Shailene Woodley Defends Sharing Melania Trump’s Statement On Assassination Attempt

Shailene Woodley has no regrets about her decision to share Melania Trump’s statement on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Woodley, known for her roles in “Divergent” and “Big Little Lies,” drew backlash from fans when she reposted the former first lady’s open letter on Instagram about the July 13 campaign rally shooting.

In an interview with Bustle published Monday, however, the actor praised the first page of Melania Trump’s letter as “a beautiful message of human compassion” and suggested that her sharing of the former first lady’s remarks was not meant as an endorsement.

“Literally, I read it and I was like, ‘This is so beautiful,’” she explained. “I was in circles of people that I deeply respect — friends, colleagues, progressive, very intelligent thinkers, shakers and movers — and many of them were saying, ‘He missed! F*cking assassin missed! Maybe it was a setup. Maybe it was a conspiracy.’ I was going, ‘Have we forgotten that two human lives were taken?’”

“I could not understand how people were speaking about something with such passion for death,” Woodley added.

Though Melania Trump has been largely absent from former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, she released a two-page statement on social media the day after the shooting, which reportedly left her husband with a 3/4-inch ear wound.

In it, she described suspected gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by Secret Service officers on the scene, as “a monster” while calling for “love, compassion, kindness and empathy.”

Woodley ― who will next be seen in the Starz drama “Three Women,” due out Friday ― told Bustle that she did not share the second page of Melania Trump’s letter, which she said was “more political.”