Donald Trump is crashing out about the Grammys and threatening to sue host Trevor Noah over a joke he made about the president’s relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Noah delivered the offending joke after Billie Eilish took home Song of the Year. Noah said, “That is a Grammy that every artist wants almost as much as Trump wants Greenland. Which makes sense because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton.”
The joke elicited a good amount of laughter, but also some “Oohs” from the crowd, which Noah happily responded to. “I told you it’s my last year,” said the former Daily Show host, who insisted this would be his last time emceeing the Grammys after a six-year run. “What are you gonna do about it?”
Well, the President of the United States is threatening to file a lawsuit. In a Truth Social post, Trump said Noah “INCORRECTLY” claimed he and Clinton “spent time on Epstein Island.”
Technically, it was more of a joke than a factual claim, but nevertheless, Trump persisted: “WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anwyehere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory, statement, have never been accused being there, not even by the Fake News Media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get the straight fast. It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyer to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$.”
A rep for Noah did not immediately return a request for comment.
In his post, Trump referenced the defamation suits he filed against ABC and CBS, both of which the news networks settled. Those represent the two instances where Trump had some success using the legal system to seek retribution over perceived slights or allegedly unfair news coverage. In both instances, though, the suits were widely considered dubious, and many experts thought they would not stand up at trial. But it’s widely believed that both ABC’s and CBS’ parent companies — Disney and Paramount, respectively — settled because of planned business moves that would’ve required Trump admin approval.
As far as we know, Noah isn’t attempting to pull off any big mergers. And it’s maybe not unfair to speculate that the comedian — like so many others — would love to see what turns up during the discovery phase of a lawsuit based partly on Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
