Hilaria Baldwin faces backlash after liking post encouraging mockery on Dancing With The Stars

Hilaria Baldwin faced online backlash after a social-media interaction suggested she was encouraging viewers to mock other Dancing With The Stars contestants. The 41-year-old yoga instructor, who is paired with pro dancer Gleb Savchenko on DWTS, narrowly avoided elimination in week two as the show kicked out two teams in a double elimination.

Baldwin and Savchenko advanced to the next round, but followers pointed to a liked comment that criticized other contestants' scores as not credible and suggested the show’s scoring lacked fairness. A Reddit screenshot shows a commenter wrote, “I loved your dance. Honestly I didn't understand why the scores were so low,” adding, “Very disappointing... not credible at all.” The post noted that Baldwin had pressed the like button on the remark.

Fans who cataloged Baldwin's activity argued that the like suggested a readiness to criticize other contestants rather than to celebrate her own performance. One Reddit user wrote, “I haven't seen any of the other stars liking comments that put the other dancers down and say the show lacks credibility because she didn't get better scores than the other dancers.” Others speculated that she did not seem “nice” to viewers, with some suggesting she could be posting for sympathy. A few posts attacked the authenticity of her persona on the show, with remarks such as, “I'm sure she writes these comments herself” and “she will blame everyone but herself.”

Tuesday night's episode ended in a double elimination, with Baron Davis and Britt Stewart going home, while Baldwin and Savchenko survived in the bottom three. The episode underscore ed the ongoing scrutiny Baldwin has faced amid social-media activity surrounding her DWTS run, even as she remains a high-profile participant on the U.S. version of the show.

The controversy comes on the heels of recent criticism of Baldwin after a Good Morning America interview following her most recent performance, in which viewers noted a return to a slight accent she has been accused of faking in 2020. Critics questioned the sincerity of the accent during the interview, prompting mockery from some viewers on social media.

In conversations with outlets ahead of her DWTS debut, Baldwin attributed part of her casting to her online presence. She told Daily Mail that her dancing in Instagram and TikTok clips helped spark interest from producers: “I was just playing around, I like to play on my Instagram and TikTok and people started writing in and apparently they were writing to DWTS and then DWTS called me and I was like this is crazy, but like let's do it, let's have fun and have an adventure.” She added that her husband, Alec Baldwin, has been supportive throughout the process.

DWTS has not publicly commented on the social-media debate surrounding Baldwin, focusing instead on the competition and the performances. Viewers will continue to watch how the season unfolds as the network airs new episodes and contestants jostle for position amid the public conversations this season has already generated.