Los Angeles police are investigating a report from actor Tim Matheson, who said he’s been receiving death and extortion threats since he made a joke on Twitter about Melania Trump’s English-language ability, TMZ reported.
The “Animal House” star posted a since-deleted tweet on Jan. 22, in which he praised the arrival of Jill Biden in the White House, TMZ said. He wrote that it was wonderful to have a “first lady with class and heart” — and who “can speak English.”
TMZ noted that Matheson’s jab at Melania Trump is more characteristic of her notoriously belligerent husband. Former President Donald Trump regularly tweeted insults at political enemies, particularly at high-profile woman who criticized him, before he was suspended from Twitter.
Matheson, 73, subsequently apologized for insulting the Slovenian-born Melania Trump, who speaks with an accent. Matheson, who played the smooth-talking fraternity brother Eric “Otter” Stratton in the 1978 comedy, said his “hasty and stupid” remark wasn’t funny and “in poor taste.”
This morning I made a hasty and stupid joke about the former First Lady. It wasn’t funny, and it was in poor taste. It was regretful and humorless and I apologize.
— Tim Matheson (@Tim_Matheson) January 22, 2021
Several days later, Matheson thanked Melania Trump for her work as first lady and apologized again for his “stupid, ignorant and foul remark,” TMZ reported. In a reply to her farewell message when leaving the White House, he also chastised himself for being “wrong, cruel and intolerant,” reported TMZ.
Matheson’s apologies, however, were not enough to stop an apparent Melania Trump fan from harassing him online, with threats that have escalated, TMZ reported. The person vowed to “kick his ass,” and added attempted extortion to a list of possible offenses by writing, “Pay me big bucks or I will kill you.”