--- title: Donald Trump: Deaf Actress 'Retarded' Comment 'Abhorrent' description: Marlee Matlin, an actress who is deaf, said she was "deeply" upset by reports that Donald Trump repeatedly called her "retarded" canonical: https://time.com/4531902/marlee-matlin-donald-trump-deaf-retarded-comment/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-14T19:59:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:28.197Z article:section: Politics og:title: Deaf Actor Hits Back at Donald Trump Over ‘Retarded’ Comment: ‘It Is Unacceptable’ og:description: "The term is abhorrent and should never be used" og:url: https://time.com/4531902/marlee-matlin-donald-trump-deaf-retarded-comment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6979c6c2990f9b13/6988aa1b5f570f0770b22e52/marlee-matlin-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: The Comedy Central Roast Of Rob Lowe - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Deaf Actor Hits Back at Donald Trump Over ‘Retarded’ Comment: ‘It Is Unacceptable’ twitter:description: "The term is abhorrent and should never be used" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6979c6c2990f9b13/6988aa1b5f570f0770b22e52/marlee-matlin-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Deaf Actor Marlee Matlin Hits Back at Donald Trump Over ‘Retarded’ Comment: ‘It Is Unacceptable’ > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 14, 2016 7:59 PM UTC  Actress Marlee Matlin attends the Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe at Sony Studios on Aug. 27, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Actress Marlee Matlin attends the Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe at Sony Studios on Aug. 27, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 14, 2016 7:59 PM UTC Marlee Matlin, an actor who is deaf, said she was “deeply” upset by [reports](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/13/donald-trump-called-deaf-apprentice-marlee-matlin-retarded.html) that Donald Trump repeatedly called her “retarded” when she appeared on the _Celebrity Apprentice._ “The term is abhorrent and should never be used. The fact that we are talking about this during a very important moment in American history has upset me deeply,” Matlin [said in a statement](https://twitter.com/MarleeMatlin/status/786997580999696384) on Friday. Three staffers on the reality TV show, who requested anonymity due to non-disclosure agreements, [told the _Daily Beast_](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/13/donald-trump-called-deaf-apprentice-marlee-matlin-retarded.html) that Trump often treated Matlin with disrespect and called her “retarded,” both behind her back and in front of her. A former _Apprentice_ contestant [also told _People_](http://people.com/politics/donald-trump-hit-on-marlee-matlin-celebrity-apprentice-former-contestant-claims/) that Trump made sexual comments to Matlin and other women on the show. “I am Deaf. There are millions of Deaf and hard of hearing people like me, in the United States and around the world who face discrimination and misunderstanding like this on a daily basis. It is unacceptable,” said Matlin, who has indicated her support for Hillary Clinton throughout the campaign. “As a person who is Deaf, as a woman, as a mom, as a wife, as an actor, I have a voice. And I’m using that voice to make myself heard… and vote.” Trump previously [faced scrutiny](http://time.com/4426557/dnc-disability-rights-democrats-donald-trump/) early in the campaign for [mocking a New York _Times_ reporter](http://time.com/4127857/donald-trump-disability/) who suffers from a congenital joint condition. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4531902/marlee-matlin-donald-trump-deaf-retarded-comment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4531902/marlee-matlin-donald-trump-deaf-retarded-comment/"},"headline":"Deaf Actor Marlee Matlin Hits Back at Donald Trump Over ‘Retarded’ Comment: ‘It Is Unacceptable’","datePublished":"2016-10-14T19:59:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:28.197Z","description":"\"The term is abhorrent and should never be used\"","url":"https://time.com/4531902/marlee-matlin-donald-trump-deaf-retarded-comment/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6979c6c2990f9b13/6988aa1b5f570f0770b22e52/marlee-matlin-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6979c6c2990f9b13/6988aa1b5f570f0770b22e52/marlee-matlin-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Comedy Central Roast Of Rob Lowe - Arrivals","caption":"The Comedy Central Roast Of Rob Lowe - Arrivals","creditText":"Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4531902/marlee-matlin-donald-trump-deaf-retarded-comment/","name":"Deaf Actor Marlee Matlin Hits Back at Donald Trump Over ‘Retarded’ Comment: ‘It Is Unacceptable’"}}]}] ```