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Rotten Tomatoes Denies Manipulation of “Melania” Film’s Audience Score Amid Historic Ratings Gap
Rotten Tomatoes has firmly rejected allegations that the audience score for the recently released documentary “Melania” was artificially inflated, despite the film boasting one of the widest critic-audience rating disparities in the platform’s history.
The documentary, which chronicles the 20 days leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration through the perspective of First Lady Melania Trump, currently holds a meager 6% approval rating from critics while enjoying a staggering 99% audience score—creating a 93-percentage-point difference between professional reviewers and general viewers.
Versant, Rotten Tomatoes’ parent company, addressed the controversy in a statement to Variety, emphasizing that there was “no bot manipulation” of the audience reviews. “Reviews displayed on the Popcornmeter are VERIFIED reviews, meaning it has been verified that users have bought a ticket to the film,” the company stated.
Meanwhile, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) presents a starkly different picture of the film’s reception. With over 48,200 user ratings logged since its release, “Melania” currently holds a dismal 1.3-star rating on the site, with the majority of votes giving it just one star. IMDb has even posted an “unusual activity” warning beneath the title, stating, “Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title.”
The extreme polarization in audience responses has drawn significant attention from media outlets. The Daily Beast was among the first to question the authenticity of the film’s reception, suggesting that ticket sales may have been artificially boosted to inflate its commercial performance.
Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel added fuel to the controversy on his show Wednesday night, questioning how the documentary managed to generate $7 million in ticket sales despite reports of empty theaters leading up to its release. Kimmel speculated that tickets might have been bulk-purchased and distributed to Republican activists and senior citizens’ homes.
Despite the skepticism, “Melania” exceeded box office expectations during its opening weekend, grossing over $7.1 million—one of the strongest debuts ever for a non-music documentary. Amazon MGM Studios reportedly invested heavily in the project, paying $40 million to acquire the film and spending an additional $35 million on marketing.
The exceptional commercial performance comes despite scathing reviews from professional critics, creating a scenario where the film’s commercial and critical receptions appear to exist in completely separate realities.
This is not the first time political documentaries have generated polarized responses, but the magnitude of the division surrounding “Melania” stands out even in today’s politically charged media landscape. The 93-percentage-point gap between critic and audience scores represents one of the most extreme examples of critical-audience disagreement in Rotten Tomatoes’ history.
The controversy highlights ongoing discussions about the reliability of audience ratings on review aggregation sites and raises questions about how political polarization may be affecting film reception in the United States. It also underscores the challenges facing platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb in ensuring their rating systems accurately reflect genuine audience sentiment, particularly for politically charged content.
As “Melania” continues its theatrical run, the debate over its true audience reception is likely to persist, serving as a case study in how political documentaries are evaluated in an increasingly divided media environment.
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7 Comments
The Rotten Tomatoes verification process seems reasonable, but the IMDb user rating data tells a different story. I’m curious to understand what’s really going on here.
Could be an issue of ideological bias influencing reviews, or maybe the film just has a niche appeal. Hard to say without more details.
I’d be interested to know more about the production and marketing of this documentary. The rating discrepancy suggests there may be more to the story.
While Rotten Tomatoes claims no manipulation, the IMDb data raises questions. This highlights the complexities of assessing audience sentiment, especially for divisive topics.
This is an interesting case study in the challenges of evaluating audience reception, especially for politically-charged content. The data seems quite conflicted.
Interesting to see the stark contrast between critic and audience scores for this Melania Trump documentary. I wonder what could be driving such a wide gap in perceptions.
Perhaps the film resonates more with general viewers who are more sympathetic to Melania Trump’s perspective.