Celebrity2 min(s) read
Published 14:13 26 Jan 2021 GMT
Actor Tim Matheson has been criticized on social media after mocking Melania Trump's English on Twitter this week.
According to Fox News, the controversy was ignited following Donald and Melania Trump's departure from The White House last week, when the 73-year-old National Lampoon's Animal House star took to Twitter to write a satirical message to his 31,800 followers.
In a now-deleted tweet made on January 22, the performer wrote:
"So wonderful to have a First Lady with class and heart. And, can speak English!"
However, a number of Twitter users took issue with Matheson's tweet - claiming that it was xenophobic for him to mock the Slovenian-born Melania for English not being her first language.
For instance, one Twitter user shared a screenshot of his post, and wrote: "In case anyone missed Tim Matheson being a vile, hateful xenophobe..."
Another person wrote: "Nice. Bash the immigrant. She has an accent and speaks more languages than most Americans. Don’t be a d***."
Someone else stated: "Shame on you I hope your movie acting business gets a hard left turn and this comment puts you out of show busses!!!!! [sic]"
In a follow-up post, a contrite Matheson later wrote:
"This morning I made a hasty and stupid joke about the former First Lady. It wasn't funny, and it was in poor taste. It was regretful and humorless and I apologize."
This incident comes just a few days after Jim Carrey shared a scathing painting of the former First Lady with his 18.9 million followers on Twitter.
The 57-year-old Truman Show star captioned the artwork: "Oh... and goodbye First Lady. I hope the settlement can finance your life in the shallow end. THX for nothing. [sic]"
On Twitter, reactions to Carrey's picture were divided, with some praising the caricature and the actor and comedian's comments.
Meanwhile, others were more critical of it, stating that they found Carrey's harsh criticism unjustified.
Melania Trump has also recently faced backlash on social media over her so-called "tone deaf" response to the Capitol riots.
