A Russian television network sparked controversy by broadcasting nude photos of Melania Trump after congratulating her husband, Donald Trump, on his reelection as U.S. president.
On the popular Russian program “60 Minutes,” hosts Yevgeny Popov and Olga Skabeyeva, who are married, discussed Trump’s reelection.
During the show, they displayed several photos of Melania Trump from her modeling days, including some from a 2000 GQ magazine shoot.
Julia Davis, founder of the watchdog group Russia Media Monitor, shared a video of the broadcast with a caption saying, “Meanwhile in Russia: this is how the most watched state TV channel in the country welcomed Melania Trump’s upcoming return to the White House. Olga Skabeeva is trying not to laugh. This was probably her idea.”
During the broadcast, host Olga Skabeyeva struggled to hide a smile, while her co-host, Yevgeny Popov, remarked, “Now that Melania Trump’s husband has finally won, she is getting ready to come back to the White House for a second time. Here is how Melania looked in the year 2000. This is the cover of the magazine GQ.”
“The future first lady lies on top of furs in a negligee. Inside the magazine, Melania’s sexy photos near a private plane and aboard the plane. In one of the shots, the model is wearing only her underwear, lying on a blue carpet with the U.S. seal, as though the editors of the men’s magazine knew something in advance about the future of their model” the host said.
Segment ending with “What does ‘my body my choice’ really mean?”
The segment wrapped up with background music and a slideshow of Melania Trump’s photos, accompanied by a voiceover asking, “What does ‘my body my choice’ really mean?” This line referenced a recent promotional video Melania posted on X ahead of her autobiography release.
Melania Trump began her modeling career as a teenager after a Slovenian photographer discovered her at age 16. She signed with an Italian agency soon after, launching a career that took her to Paris, Milan and New York throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. She met Donald Trump and later married him in 2005.
In 2000, Melania Knauss, who later became Melania Trump, posed for a nude cover shoot for GQ magazine, a photo that resurfaced during Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016. The magazine revisited the story, detailing the shoot from 16 years earlier.
Recalling the cover, GQ editor Dylan Jones noted, “We were bombarded by requests to shoot Melania. Given that she was obviously so keen to be featured in GQ, we came up with a rather kitsch and camp story for her to feature in.” He added that Donald Trump personally requested copies of the photos be sent to his office.
“We framed the cover and a selection of prints and sent them as soon as we could,” Jones said.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
