Aubrey Plaza has told comedian Tony Hinchcliffe to “go f*** yourself” after he made a joke about Puerto Rico—and she specifically asked The Wall Street Journal to quote her on that.
Hinchcliffe appeared at a rally for Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Several of his jokes centered around immigration and Latino voters, prompting mixed reactions from the audience. Hinchcliffe’s most controversial line came when he said: “There is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico?”
Several GOP figures have condemned the remarks and various celebrities have also spoken out against the joke, with Plaza one of the latest to do so.
Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Plaza and Hinchcliffe for comment on Wednesday outside of normal business hours.
Plaza was speaking at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards on Tuesday night when she said: “I just wanted to very quickly respond to the racist joke that was made at that Trump rally about Puerto Rico, where most of my family is from.
“Thankfully, my sweet abuelita [grandmother] wasn’t here to hear that disgusting remark. But if she was alive today, I think she would say, ‘Tony Hinchcliffe, go f*** yourself’—and yes, The Wall Street Journal can quote me on that.”
Variety shared this snippet of her speech to X (formerly Twitter), as did Ryan Shead, host of podcasts Hold The Mic and Behind the Woodshead, who captioned the post: “I have nothing to add to what Aubrey Plaza said here. [eyes emoji] Go f*** yourself, @TonyHinchcliffe!”
Several Puerto Rican celebrities have publicly expressed their support for Kamala Harris after Hinchcliffe made the joke on Sunday night.
Jennifer Lopez, who has 250 million followers on Instagram and more than 44 million followers on X, used both platforms to promote content from the Harris campaign, which responded to Hinchcliffe’s comments and highlighted the vice president’s plans to support Puerto Rico.
“I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and competent leader,” Harris says in the video. “He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes, and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.”
Puerto Rico, which is home to 3.2 million U.S. citizens, is still recovering from the devastating impact of hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, which caused billions in damage, as well as a loss of power across the island. In her campaign video, Harris promised to invest in the island’s future if elected president.
“Puerto Rico is home to some of the most talented, innovative, and ambitious people in our nation, and Puerto Ricans deserve a president that sees and invests in that strength,” the Democratic candidate said, vowing to revitalize the island’s economy and modernize its energy grid.
Singers Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, best known as Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, and Luis Fonsi all posted similar comments to their Instagram accounts on Sunday and Monday.
Martínez Ocasio has more than 45 million followers on Instagram; Martin has 18.6 million; Anthony has 13.5 million; and Fonsi has 16 million.
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