Alec quits Twitter amid accent backlash

Alec Baldwin has quit Twitter after backlash over a tweet about Gillian Anderson’s American accent.

The 62-year-old actor put his foot in it when he reposted a news story about The Crown actress – who was born in the US and grew up in the UK and the States – using an American accent as she accepted her Golden Globe award for her role as Margaret Thatcher.

Alec – who previously defended his wife Hilaria Baldwin for switching her own accent between Spanish and American – tweeted: “Switching accents? That sounds… fascinating.”

Big mistake. Tweeps dragged him mercilessly.

Now, in a lengthy Instagram video, he has explained his decision to step away from Twitter.

He said: “Wanted to post a quick video to say that I deactivated my Twitter account today… I just wrote, ’Oh, that’s interesting.’

“And of course, you can’t do any irony on Twitter — you can’t do any irony in the United States anymore because the United States is such an uptight, stressed-out place and such an unpleasant place right now.”

He continued: “I find that, of course, on Twitter – which is where all the a**holes in the United States and beyond go to get their advanced degrees in a**hole-ness, that I had used it as a news aggregator – and I suppose I will do my best to find other places that are similar in their news aggregation in real time and periodicals I like.”

Back in January, Alec slammed claims that his wife Hilaria had been misrepresenting her heritage as he spoke out about the “ridiculous” things he has read on social media, after Twitter trolls targeted her for faking having a Spanish heritage.

[email protected]