Actress Anne Hathaway found herself at the center of renewed criticism over the weekend after a clip from a speech she delivered eight years ago resurfaced on social media, drawing sharp reactions from a number of conservative commentators and online personalities.
The video, which originated from Hathaway’s acceptance speech for the Human Rights Campaign’s 2018 National Ally for Equality Award, began circulating again after it was reposted online on July 22. As of this writing, the original post has amassed 1.7 million views, while additional reposts have generated millions more views across social media.
In the speech, Hathaway discussed what she described as a widely accepted myth surrounding identity and social structures.
“With the exception of being a cisgender male, everything about how I was born has put me at the current center of a damaging and widely accepted myth,” Hathaway said.
She continued by describing the belief she was criticizing.
“That myth is that gayness orbits around straitness, transgender orbits around cisgender, and that all races orbit around whiteness. And it is a myth that keeps money and power in the hands of the few, instead of being invested in the lives of the free.”
Hathaway went on to say she had rejected that idea and was working alongside others to dismantle it.
The resurfaced clip quickly prompted criticism from several prominent conservative figures, many of whom accused the actress of being out of touch.
Conservative radio host and commentator Buck Sexton was among those who responded to the video.
“Imagine being so narcissistic and deluded that you’d say something like this in front of a crowd because you think it makes you sound wise and virtuous,” Sexton wrote on social media.
Right-wing influencer Link Lauren also criticized Hathaway, arguing that her comments conflicted with her own status as one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses.
“Anne Hathaway talks about ‘money and power’ as if she’s not one of the highest paid actresses and benefits from pretty privilege,” Lauren posted.
“You also don’t have to apologize for being straight, white, rich and beautiful. No one cares.”
Marketing professor Gad Saad also weighed in, publishing a six-minute video analyzing Hathaway’s remarks. Saad argued the speech reflected what he viewed as liberal Hollywood elitism.
“Did you enjoy her self importance, her smugness, her being wrong about every conceivable syllable that she mentioned? And with such haughtiness,” Saad said.
“Her community is enlightened, while the rest of us plebs, the great unwashed, the rubes, simply can’t extricate ourselves from our small, myopic minds.”
Elon Musk also commented on the resurfaced clip, suggesting Hathaway was repeating ideas without independently evaluating them.
“She’s just reading the script someone else wrote,” Musk said. “No critical thinking is happening here at all.”
Fox News anchor Tomi Lahren joined the criticism as well, describing Hathaway’s remarks as a “self-righteous lecture” and arguing the speech was the opposite of being “brave and bold.”
The criticism extended well beyond a handful of high-profile commentators.
According to the report, searching Hathaway’s name on X reveals numerous additional posts from conservative users criticizing the actress and her remarks from the 2018 event.
The renewed attention comes years after Hathaway originally delivered the speech, demonstrating how older public comments can quickly regain prominence online and generate fresh debate after resurfacing on social media.
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