Alec Baldwin deletes Twitter following Gillian Anderson accent comment

Actor Alec Baldwin has deactivated his Twitter account following a comment he made about The Crown star Gillian Anderson’s accent. Gillian Anderson astounded some fans with her accent during her Golden Globes acceptance speech on Monday after winning the award for Best Actress in a Television Supporting Role. In her most recent roles as Margaret Thatcher in The Crown Season 4 and DSI Stella Gibson in The Fall, talented actor Gillian was required to use a British accent. 

As a result, some fans who might have only seen the star perform in these shows may have been surprised to hear Gillian speak with an American accent when she gave her acceptance speech. The star has been open in the past about how she sometimes naturally moves between British and American accents. 

Born in America, Gillian spent time in the UK as a child before returning to live in the United States when she was 11. She has since settled in London. Following her Golden Globes virtual appearance, fellow actor Alec Baldwin took to Twitter. 

Here he remarked upon Gillian's American accent in a comment that some people have seen as a referencing how his wife Hilaria's changing accent became the centre of a controversy late last year.

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According to Cosmopolitan, Alec tweeted a link to a story about Gillian’s accent at the awards ceremony allegedly ‘throwing some people off’, before adding, ‘Switching accents? That sounds... fascinating’.

This has been perceived by some as a reference to the backlash his wife Hilaria faced last year. Back in December 2020, Hilaria was accused of faking her Spanish accent and heritage. Hilaria reportedly explained that her accent can change because she regularly switches between speaking Spanish and English.

Throughout the controversy surrounding Hilaria, Alec supported his wife. His recent comment regarding Gillian Anderson did not receive the reaction he might have imagined. 

Following the reaction to his comment, Alec took to Instagram to share his reasoning for deleting his Twitter account. In a short video, he explained that he left the other social media platform because some users hadn’t understood the irony in his comment. 

‘Of course you can't do any irony on Twitter, you can’t do irony in the United States any more because the United States is such an uptight, stressed-out place and such an unpleasant place right now,’ the actor stated.

Alec also expressed that he was a ‘huge fan’ of Gillian and that he had intended for his comment to ‘illustrate the point that [he finds] 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’.

It remains to be seen whether Alec Baldwin might return to Twitter in the future. Given that accounts on the platform can be reactivated within 30 days, he may well be back tweeting again soon.