Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Emma Thompson Restates 1998 Trump Dinner Invite on Divorce Day

Thompson characterised the outreach as stalking in her Leopard Club Award acceptance speech at Locarno Film Festival.

Overview

  • Thompson revisited the anecdote during her Leopard Club Award speech at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival.
  • She recalled that on the very day her divorce from Kenneth Branagh was finalized, then–businessman Donald Trump phoned her trailer on the set of Primary Colors.
  • Trump invited her to stay at one of his properties and have dinner, an unsolicited overture she later labelled stalking because his team located her private line.
  • She declined the invitation and joked that accepting it could have changed the course of American history.
  • Her refreshed retelling has reignited global discussion on privacy boundaries, power dynamics and the link between Hollywood anecdotes and political figures.