from outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and the Associated Press were barred from actually attending the screening, despite attending and covering the red carpet. The only members of the press allowed into the screening from the carpet were One America News anchor Dan Ball, who reportedly called the other reporters on the carpet “mongrels” in a conversation with one Trump admin member, and his wife/producer, Peyton Drew.