Deaf Jewish Actress Slams Alleged Trump Harassment As ‘Unacceptable’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Josefin Dolsten October 15, 2016
— Actress Marlee Matlin responded to claims that Donald Trump had mocked her for being deaf by slamming discrimination against those with disabilities, but she did not say whether the allegations were true.
The Republican presidential nominee allegedly called Matlin “retarded” during filming in 2011 of his reality television show “Celebrity Apprentice,” The Daily Beast reported Thursday.
On Friday, the Jewish Academy Award winner called the use of the term “abhorrent.”
“There are millions of Deaf and hard of hearing people like me, in the United States and around the world who face discrimination like this on a daily basis. It is unacceptable,” she wrote on Twitter.
Matlin did not confirm whether the harassment took place. She wrote that she was planning to vote but did not state which candidate she would be supporting.
My response to recent media reports – Marlee. pic.twitter.com/Mkrbh47dUO
— Marlee Matlin (@MarleeMatlin) October 14, 2016
A recent highlight of her successful career was when Matlin signed the national anthem for Superbowl 50, as Lady Gaga sang in.
The Daily Beast based its reporting on interviews with three longtime staffers who worked on Matlin’s season of “Celebrity Apprentice. They spoke anonymously, citing fear of legal retribution for violating their contractual non-disclosure clause.
Trump “would often equate that she was mentally retarded,” an unnamed source told the news site of the real-estate mogul’s alleged harassment of Matlin.
The sources said Trump would regularly disrespect the actress and treat her as if she were mentally disabled, sometimes behind her back but at other times to her face.
Last year, Matlin praised Trump in an interview with the New York Post.
“He treated me with respect and humor,” she said, “and was always looking after me.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
