Meryl Streep’s Harsh Words About Melania Trump’s Fashion Spark Debate After Fans Dig Up Her Past

Meryl Streep sat down for a conversation with Anna Wintour, the global chief content officer and artist director at Condé Nast, the company that owns Vogue, ahead of the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Directed by David Frankel, the sequel to Streep’s 2006 comedy-drama film will see her return as the icy and formidable magazine boss Miranda Priestly. Set for release on May 1, 2006, the movie will also feature Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt reprising their respective roles.

Speaking with Wintour, Streep called out the U.S. First Lady Melania Trump’s dressing choices. Her comment infuriated some fans who had issues with the actress’ previous collaborations with Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski.

“She can condemn Melania and Trump, yet she praised Harvey Weinstein,” one user said. “She doesn’t sound smart, she sounds small.”

Meryl Streep slammed Melania Trump for the controversial outfit worn to the migrant detention center

Image credits: Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Actress-turned-film director Greta Gerwig, who moderated Wintour and Streep’s conversation for Vogue, asked at one point whether women are expected to dress to “communicate power” in the workplace.

Wintour answered that it is not necessary to wear “a power suit to the office” to wield influence, and cited examples of Michelle Obama, the former U.S. First Lady, Rama Duwaji, the current First Lady of New York City, and Melania Trump, the current U.S. First Lady.

“To be fair, Melania Trump also always looks like herself when she dresses,” Wintour said.

Image credits: Andrea Hanks/Official White House

“I have so many thoughts about this,” Streep contributed. “I think the most…powerful message that our current First Lady sent was in the coat that said ‘I Really Don’t Care, Do You?’ when she was going to see migrant children who were incarcerated.”

“All dress is about expressing yourself, but we’re also subject to larger historical and political sweeps of expectation,” she added.

Image credits: Vogue

Melania wore the outfit in question — a green jacket with the words “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U” written in white on the back — while visiting the Upbring New Hope Children’s Shelter in McAllen, Texas, on June 21, 2018.

During her visit, the establishment reportedly housed 55 children, including some who were separated from their parents as part of the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Melania Trump admitted her “I Don’t Really Care, Do U” jacket was a message

Image credits: Ron Przysucha/State Department

After Melania Trump’s photo wearing the jacket went viral in June 2018, her husband, then-and-current U.S. President Donald Trump, said it was a message to the “fake news media.”

Melania’s communications chief had insisted at the time that it was “just a jacket” and “there was no hidden message.”

Netizens criticized Melania at the time, with some accusing her of being insensitive and others saying she wore it on purpose.

“Really wild that she wore this, she knew exactly what she was doing,” one user said. “She’s a soulless person.”

Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Months later, in an October 2018 interview with ABC News, Melania revealed that the outfit did, in fact, have a hidden message.

“It’s obvious I didn’t wear the jacket for the children, I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane,” she said.

“It was for the people and for the left-wing media who are criticizing me. I want to show them I don’t care. You could criticize whatever you want to say. But it will not stop me from doing what I feel is right.”

Image credits: Andrea Hanks/Official White House

Melania allegedly took it off just before arriving at the shelter, but was photographed in it during her commute.

“I often ask myself, if I had not worn that jacket, if I would have so much media coverage,” she added. “I would prefer they would focus on what I do and on my initiatives rather than what I wear.”

Meryl Streep was called out for supporting convicted offenders in the past

After Streep’s comments about Melania, netizens brought up her past collaborations with Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski, both of whom were found guilty of having committed s*x crimes.

“Remember when this horrible person jumped to her feet to give child rap*st Roman Polanski a standing ovation? STFU, Meryl,” one person wrote.

“Meryl spent years laughing it up with her good pal Harvey,” said a fourth. A fifth chimed in: “She was buddies with Weinstein, so cry me a river.”

Image credits: Macall Polay/2025 20th Century Studios

Donald Trump Jr. called Streep out on her “sickening hypocrisy” for the same reasons in a viral 2018 tweet.

Streep was among the crowd who stood up to applaud for Polanski when he won the Best Director award for The Pianist at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003.

Image credits: Oscars

The moment is widely considered controversial, as he was arrested in March 1977 on charges of s*xually a*saulting a teenager, pled guilty to a lesser charge of unlawful s*xual int*rcourse, and has been a fugitive from U.S. law ever since by living in Europe.

Streep had worked with Weinstein on several films, including The Iron Lady, which earned her a third Oscar and an eighth Golden Globe. While accepting the latter, she called Weinstein a “god” in her speech.

After multiple s*xual a*sault allegations surfaced against Weinstein in 2017, Streep told Huffington Post in a statement that she was not aware of his “inappropriate, coercive acts” and that he was “respectful” with her in their professional relationship.

“The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported,” she said. “The intrepid women who raised their voices to expose this ab*se are our heroes.”

“Another opinion by an entitled actor.” Netizens tore Meryl Streep apart for criticizing Melania Trump’s eight-year old outfit

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