Alec Baldwin Explains His Tweet About Gillian Anderson

Actor deactivates Twitter account after backlash about his comment on her switching accents
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 4, 2021 1:48 PM CST
Alec Baldwin Explains His Snark About Gillian Anderson
In this Feb. 20, 2020, file photo, Hilaria Baldwin, left, and Alec Baldwin attend the Broadway opening night of "West Side Story" in New York.   (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP, File)

Alec Baldwin is off Twitter again, and once again it involves the controversy about his wife's heritage. But this time, it's a little more indirect. After CNN talked to actress Gillian Anderson, who was raised in the US and Britain, about how she slips in and out of both accents, Baldwin tweeted, "Switching accents? That sounds ... fascinating." As People notes, he was alluding to the controversy around his wife, Hilaria, who has been accused of exaggerating her Spanish roots with her accent. Alec Baldwin's tweet drew negative comments, and he announced in an Instagram video that he was deactivating his Twitter account, reports US Weekly. "Of course you can't do any irony on Twitter," he said.

"You can't do any irony in the United States anymore, because the United States is such an uptight, stressed-out place and unpleasant place right now," added Baldwin, who emphasized that he is a big fan of Anderson's and wasn't trying to criticize her. He went on to explain his tweet on the story about her: "That comment was meant to just illustrate the point that ... the multicultural expressions of anyone, for that matter—whatever country, language, music, food, clothing, art—any of it, whatever of those expressions are important to you, that's your business." (In more pleasant news for Baldwin, he and Hilaria have just welcomed their sixth child into the family.)

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