Elon Musk has targeted Anne Hathaway after an eight-year-old equality speech resurfaced online. The clip brought the actor’s 2018 remarks to a new audience before Musk responded with a series of personal insults on X.
Anne Hathaway’s 2018 speech found a new audience before Elon Musk criticized it
OK! Magazine reported that the renewed controversy centers on Hathaway’s appearance at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner in Washington, D.C. She delivered the speech while accepting the organization’s National Ally for Equality Award on Sept. 15, 2018.
Hathaway spoke about social hierarchies involving sexuality, gender identity, and race. She argued that society often treats straightness, cisgender identity, and whiteness as the center while pushing other identities to the margins.
The Human Rights Campaign’s full video shows Hathaway addressing allyship, her family’s connection to the LGBTQ+ community, and equality. She called the hierarchy a “damaging and widely accepted myth” and said it kept money and power “in the hands of the few.”
A shortened section recently gained traction on X. One account inaccurately described the eight-year-old footage as a “new speech,” helping the clip reach millions of views and attract fresh criticism.
Musk responded to several posts about the video. In one X reply, he claimed Hathaway was reading words written by someone else and that “no critical thinking” was taking place. He later called her “a marionette”.
Hathaway has not publicly responded to Musk’s remarks. Her representatives had not commented on the renewed backlash when the latest reports appeared.
The dispute also overlaps with Musk’s ongoing criticism of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, in which Hathaway plays Penelope. Musk recently promised that Grok Imagine would create an AI-generated adaptation before the end of 2026 after repeatedly attacking Nolan’s casting decisions.
His criticism has already extended to other members of the movie’s cast. Lupita Nyong’o defended the ensemble after backlash over her roles as Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. Alec Baldwin also challenged Musk’s objections to her casting.
Hathaway’s original remarks focused on rejecting systems that marginalize people. Musk’s posts did not identify a specific factual claim he disputed. Instead, he questioned whether she had formed the ideas herself. The viral clip has now created a new culture-war argument around a speech Hathaway delivered nearly eight years ago.
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Originally reported by Misbah Pandith on Reality Tea
