Walt Disney Television/Yolanda Perez(NEW YORK) — Alec Baldwin, who perhaps should know by now to stay off social media, has deleted his Twitter account for a fifth time, after he was flamed for seemingly shading Golden Globe-winning star of The Crown, Gillian Anderson.
Baldwin retweeted a CNN story about Anderson’s accent; while she is American, she was raised both in the States and the U.K., and not only can perform a flawless British accent as a result, but occasionally drifts into it during overseas interviews.
When she accepted her Golden Globe via remote last week, some on Twitter were surprised to hear The Crown‘s Margaret Thatcher speaking with her normal American accent.
Baldwin snarked in a now-deleted post, “Switching accents ? That sounds…fascinating,” obviously referring to his wife Hilaria’s Spanish accent swapping flap — the outcry over which, of course, led her to come forward to explain she is both white and hails from Boston, not Mallorca, as had been repeatedly reported.
The response to Baldwin’s tweet earned him another rake over the online coals, with fans coming to Anderson’s defense, and taking renewed swipes at Hilaria’s cultural appropriation fiasco.
One said, “At least she ACTUALLY lived in both the US and England! It would make sense…..um….and she is an actor. Your wife lived in Boston her whole life and took a vacation or two in Spain. Comparing apples to how do you say…” following that with a cucumber emjoi — the vegetable Mrs. Baldwin insisted she couldn’t remember the English name for during a Today show cooking segment.
Baldwin explained his decision to leave Twitter yet again, during a mid-drive Instagram post.
“Of course you can’t do any irony on Twitter,” Baldwin said. “Of course you can’t do any irony in the United States anymore, it’s such an uptight…unpleasant place right now.”
Baldwin insisted he’s a “huge, huge fan” of Anderson’s — without mentioning her name. He also lamented “haters” on Twitter, saying the social media platform, “is one-third interesting posts…one-third..puerile nonsense…and then it’s one-third, or more, of abject hatred and malice.”
Earlier this week, Baldwin’s posting a family Instagram post — featuring the couple’s new baby, to which he captioned “mi vida” — also sparked online snark.
By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.