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By Billie Schwab Dunn
Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter
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A growing wave of Puerto Rican celebrities and celebrities of Puerto Rican descent are criticizing Donald Trump and sharing their support for Vice President Kamala Harris following a racist joke made at a rally for the Republican presidential candidate.
On Sunday, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe spoke at the rally at Madison Square Garden in New York. Several of his jokes centered around immigration and Latino voters, and in one part of his speech, Hinchcliffe said that Latinos "love making babies," a comment that reiterates a common racist trope.
However, his 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?"
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Various politicians have condemned the remarks, and in an email to Newsweek, Trump senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said: "This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign."
Now various Puerto Rican celebrities are slamming Trump and his campaign while revealing they're voting for Harris. Here Newsweek has rounded up the famous faces that have spoken out so far.
Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Bad Bunny, Aubrey Plaza, Jennifer Lopez, Sunny Hostin, Ricky Martin and Luis Fonzi for comment on Wednesday.
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was the most streamed artist on Spotify for three years in a row between 2020 and 2022. He was born in the Almirante Sur barrio of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and is known for his Puerto Rican pride.
On Sunday he endorsed Harris for the first time. Previously, he had only publicly encouraged people to vote. Taking to his Instagram stories, he shared Harris' official campaign video targeting Puerto Rican audiences with his 45.6 million followers.
"There's so much at stake in the election for Puerto Rican voters and for Puerto Rico," Harris said in the campaign video. "I will never forget what Donald Trump did and what he did not do when Puerto Rico needed a caring and a competent leader. 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 enormous damage and led to a loss of power across the island. In her campaign video, Harris promised to invest in Puerto Rico's future if elected president.
He shared this part of Harris' video four times on his social media platform.
Aubrey Plaza
Aubrey Plaza told Hinchcliffe to "go f*** yourself" when she was speaking at the Wall Street Journal Magazine Innovator Awards on Tuesday night.
"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," she said.
"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."
Plaza is Puerto Rican on her father's side.
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez, who has 250 million followers on Instagram and more than 44 million followers on X, has also used her social media platforms to promote the video from the Harris campaign. Both of her parents were born in Puerto Rico.
She has shared other posts encouraging people to vote, with her most recent Instagram post at the time of writing, posted on October 29, reading: "LET'S GET LOUD. Make your voice heard in ONE WEEK. VOTE Nov 5th. Born in the USA 🇺🇸 PUERTO RICO 🇵🇷."
On the same day, she also posted a video of The View co-host Sunny Hostin condemning Hinchcliffe's comment about Puerto Rico being "a floating island of garbage."
According to Rolling Stone, Lopez is now slated to join Harris at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Thursday.
Marc Anthony
Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter Marc Anthony also criticized Hinchcliffe's comments, sharing a video on his Instagram story of Hinchcliffe's remarks at the Trump rally and writing: "This I won't forget."
He also posted a video to his Instagram feed of him endorsing Harris the day after the comedian's comments.
"Even though some have forgotten, I remember. I remember what it was like when Trump was president," he said. "I remember what he did and said, about Puerto Rico, about our people, I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island Trump blocked billions in relief while thousands died.
"I remember when our families lacked clean water and electricity, Trump threw paper towels and called Puerto Rico 'dirty' and 'poor.' I was not surprised because I also remember he launched his campaign by calling Latinos criminals and rapists.
"He's told us what he'll do. He'll separate children from their families and threatened to use the ARMY to do it. This election goes way beyond political parties.
"Let's remember what the United States represents and stands for—united, regardless of where we're from. I'm Marc Anthony and I remember. And that's why I support Kamala Harris for president."
A spokesperson for Anthony told Newsweek by email: "His sentiment is clearly expressed on his socials and the TV and radio ads he recorded to support the campaign and endorse Kamala Harris. This video was done and went live on radio and television around the country almost 2 weeks ago, before the [Madison Square Garden] comments."
Sunny Hostin
On Monday morning's episode of The View, Hostin, whose mother is Puerto Rican, slammed Hinchliffe's speech during her opening monologue and criticized Trump's campaign.
"This Puerto Rican has something to say about the island I love, where my family is from. Puerto Rico is trash? We are Americans, Donald Trump. Americans. We voluntarily serve disproportionately high in the military, while you have bone spurs.
"And we vote. Pennsylvania is home to almost half a million Puerto Ricans. North Carolina, 115,000. Georgia, 100,000. Arizona, 64,000. Wisconsin, 61,000. Michigan, 43,000. Nevada, 27,000. We vote, Donald Trump. Trash?
"And by the way, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, Luis Fonsi and Marc Anthony have over 345 million followers on Instagram. I think you only have 26 million, since you care so much about size."
She added: "And we don't like what was said about Puerto Rico. And we know how to take the trash out, Donald Trump. Trash that has been collecting since 2016, and that's you, Donald Trump. And finally, my fellow Puerto Ricans, trash collection day is November 5, 2024. Don't forget it!"
Ricky Martin
The video from Harris' campaign has also been shared by Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor Ricky Martin, who has a total of 18.6 million followers on Instagram.
Martin, born in Puerto Rico's San Juan, shared a clip from Sunday's rally in Madison Square Garden, writing in Spanish: "This is what they think about us. Vote for Kamala Harris."
The singer has since been sharing various posts to his Instagram story showing his love for Puerto Rico and encouraging people to vote for Harris. He has also shared a video of Plaza's comments at the WSJ award night, adding a GIF of hands clapping to his story and the video of Hostin's comments to his feed.
Luis Fonsi
A video of Hinchcliffe's comment was also posted to the Instagram account Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, who sang the hit "Despacito."
"Are you serious?" he wrote, commenting on the video. "I understand comedy, I'm a big fan of it. I love roasts, trust me, I get it, BUT... this is far from comedy," he added, calling Hinchcliffe's comment racist.
"We are not ok with this constant hate. It's been made abundantly clear that these people have no respect for us and yet they want our vote," he added, inviting people to vote for Harris on November 5.
Update 10/30/24, 10:34 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a statement from a spokesperson for Mark Anthony.
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