Some conservatives are accusing threatening to boycott actress Anne Hathaway and accusing her of being in a “cult” because of a speech she gave eight years ago about… privilege and power (The topic might explain why Elon Musk was so triggered). A clip from the 2018 speech has resurfaced on social media, as The Odyssey, which Anne has a role in, is currently in theaters and conservatives are mad about it.
Although the speech is an old one, a lot of conservatives have been reacting to it as if it’s recent—perhaps because one account on X actually tried to claim that it was.
An anti-trans account shared the speech and said it’s “new.”
🚨 HOLLYWOOD’S ULTIMATE GRIM MYTH: Celebrities Cheer on the Destruction of Biological Reality
— HerTribeVibe (@hertribevibe) July 22, 2026
Watch as A-list celebrity Anne Hathaway takes the stage to declare the very basis of human biology and society to be a "damaging and widely accepted myth."
In a new speech for the… pic.twitter.com/F0IU8drsNm
The account included a long description of the supposedly “new speech for the Human Rights Campaign.”
In the clip, Anne says, “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. That myth is that gayness orbits around straightness, transgender orbits around cisgender, and that all races orbit around whiteness.”
She continued, “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.” People in the audience applauded at that moment, but conservatives who saw the clip on X really hated it.
In response, some people threatened to boycott any film that Anne is in.
“Another actor off my list for viewing,” one critic said in the comments. Another person acted like they were translating what Anne said in her speech to make it easier to understand. They wrote, “‘I’m in a cult’… There I shortened it for everyone.”
Apparently, people think Anne is “nasty” for talking about norms that exist and uphold existing power structures. “What a nasty woman she ended up being,” someone commented.
At the end of the clip, Anne said, “I appreciate this community so much because it’s where I learned to reject this myth. I appreciate this community because, together, we are not just going to question this myth. We are going to destroy it.” Again, people in the audience cheered.
Prominent right-wing figures have joined the conversation about it.
Literally prove her wrong https://t.co/Tgz2lKUwDL
— evan loves worf (@esjesjesj) July 26, 2026
One of the people who felt compelled to share his opinion on the clip from eight years ago is Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He acted like Anne was not thinking critically about anything that she said in her speech.
“She’s just reading the script someone else wrote,” Elon argued. “No critical thinking is happening here at all.”
Elon’s followers agreed with him and accused Anne of using meaningless “woke language” and “propaganda.” Somehow, Former Vice President Kamala Harris was brought into the discussion—by multiple people. One person said Anne “sounds like a Kamala Harris word salad,” while another wrote, “A very hollow script. Reminds me of Kamala’s babbling.”
Seemingly not realizing that this clip is from eight years ago, several critics said it would probably “ruin (her) career.”
But, of course, not everyone was mad about the speech and Anne’s career is still very much intact. Some people questioned why the clip had even resurfaced. Others argued that everything Anne said was correct and inoffensive. “Straight and cis people are viewed as normal (in our society),” one person who agreed with the speech wrote. “You don’t have to specify it, it’s assumed.”
READ NEXT: Dave Chappelle Is Surprised Republicans ‘Weaponized’ His Trans Jokes & Critics Aren’t Buying It
