Deaf Jewish Actress Slams Alleged Trump Harassment As ‘Unacceptable’

Hollywood Star: Actress Marlee Matlin receiving a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Image by wikimedia commons

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.”

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO