A body language expert has explained Doechii’s viral reaction to an awkward joke Trevor Node made at the Grammy Awards.
The most prestigious night in music took place last night (2 February) as some of the biggest names in the industry gathered to celebrate.
Trevor Noah returned to host his fifth consecutive ceremony and during his opening monologue he seemingly made a joke criticising President Donald Trump’s tariff against immigrants. The move has forced thousands of people to be deported from the United States. Celebrities including Selena Gomez have spoken out against Trump’s decision to deport millions of immigrants.
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However, the comedian’s joke appeared to be met with a mixed reception. “We’re going to be honouring the best in music as voted on by the 13,000 members of the Recording Academy and 20 million illegal immigrants. And tonight, no matter what happens, history will be made.”
Doechii, one of the year’s rising stars, was seated close to where Noah stood as he shared the joke. The 'What It Is' rapper gave him a quick glance before visibly rolling her eyes. The moment has gone viral, with one tweet containing the video of the eye roll gaining more than 212,000 views in the hours since it happened.
One disappointed X/Twitter user shared: “Trevor Noah, an immigrant from South Africa, making a bad joke about undocumented immigrants and calling people ‘illegal’ in front of millions of people is not only poor taste but dangerous in this climate.”
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Another viewer reacted with: “Trevor Noah’s 'illegal immigrant' comment was in poor taste. Doechii rolling her eyes is me.”
A third person complained: “That tasteless joke about illegal Immigrants was so unnecessary. Do better Trevor Noah!”
Someone else asked: “What did Trevor Noah mean by that immigrant joke because it didn’t land”.
“Doechii rolling her eyes at Trevor Noah was so real,” another viewer commented.
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A body language expert has also weighed in on the reactions to Noah’s joke. Speaking with Tyla, Inbaal Honigman from Oddspedia, said: “Doechii’s eye roll in response to Trevor Noah’s ‘twenty million illegal immigrants’ joke wasn’t because the joke didn’t land well with her. The eye roll came about four seconds after Noah’s punchline, coinciding with the moment the rest of the audience laughed.
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“Her eye roll wasn’t a gesture of exasperation or condescension—it was a sarcastic substitute for laughter. While people often roll their eyes to show frustration or disdain, that’s not what’s happening here. In this instance, the eye roll is directed at the absurdity of the claim itself. The idea is so outlandish that even laughing might feel like too generous a response.”
Doechii had a very successful evening at the Grammys this year, taking home her first award for Best Rap Album for Alligator Bites Never Heal.
Gregory Robinson