How do you solve a problem like Alec Baldwin? It’s a question we ask time and time again, every time the actor punches someone over a parking spot or discredits the testimony of sexual abuse survivors like Dylan Farrow. The pugnacious actor has now released a 9-minute video on his Instagram, where he complained “you can’t do irony in the United States anymore” because the country is “such an uptight, stressed out place.”
Baldwin announces in the video that he’s quit Twitter, after responding to a video of actress Gillian Anderson accepting a Golden Globe award this weekend. Baldwin subtweeted Anderson for using her American accent in the speech, tweeting “Switching accents? That sounds…fascinating.”
View this post on Instagram
Baldwin is referring to his wife Hilaria Baldwin’s accent controversy, which made headlines last year as one of the most bizarre cases of cultural appropriation. Hilaria Baldwin, who claimed to be born on the Spanish island of Mallorca and raised in both Spain and Massachusetts, has been speaking with a Spanish accent for years now, like in the infamous “cucumber” video where she forgets the English name for the word.
This Hilaria Baldwin cucumber video….. pic.twitter.com/08hR6qAHfr
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 27, 2020
But in reality, Hillary Hayward-Thomas was born in Boston, neither of her parents are Spanish, and she didn’t used to speak with an accent. According to a classmate, “I went to high school with her, … She was perfectly nice and serious about ballroom dancing. Her name was indeed Hillary Hayward-Thomas and she did not have her current accent.” Alec Baldwin defended his wife on Instagram, calling the accusations “ridiculous” and to “consider the source.”
You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin’s commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person
— elena ilana alana alina elana (@lenibriscoe) December 21, 2020
Hilaria Baldwin has since apologized on Instagram, writing, “My parents raised my brother and me with two cultures, American and Spanish, and I feel a true sense of belonging to both … The way I’ve spoken about myself and my deep connection to two cultures could have been better explained ― I should have been more clear and I’m sorry.”
Compare this to Gillian Anderson, who was born in Chicago, Illinois. Anderson’s parents relocated the family to London, where she was raised until the age of 11, when her family moved back to the States and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has lived in London for the past 20 years, and is considered bidialectal, meaning she is proficient in using two dialects of the same language.
In a 2013 interview with BlogTalkRadio, Anderson was asked whether she identifies as an American or Brit. She responded, “I’ve been asked whether I feel more like a Brit than an American and I don’t know what the answer to that question is. I know that I feel that London is home and I’m very happy with that as my home. I love London as a city and I feel very comfortable there. In terms of identity, I’m still a bit baffled.”
Anderson stans took to Twitter to call out Baldwin for his subtweet, causing him to delete his account.
Alec Baldwin Gillian Anderson
at 62 at 52 pic.twitter.com/GPorVIFyeI— going through an x files and scully phase (@thccrqwn) March 4, 2021
Baldwin continued to attack Twitter in his video rant, calling it a place “where all the assholes in the United States and beyond go to get their advanced degrees in asshole-iness.” Sorry Baldwin, but if you come for Gillian Anderson, you better not miss.
(via HuffPost, featured image: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Turner)
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Published: Mar 4, 2021 04:30 pm