‘Give your housekeeper a ride home’: Amber Heard under fire for ‘racist’ ICE tweet
Actress Amber Heard has been branded a “racist” after posting a tweet advising people to give their housekeepers and landscapers a ride home because of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) checkpoint in her neighborhood.
The 32-year-old posted the controversial message on Tuesday to alert her 60,000 followers about an immigration checkpoint near her home. In a since-deleted tweet Heard said: “Just heard there’s an ICE checkpoint in hollywood, a few blocks from where I live. Everyone better give their housekeepers, nannies and landscapers a ride home tonight.”
The backlash was immediate as many people piled in to accuse Heard of stereotyping Latin Americans. “Eesh! This will not go down well,” film journalist, Hanna Ines Flint, quickly responded. Ines Flint was correct.
I can see where you were going but somewhere along the way you took a wrong turn. Delete this sis
— Brown Cow Stunning (@AndiSachs) July 3, 2018
How does it feel that EVERYONE knows that you reduced immigrants to scrubbing your toilets and mowing your grass. The “tolerant” celebrities are the worst offenders of racism after all. Funny.
— JenniferW (@JenWoodruff79) July 3, 2018
Amber Heard lets us know the real reason why liberals want #OpenBorders and hate ICE. pic.twitter.com/OK4K7dGx2V
— Dr. Gene Lingerfelt 🙏🇺🇸 (@GeneLingerfelt) July 3, 2018
However it wasn’t all negative, some people came to Heard’s defense, suggesting that she was sarcastically taking aim at Hollywood privilege.
Maybe I’m misreading this tweet, but she’s not stereotyping Mexican people, she’s calling out her fellow Hollywood white elites that’ll hire Mexican workers for dirt cheap etc?
— dennis (@cookiedusterden) July 3, 2018
I think the tweet is meant to be sarcastic...sorta calling out the elites who do hire these ppl in these professionI could be wrong here...but that's how I read it upon first glance
— Neonaidus (@Ndymium6) July 3, 2018
The actress quickly posted a follow-up tweet to drive home her criticism of US President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. “Checkpoints on your home streets…. Is this the ‘great’ America we’re aiming for?” she said.
Checkpoints on your home streets.... Is this the “great” America we’re aiming for? Raids, fences and police-state like checkpoints don’t feel like the ‘land of the free’ our immigrant ancestors built.
— Amber Heard (@realamberheard) July 3, 2018
As the backlash refused to abate Heard posted a third tweet in an effort to diffuse the situation. “With this human rights crisis being so politicized, it is hard to make a simple statement without it being used to distract from the real issues. It’s hard for everyone to not be negatively affected by this subject in some way,” she said.
Despite the clarification social media users refused to let Heard off the hook for her tweet about housekeepers, nannies and landscapers.
I would expect you to have a little more sense than this, but... you did date Johnny Depp pic.twitter.com/SdPvoLIAnH
— Trai 🌙 (@TheWizardofYASS) July 3, 2018
How Amber Heard sees herself rn pic.twitter.com/kIYToUFgvI
— Jack Posobiec🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 3, 2018
Here’s an idea. Maybe hire people legally and pay them a living wage?
— Amare Aloha ✨ (@AmareAloha) July 3, 2018
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