In a 10-minute video posted on his Instagram, Alec Baldwin has explained his decision to quit Twitter. The actor deleted his account after coming under fire for making comments about Gillian Anderson‘s American accent during her recent Golden Globes award acceptance speech. Baldwin blamed his fellow countrymen for driving him away from the platform, calling Twitter a place for “all the a–holes in the United States and beyond go to get their advanced degrees in a–holiness.”
“You can’t do any irony in the United States anymore because the United States is such an uptight, stressed out place,” he said in the video, adding that his comments weren’t intended to be offensive to Anderson. “When I made that comment about people switching cultures, if you will, it was in no way meant to be derogatory toward someone who I admire.”
The 62-year-old had addressed Anderson appearing to switch her typically British accent for an American one at the Globes. “Switching accents? That sounds … fascinating,” he’d tweeted, a few months after his wife Hilaria Baldwin was accused of faking her Spanish heritage – including her accent.
Needless to say it didn’t go down well, with users quickly pointing out the vast differences with Anderson’s situation. “The difference is Gillian lived in London during her childhood and lives there so an accent developed. She’s never denied her Americanism. Big fan of yours, but this is an awful take,” replied a user to Baldwin’s tweet.
The difference is Gillian lived in London during her childhood and lives there so an accent developed. She’s never denied her Americanism.
Big fan of yours, but this is an awful take.— Andrea Marie (@DaniPayson) March 3, 2021
Baldwin says he will continue to remain active on Instagram, where he recently shared the news of his sixth child with his wife – a daughter named Lucia – who the couple welcomed via a surrogate only months after the birth of their fifth child, Edu.
